Get to know the members of ORSSA: Kurt Marais

In this edition of Get to Know the Members of ORSSA, we introduce Kurt, who is a Lecturer at Stellenbosch University. In this short interview, we get to know more about Kurt, what drew him to the field of OR, and how his research interests connect analytical thinking with some of the complex challenges facing society today.

Kurt, what is your academic and professional background?

"I completed my doctorate in Operations Research at Stellenbosch University at the start of 2026. Starting with Mathematical Sciences to in 2013 to being a lecturer in the Department of Logistics was not something I could have imagined, and I am loving every part of it."

What type of OR-related work are you currently involved in?

"My research has been in the mental health domain and applying optimisation thinking to online behaviour. Much of my current interests are around natural language processing as a means to quantify behaviour in some capacity, as well as using that quantified information in computations, all to the benefit of the well-being of decision-makers."

How (and when) did you first get involved with ORSSA?

"I first became a member in 2019 when I started working at Stellenbosch University."

Have you had positions on the Exec of ORSSA (and if so, when and what position)?

"No."

What do you enjoy most about being part of ORSSA or the OR community?

"The conversations happening within the OR community, both in ORSSA and globally, have been the most enjoyable parts. The diverse applications combined with the central focus of optimisation makes for engaging talks, and it is reassuring to know that operations researchers across the world face similar the challenges."

What excites you about the field of OR?

"OR is a resilient field; with new innovations and techniques being developed, or new trends in research being made daily, OR is the one field that can adapt to the new challenges without becoming redundant or obsolete. There will always be a need for efficiency, improvements in processes and developing tools to address the challenges of tomorrow. It is a field that stands the test of time."

Was there a specific project or moment that made you realise, “This is why I love OR”?

"I fell in love with it when I was taking my first OR class in second year. There is this sentiment of “what will you do as a mathematician one day” when you study mathematics, and it was in that OR class that the maths seemed to fit into place in my head, almost as if overlaying itself onto every process, every product, every facet where mathematics can be applied. Even if I didn’t have much of the knowledge to tackle all of these problems, knowing that OR could make it possible is what made me fall in love with the field."

What skills do you think are most important for students or early-career OR practitioners to develop today?

"Curiosity. I’m sure many others have shared this sentiment, but it really is a major component to developing within this field. Solving real-world problems becomes a lot easier when you’re curious about the problem (and the solution)."

What’s one small thing in your daily life that you now instinctively “optimise”?

"If I can help it, my route and time it takes to get lunch on campus. I’m constantly weighing up going for wider variety of options at the expense of longer queuing times, or a further walk with less waiting time. The objective function is always the same: maximise the amount of food."