The IPACS Team

Mr. Sriram is the Managing Director and CEO of IPACS. He is an engineer and entrepreneur with over 30 years’ experience in Industrial Engineering.

Mr. Sriram started his engineering career at MECON Limited, India. At MECON, he quickly rose through the ranks to lead a team of 50 engineers for the design of one of India’s largest steel mills. He later joined American Bureau of Shipping as the Worldwide Technical Services Director. In 1992, he co-founded an engineering consulting company, Kuthla Engineering, which successfully tendered and delivered the designs for major Oil & Gas platforms and industrial process lines. For the last decade he has been involved in performance consulting for the shipping, power generation and manufacturing industries. He has been actively involved for over 30 years in the development of new technologies. He conceived, designed and successfully delivered technology applications for the aviation industry.

Dr. John Santich is an engineer and lawyer with over four decades experience in mining, geoscience and industry. He has been founder and director of a number of successful exploration and mining companies. He has also established companies in other technological areas including water and solar energy. Dr Santich has been associated with IPACS since 1999.

Dr. Sriram joined IPACS in 2010 and is currently the General Manager of Engineering. He is responsible for leading the acceleration of growth in the company’s mining business. Dr. Sriram started his career with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation. He later worked as a post doctoral fellow at Imperial College London and as a research fellow at Harvard University. He was previously the associate editor of the IEEE Systems Journal. Dr. Sriram completed his Bachelor of Engineering on a BAE Systems scholarship and PhD on an Australian Postgraduate Award Industry scholarship.

Mr. Gao leads IPACS smart infrastructure program. Previously Mr. Gao worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia. He joined the company in 2015.

Ms. Kondiparthi leads the Management of Data program. Previously Ms. Kondiparthi was the acting team leader for the software quality group at Deloitte. She joined the company in 2012.

Mr. Johnson joined IPACS in 2000 and leads the analytics program.

Mr. Koufalakis leads the Dashboard program. He joined the company in 2013.

Dr. Nandagopal retired in 2012 as Deputy Chief Defence Scientist for the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). He has extensive experience with the Australian Department of Defence. He has also served on various Defence Committees in Canberra.

Mr. Mencel is the co-founder and Director of China Australia Mining Pty Ltd. He has successfully project managed significant (+ $500 million) engineering projects and led some of the largest maintenance programs in Australia (+700,000 man hours per annum). Previous roles include Deputy PM M113 Upgrade Project (Tenix Defence), Manager Fleet and Logistic Service (Tenix Defence), Project Director (Tenix Projects), General Manager (Mount Gibson Iron) and Co-founder and Director (Green Coast Resources).

Mr. Artone is the Managing Director of METOPS, a private consultancy which focuses on Metallurgical Operations Engineering and Optimisation, minimising consultancy man-hours by utilising client resources wherever possible. Mr. Artone has 35 years’ experience in the Australian and international mining industry. He spent 15 years with Rio Tinto commencing with technical roles, progressing to project management, and then moving into operations management roles.

Mr. Artone joined Western Mining Corporation as Senior Project Engineer for the Olympic Dam Expansion Project (Concentrator) managing design, construction and commissioning including the world’s largest Semi-Autogenous Grinding (SAG) mill.

Dr. Dixon is the Managing Director of Dixon Consulting. In 2012, he was the Asset Manager for Alinta Energy, Australia’s largest non-government power generator. He was previously the performance manager at Stanwell Corporation Limited, Queensland’s largest power generator. His specialty is in boiler technology and energy efficiency and he has over 30 years executive management experience in the power industry.

Mr. Leesong is the Operator/Maintainer at EnergyAustralia’s Hallett Power Station. EnergyAustralia is one of Australia’s largest power generators.

Mr. Miller was the Project Manager for Santos Eastern Australia Collaboration Centre. Santos is a leading oil & gas producer in Australia.

Dr. Kearney is the Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of South Australia. He currently leads one of the largest research programs in remote operations centres for the mining industry in Australia.

Mr. Smith is the Senior Account Manager – Aerospace and Defence at MathWorks. MathWorks is the leading developer of mathematical computing software for engineers and scientists.