Felipe Santibañez-Leal

Felipe Santibañez-Leal

he/him

I&F Decision Science Assoc. Manager @ Accenture | Applied Scientific Researcher

Closing a Chapter at CODELCO

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Last days at CODELCO. More than two years here and it’s hard to summarize everything. The projects delivered, the processes optimized, but honestly what I’ll remember most are the people. Engineers, operators, geologists – everyone taught me something. I came in as a data scientist and I’m leaving as someone who actually understands how a mine works – the gap between what a model says and what an operator needs is enormous, and bridging that gap became my real job. I learned that the best algorithm in the world is useless if the guy running the plant at 3 AM doesn’t trust it. I learned how flotation actually works, why grind size matters, what metallurgists worry about. The people are what made it, though. The engineers who stayed late explaining processes, the operators who patiently showed me what the numbers actually meant on the ground. Grateful for the experience. Time to move on to new challenges, but this chapter will stay with me.

Environmental monitoring — one of the systems delivered

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