Dr. Ali Soofastaei is a Global Projects Leader at Vale, AI Center.

​He uses innovative models based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to increase safety productivity, energy efficiency, and reduce maintenance costs.

Dr. Soofastaei holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and has an in-depth understanding of Energy Management (EM) and Equipment Maintenance Solutions (EMS). The extensive research he conducted on AI and Value Engineering (VE) methods while completing his Master of Engineering also led him to acquire considerable expertise in EM and EMS.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Assistant Professor, he has provided practical guidance to undergraduate and postgraduate students on mechanical and mining engineering and information technology.

​In the past 15 years, Dr. Soofastaei has conducted a variety of research studies in academic and industrial environments. He has acquired an in-depth knowledge of Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO), VE, and advanced analytics. He is also proficient at using Deep Learning (DL) and AI methods in data analysis to develop predictive and optimization models.

​Dr. Soofastaei has worked in the oil and gas, steel, nuclear energy, and mining industries and he also has ten years of academic experience as a tutor and assistant professor. His previous practical industrial experiences provided him with substantial knowledge and also enabled him to strengthen his ability to work in technical and multi-disciplinary teams.

​As a member of some research groups, Dr. Soofastaei is actively involved in site inspections, business problem identification. He is organizing brainstorming sessions with operators, supervisors, and managers in the areas of automation (e.g., electrical engineers and computer scientists), maintenance (e.g., mechanical and electrical engineers), and production (i.e., metallurgists).

Dr. Soofastaei has completed many research projects and published the results of these research projects in a lot of journals and conference papers. He published three chapter books with Springer and CRCPress and also developed three patents and three software packages.