STOR-i PhD graduate Dr Robyn Goldsmith, whose research focused on developing novel demand forecasting algorithms for high-stakes business decisions, has jointly won the Boylan Prize alongside Dr Yaroslav Pylyavskyy for his work on tacking complex conference scheduling.

The prize was established in 2024 to honour Professor John Boylan, a distinguished scholar and Professor of Business Analytics within the Department of Management Science. It is awarded to PhD researchers within the department.

Dr Goldsmith is now a Lecturer in Mathematics & Data Science at the University of Greenwich. Her work has already been implemented in a novel decisions support system at a leading automotive manufacturer to forecast demand and manage inventories for thousands of parts. As a result, the company not only incurs major cost savings but also important environmental benefits.

Her PhD supervisor, Dr Anna-Lena Sachs, said: “It is great seeing Robyn’s work being recognised by the Boylan Prize. She has made several excellent contributions during her PhD in the areas of demand forecasting, outreach and dissemination.

“Robyn is also a highly talented communicator, committed to disseminating the importance of Statistics and Operational Research to a wider audience, which she has successfully achieved through a range of outreach activities as well as articles in the Significance Magazine and Mathematics Today.

“It has been a real pleasure working with Robyn and I hope that we can continue our successful collaboration in the future.”