We are pleased to share that our former guest researcher at BIBA and alumnus of the IGS – International Graduate School for Dynamics in Logistics at LogDynamics, Raúl Ignacio Castillo-Villagra, currently Chief Innovation Officer at Universidad Arturo Prat (Tarapacá Region, Chile), successfully completed his doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) on Monday, 17 November 2025.

His doctoral thesis was supervised by Prof. Klaus-D. Thoben, University of Bremen and Prof. Herbert Kotzab, University of North Florida. The thesis presents a novel standardized framework for modeling resilience in the upstream segment of the mineral supply chain. The results show that this framework enables an end-to-end transparency in mineral supply chains, supporting the mapping of operational actions and the design of resilience strategies in upstream business processes. It does so using a standardized modeling language that facilitates integration with the downstream segment of global supply chains. In this way, the work provides a solid starting point for future research on resilience modeling in similar industries, such as renewable energy, as well as for the development of new approaches to more transparent modeling of global supply chains, with a specific focus on upstream business-process transparency.

Dear Raúl, we wish you all the best in your future professional path and would be delighted if your passion for science and innovation continues to lead to joint research projects!