Operations Controller - Industrial Merchant, Air Liquide
Daniel Cheng completed the Master of Commerce specialising in Operations and Supply Chain Management. He works for Air Liquide.
Key facts
Career: Operations Controller - Industrial Merchant
Programme: Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Commerce
Subjects: Operations and Supply Chain Management and Information Systems
My advice to future students is to find a topic that you are genuinely interested in. I’ve always been interested in applying theory to find practical solutions to real-world problems, so I’m intrigued by modelling and simulation. One of the most rewarding moments of my masters study was seeing my simulation tool demonstrate the findings of my research.
Daniel completed a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Science conjoint degree majoring in Operations and Supply Chain Management, Information Systems and Chemistry before joining the masters programme.
"My research explored alternative souces of flexibility within operating theatre resources to help surgery schedules cope with acute liver transplants. Hospital schedules were rigid, which led to massive disruptions when urgent and resource-intensive surgeries arrived. I built a Microsoft Excel simulation tool that modelled the impact of my proposed solutions.”
Daniel says his supervisor, Dr Valerie Pavlov, encouraged him to connect with practitioners at Auckland and Middlemore hospitals, where he was able to sit in on a series of workshops to identify the source of the problem.
Daniel had the opportunity to present his work at the Joint New Zealand Statistical Association and Operations Research Society New Zealand Conference in Auckland.
“I was presenting to some of the most brilliant statisticians and experts in operations research in Australasia. It was a real honour.”