Keynote Speakers

Jan Olhager, Professor at Lund University (Sweden)

Keynote Title: “Global operations networks facing disruptions”

Jan Olhager is Professor in Supply Chain & Operations Strategy at Lund University. He received an M.Eng. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Production Economics from Linköping University. He was previously Professor in Production Economics at Linköping University and a Visiting Professor in Supply Chain Management at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He is Fellow of DSI, Decision Sciences Institute, Honorary Fellow of EurOMA, European Operations Management Association, and a former president of the European Decision Sciences Institute. He is Associate Editor of Decision Sciences and serves on the editorial boards of IJPR, OMR, and PPC. He has published more than 90 papers in international scientific journals and a couple of books. His research interests include international manufacturing networks, reshoring, operations strategy, decoupling points, supply chain integration, and operations planning and control. He is the director of the Swedish Production Strategy Centre and has been a consultant to Scandinavian industry for more than 40 years, working with medium-sized and larger industrial companies like Alfa Laval, Assa Abloy, Axis, Billerud-Korsnäs, Ericsson, Husqvarna, IKEA Industry, SSAB, and Volvo.

Mehdi Akbarian, VP of Product and Strategy at Einride

Keynote Title: “Sustainable Freight at Scale: The Role of Digitalization, Electrification, and Autonomous Systems”

Mehdi Akbarian is a product leader and researcher specializing in digital and electric freight. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and works at the intersection of sustainability, technology commercialization, and data-driven decision-making, helping enterprises transition to low-emission transport solutions.

As VP of Product and Strategy at Einride, he has led the development of digital and electrification technologies, advancing economic modeling, transport planning, and AI-driven analytics. His work has shaped industry methodologies for scaling electric freight and optimizing system efficiency.

Previously, he worked in sustainable infrastructure research, collaborating with government agencies, academia, and industry partners to develop data-driven strategies for transport and energy systems. He has contributed to EU-funded research projects on freight electrification, commercial viability, and scaling sustainable transport.