On 1 Dec 2022, SaRRU hosted a lecture by an invited speaker, Dr. Ashkan Zarghami from the Australian National University. Dr. Ashkan Zarghami is a Senior Lecturer of Project Management. His research focuses on the development of applied mathematical models with applications to a broad range of fields, including project management, operations management, infrastructure networks, and supply chain management. Dr. Zarghami has a great passion for proposing novel ideas and his research appeared in top ranked international journals such as Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Reliability Engineering and System Safety, International Journal of Production Research and so on.

Dr. Zarghami spoke on his research on forecasting project disruption through a resource-based approach. Dr. Zarghami spoke on the advantage of his novel approach for forecasting project disruption. Traditionally, project duration forecast after a disruption is based on historical precedence or expert judgment. However, such methods have the limitations of expert disagreement and the lack of historical reference for certain events, such as the outbreak of COVID-19. Dr. Zarghami presented the rationale behind the method he developed for forecasting project delays through a resource-based approach and explained that such an approach may benefit the industry by making forecasts more accurate and making delays more explainable.

The talk was a great success, with attendees expressing that it was engaging and useful to them. On behalf of SaRRU, we would like to convey our gratitude to Dr. Zarghami for his insightful talk, and to the participants for their attendance and sharing of insights.