Azar MahmoumGonbadi

Dr Azar MahmoumGonbadi PhD, FHEA, PGCert

Assistant Professor/Lecturer in Business Analytics; Business Operations and Supply Chain Management

Key details

Dr Azar MahmoumGonbadi

Assistant Professor/Lecturer in Business Analytics; Business Operations and Supply Chain Management

Dr Azar MahmoumGonbadi is an Assistant Professor in Business Analytics and Business Operations and Supply Chain Management whose work sits at the intersection of data-driven decision-making, operations management, and sustainable business practices. Her research integrates artificial intelligence, optimisation modelling, and empirical methods to support strategic decision-making, circular economy transitions, and responsible management. She has contributed to EU Horizon 2020 projects and collaborates closely with industry partners on sustainability, operational efficiency, and policy-oriented initiatives.

Her teaching spans business analytics, operations and supply chain management, machine learning, digital economy, statistics, and project management at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She also contributes to programme leadership, curriculum development, and student mentoring.

Azar’s research has been published in leading journals such as Journal of Cleaner Production, Expert Systems with Applications, and Annals of Operations Research, alongside multiple conference contributions in operations research and sustainability. She has secured competitive funding, including awards from the British Academy and KE4Impact, supporting projects on circular economy, repair ecosystems, and extended producer responsibility.

Her professional background includes roles in production planning and operational optimisation, where she led KPI development, process improvement, and cross-functional coordination. She works with a range of analytical and optimisation tools, including Python, R, MATLAB, CPLEX, and LINGO.

Her broader research interests include circular supply chains, socio-technical transitions, sustainable operations, and data-driven policy design.

Business and management

Responsibilities within the university

Deputy Program Leader

  • Business Analytics, MSc

Research

  • Circular Economy
  • Sustainability
  • Circular/ Closed-Loop Supply Chains
  • Mathematical Modelling
  • Machine Learning
  • Optimisation

Teaching

  • Statistics
  • Digital Economy
  • Machine Learning
  • Project Management
  • Logistics Technologies
  • Operations Management
  • Introduction to Finance for Business
  • Fundamentals of Business Analytics
  • Foundations of Scholarship and Research
  • Programming Fundamentals for Business Analytics

Recognition

Acquired Funding- Cumulative Net Worth: £39,051.80

  • KE4Impact Internal Grant (2024): “Extended Producer Responsibility in White Goods Sector” (£21,120)
  • British Academy (2025): “Scaling Repair Cafés for a Circular Economy” (£9,990)
  • The Early Career Academic (ECA) Pilot Project Fund (2023): “Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy and practices in White Goods sector: A case study of a refrigerator recycling company- RECILEC” (£3,976.80)
  • NUSC research network (2025): “System Dynamics of Repair: Mapping Leverage Points for Circular Transitions”, (£1,985)
  • NUSC research network (2025): “Smart Campus Energy and Environmental Analytics Framework for Sustainable Performance at the University of Greenwich” (£1,980)

Research Visits:

  • Visiting professor at the University of Catania, Italy
  • Research Fellow at The Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería (ETSi) at the University of Seville, Spain

External Examiner

Process panel member for BSc (Hons) Shipping Management and BSc (Hons) Operations and Supply Chain Management for American College of Greece at the Open University

Reviewing Experience

  • Operations Management Research Journal
  • Supply Chain Forum: An International Journal

Continuing Professional Development

  • Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) – 2024
  • Certified Management & Business Educator (CMBE) - Ongoing
  • Aurora Leadership Program - Ongoing

Research / Scholarly interests
  • Circular Economy
  • Sustainability
  • Circular/ Closed-Loop Supply Chains
  • Mathematical Modelling
  • Machine Learning
  • Optimisation

Recent publications

Journal articles

  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Andrea Genovese, Antonino Sgalambro, (2025), “An optimisation tool for strategic planning of multiple downgraded market levels in circular supply chain management”, Annals of Operations Research
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Andrea Genovese, Antonino Sgalambro, (2021), “Closed-loop supply chain design for the transition towards a circular economy: A systematic literature review of methods, applications and current gaps”, Journal of Cleaner Production. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129101.
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Yalda Katebi, Ali Doniavi (2019), “A generic two-stage fuzzy inference system for dynamic prioritization of customers”, Expert Systems with Application. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2019.04.059.

Technical Reports

  • A Brint, T Calzolari, A Genovese, B Lowe, B Purvis, A MahmoumGonbadi (2022), “Measuring circularity in supply chains: From theoretical assumptions to practical experiences”
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Tommasso Calzolari, Andrea Genovese, (2022), “Circular Economy indicators promoted by think thanks–A case study from material processing industry”
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Andrea Genovese, Antonino Sgalambro, (2022), “Mathematical modelling toolkit for solving decision-making problems for the establishment of circular supply chains”

Presentations

    Conference Papers

  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Mahnaz Hosseinzadeh, Francisco Saldanha-da-Gama, (2024), “Integrating Machine Learning algorithms and Cluster-First Route-Second Approach for Real-Time Optimisationof Green Vehicle Routing Problem (GVRP)”, The Operational research Society (OR66), Bangor, Wales, UK;
  • Ben Purvis, Tommaso Calzolari, Jose Bruno Fevereiro, Andrea Genovese, Azar MahmoumGonbadi, (2023), “A decision support tool for exploring a Just transition to a Circular Economy”, 4th Symposium on Circular Economy and Sustainability, Heraklion, Crete, Greece;
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Andrea Genovese, Antonino Sgalambro, (2022), “Optimal strategic planning of a multiple level remanufacturing Supply Network in a Circular Economy framework”, OR Society's Annual Conference (OR64), University of Warwick, Warwick, UK;
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Tommasso Calzolari, Andrea Genovese, (2021), “Circular economy practices adoption in the white goods industry in Europe: review of the state-of-the-practice”, International Conference on Resource Sustainability, University College Dublin, Ireland;
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Andrea Genovese, Antonino Sgalambro, (2020), “Network design models for closed-loop supply chains: a literature review and a research agenda”, SUMS Annual Conference, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK;
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Andrea Genovese, Antonino Sgalambro, (2020), “Network Design Models for Closed-Loop Supply Chains: A Literature Review and a Research Agenda”, 21st International Working Seminar on Production Economics, Innsbruck, Austria.
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Andrea Genovese, Antonino Sgalambro, (2019), “A Review of the Penetration of Sustainability Criteria in Closed-Loop Supply Chain”, 8th International Workshop – Advances in Cleaner Production, Sanya , China;
  • Azar MahmoumGonbadi, Yalda Katebi, Ali Doniavi, “Fuzzy Prioritization System (FPS) for dynamic customer prioritization”, 14th International Industrial Engineering Conference (IIEC2018).

International Experience

  • EU Horizon 2020 international consortia (multi-country project and global insights)
  • Secondments in Germany and Spain
  • Collaborations with regulators and civic organisations (ReLondon, Repair Cafés network)
  • Work with multinational corporations (Tata Steel, RECILEC)
  • Collaborations with Andalucian regional regulators in Spain
  • Research collaborations with the University of Seville and the University of Catania