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We are delighted to have our Seminar opened by Associate Professor Kannika Sahakaro, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at PSU and outstanding researcher in rubber and polymer technology.Dr. Kannika Sahakaro has an impressive academic and research background, specializing in the field of natural rubber-related applications, silica-reinforced elastomers, elastomer blends, chemical modification of polymers, and thermoplastic elastomers. Her research contributions in these areas have been widely recognized, as evident from her lifetime citation count of 2351 and an h-index of 27. Her work has significantly advanced the understanding and application of these materials in various industries.

Our distinguished keynote speakers are Dr Matias Garcia-Constantino and Professor Virasakdi Chongsuvivatwong. Dr Matias hails from the Faculty of Computer Engineering and the Built Environment in Ulster University at Belfast in the UK, and generously served as co-supervisor of one of our recent PhD graduates, Dr Sahidun Abdulmana, a Royal Golden Jubilee student in our Research Methodology program. Dr Matias applies his computing and data science skills to important practical problems such as recognizing abnormal movement in daily life, detecting social isolation, and monitoring and supporting dementia patients.

Dr Virasak is not only our own champion professor of epidemiology here at Prince of Songkla University but one of world's most distinguished researchers. His extensive expertise in addressing broad health problems, including tropical diseases and health systems, has made a significant impact on the field of public health. Furthermore, he has contributed to the scientific community by developing an open-source package for epidemiological data analysis based on R software used by scientists worldwide that have provided invaluable insights into epidemiological data analysis.

Our three discussants are Associate Professor Phattrawan Tongkumchum, Dr Dumaria Rulina Tampubolon and Professor Don McNeil. Both Dr Phattrawan and Dr Duma completed their PhDs in Statistics and Actuarial Science, respectively, at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, where our own "Ajan Don" served as foundation professor of Statistics until his retirement in 2001. Dr Phattrawan has an outstanding publication record and continues to help graduate students in our Research Methodology and Data Science Analytics program.

Likewise, Dr Dumaria continues to geneously help us, using her skill and experience as a top researcher and teacher in financial modeling and statistics in the faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia.

We are honored to have Prof. Don McNeil, a respected professor, serve as a discussant. Prof. Don McNeil spent 8 years in the US after his PhD, gaining tenure at Princeton before returning to Australia as Professor of Statistics at Macquarie University, then helping to set up the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre and visiting Asian universities for IDP. After visiting PSU, Professor Virasakdi Chongsuvivatwong and Professor Don McNeil began a research collaboration that has led to high quality PhD programs in Epidemiology and Research Methodology.

Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, Faculty of Science & Technology, PSU Last updated: June 10, 2023