Hola! I am Felipe Santibañez-Leal, an I&F Decision Science Associate Manager at Accenture Industry X, currently on client assignment as Senior Data Science Lead & Technical Project Lead at CODELCO’s Advanced Analytics Directorate (MinCo-Hidro) under the Technology & Digitalization Management (GTD).

I am an applied scientist and technical leader with over 15 years of experience spanning academia and industry. I bridge advanced analytics, machine learning, and operational expertise to deliver measurable impact across mining, industrial, and service sectors.

My work and research

I love science, mathematics, and nature—and my career sits at their intersection.

I lead end-to-end data science initiatives for mining process optimization, delivering secure, scalable, production-grade solutions that tie business value to governance and engineering best practices.

Current focus areas:

• Advanced analytics and MLOps for mining operations (SAG mills, flotation, grinding)
• Predictive modeling, recommendation systems, and scenario-based optimization
• Hyperspectral imaging and geometallurgical estimation
• Architecture & solution design: feature engineering, batch/streaming pipelines, APIs/microservices

Research interests:

• Machine Learning & Deep Learning for industrial applications
• Bayesian and stochastic modeling for high-dimensional data
• Compressed sensing and adaptive sampling strategies
• Super-resolution microscopy and computational photography
• Geostatistical modeling and spatial analysis

Several laboratories, institutions, and researchers have shaped my research and my approach to science:

1. Advanced Laboratory for Geostatistical Supercomputing (ALGES)
2. Information and Decision Systems Group, Universidad de Chile
3. Biomedical Neuroscience Institute, Universidad de Chile
4. Third Institute of Physics - Biophysics, University of Gottingen
5. Heidelberg Center Latin America
6. Laboratory for Scientific Image Analysis (SCIAN-Lab), Universidad de Chile
7. Dr. Claudia Linker Lab
8. Laboratory of Experimental Ontogeny, Universidad de Chile
9. Millennium Scientific Nucleus of Neural Morphogenesis NEMO
10. Center for Optics and Photonics CEFOP, Universidad de Concepcion
11. Computer Graphics Lab, Universidad de Concepcion

Industry experience

I have delivered tangible KPI improvements across multiple sectors:

• Mining operations: Fleet optimization reducing unplanned stoppages; concentrator initiatives increasing SAG milling throughput and flotation recovery
• Manufacturing: Advanced analytics projects improving production by 10-15%
• Environmental management: Proactive monitoring and mitigation strategies reducing critical alert events
• Engineering systems: Workflows for GPR, hyperspectral, and magnetometry data collection accelerated from days to hours

Key clients and companies include CODELCO, Minera Centinela, and various mining and industrial operations across Chile.

My origins

I come from southern Chile, where I grew up on a hill—a bit isolated from civilization, but surrounded by nature, cliffs, forests, and beaches.

I received my Ph.D. from the School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Chile, a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Informatics jointly from the University of Chile and the University of Heidelberg, and my B.Sc. in Electronic Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Concepción. The campus of the Universidad de Concepción is also surrounded by nature.

I also hold an Industrial Electronics Technician degree from the High Technology Educational Center CEAT, located in San Pedro de la Paz—surrounded by a lagoon and a small hill.