NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS (NZIMA) Newsletter 25 November 2009 We're very pleased to bring you another update on news from the mathematical sciences CoRE, the NZIMA. The seventh issue of our colourful twice-yearly bulletin "NZ-IMAges" has just been produced and is being distributed. We hope you like it. If you didn't get a copy and would like one, please let us know! Marston Conder and Vaughan Jones Co-Directors of the NZIMA SUMMARY OF CONTENTS 1. Rutherford Medal for Peter Hunter FRS FRSNZ 2. More awards and honours 3. Other news 4. Yet another summer of conferences 5. Seventh issue of NZ-IMAges 6. NZIMA support for visitors and NZ conferences 7. Upcoming events in the mathematical sciences in Oceania 1. RUTHERFORD MEDAL FOR PETER HUNTER FRS FRSNZ Peter Hunter, Director of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute and one of the NZIMA's founding PIs, has won the Rutherford Medal for 2010. The Rutherford Medal is New Zealand's top science honour, awarded for exceptional contributions to New Zealand science and technology. This latest award to Peter recognises his distinguished achievements in biomedical engineering and computational physiology, and in particular, the leading role he has played in the international Physiome Project, which is building sophisticated mathematically-based computer models of all the human body's organs. Peter was interviewed in front of a live studio audience for the BBC World Service programme on Saturday 10th October, and by Kim Hill on National Radio on 21st November. The latter can be heard again at http://www.radionz.co.nz/search?mode=results&queries_all_query=Peter+Hunter 2. MORE AWARDS AND HONOURS * David Vere-Jones (one of the NZIMA's founding PIs) has won the Campbell Award of the New Zealand Statistical Association. This award recognises David's exceptional contributions to the promotion and development of statistics in New Zealand (and beyond). In particular, it recognises his many contributions to statistics education at all levels, and his outstanding research and publication record. * Margaret Woolgrove (the NZIMA's Research Manager) has won a General Staff Excellence Award at the University of Auckland, for her work on the NZIMA's "MathsReach" resource http://www.mathsreach.org. Margaret has managed the MathsReach project from the beginning, with assistance from her co-awardees Neil Morrison and Robert Carter (from the University of Auckland's Centre for Academic Development and Science IT group). * Three people associated with NZIMA programmes have been elected as Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2009: - Eamonn O'Brien (Maclaurin Fellow 2008/09 and co-director of our programme on Geometry: Interactions with Algebra and Analysis) - Andrew Pullan (a key participant and co-organiser of our programme on Modelling Cellular Function) - Allen Rodrigo (participant in our programme on Phylogenetic Genomics) * NZIMA scholar Vicky Wang (Auckland Bioengineering Institute) recently won the best paper award at the Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) Society's Annual Conference, for her work with fellow student Hoi Leng Lam on developing a computer model of the heart that could help clinicians diagnose and treat patients suffering from heart failure. Their paper was first out of 700 papers presented by entrants from 34 countries, and will appear in the highly-regarded journal "Medical Image Analysis". 3. OTHER NEWS * Marston Conder (NZIMA Co-Director) has been invited to join the Steering Committee for the Pacific Rim Mathematical Association (PRIMA) * Work by Matt Visser (one of the NZIMA's PIs) on Black Holes was featured in a recent issue of Scientific American (October 2009). 4. YET ANOTHER SUMMER OF CONFERENCES Again this summer we will have a large number of conferences and workshops in the mathematical sciences being held in New Zealand. As key drivers of knowledge transfer, generation of new ideas and both establishment and consolidation of collaborative linkages, conferences are highly valuable in the mathematical sciences, and we look forward to great outcomes. Already in November, the third New Zealand Postgraduate Mathematics & Statistics Conference was held at Foxton Beach, with sponsorship from the NZIMA. The meeting was organised by Atheer Matroud and Luke Fullard (from Massey University), with help from others around New Zealand. Coming up in December we have the 43rd Annual Conference of ORSNZ, the Australasian Region Conference of the International Biometric Society, and the 2010 NZ Mathematics Colloquium. Then in January will be the annual NZMRI/NZIMA summer meeting, this time on "Groups, Representations and Number Theory" (at Hanmer Springs), followed by an NZIMA workshop on Topological Quantum Field Theory & Knot Homology Theory (at Hahei), being organised as part of one of our earlier programmes, and then the 2010 ANZIMA Conference (at Queenstown). And that's not all! There will be at least two specialist workshops in Auckland in February. See item 7 below for further details (including conference websites). 5. SEVENTH ISSUE OF NZ-IMAGES GLOSSY BULLETIN The latest issue of our colourful twice-yearly bulletin "NZ-IMAges" has just been published. This, the seventh issue, features articles on the era of the algorithm, analysing earthquake signals, the diverse uses of partial differential equations (e.g. in ice, energy and wood), fuel-efficient revolutionary aircraft designs, environmental resource sampling, and harnessing waves and tides. Four of these six articles describe work by women mathematical scientists. A notable quote (from Colin Fox) is that "The magic of mathematics is that the same methods have applications in a whole range of fields. See also http://www.nzima.org/Publications.html for previous issues. 6. NZIMA SUPPORT FOR VISITORS AND LOCAL CONFERENCES The NZIMA undertakes and supports a wide range of activities in New Zealand that promote excellence in the mathematical sciences. As part of this, from time to time we call for suggestions for conferences and high-profile visitors and other valuable research (or research-related) activities. We are again making such a call, with a deadline of 15th February 2010. For details, see the NZIMA website http://www.nzima.org and click the "Support Opportunities" link in the left hand menu bar. 7. UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES IN NEW ZEALAND 29 November - 3 December 2009, at Taupo: Biometrics on the Lake: The International Biometric Society's Australasian Region Conference See https://conference.fos.auckland.ac.nz/ibsar/ 3-4 December 2009, at Christchurch: 44th Annual ORSNZ Conference, hosted by the University of Canterbury See http://www.orsnz.org.nz/conf44/ 8-10 December 2009, at Albany (North Shore City): Annual NZ Mathematics Colloquium, Massey University's Albany Campus See http://nzmc2009.massey.ac.nz/ 3-10 January 2010, at Hanmer Springs: Annual NZMRI/NZIMA Summer Meeting, this time with the theme of "Groups, Representations and Number Theory" See http://www.math.auckland.ac.nz/wiki/2010_NZMRI_Summer_Workshop 12-18 January 2009, at Hahei (Coromandel Peninsula): NZIMA workshop on Topological Quantum Field Theory & Knot Homology Theory See http://www.math.auckland.ac.nz/wiki/NZIMA_workshop_on_TQFTs_and_Knot_Homology_Theories 31 January - 4 February 2010, at Queenstown: ANZIAM 2010 (Annual Conference) See http://www.math.canterbury.ac.nz/ANZIAM/ 2-5 February 2010, at the University of Auckland: Model Calibration and Quantification of Predictive Uncertainty using PEST (NZIMA programme workshop) See http://www2.esc.auckland.ac.nz/PEST/index.html 15-19 February 2010, at the University of Auckland: Workshop on Algebraic, Topological and Complexity Aspects of Graph Covers (ATCAGC2010) See http://www.math.auckland.ac.nz/ATCAGC2010.html 17-19 February 2010, at the University of Auckland: Anthropometry Conference and Workshop 2010 See http://www.bioeng.auckland.ac.nz/events/detail.php?q=868 24-25 March 2010, in Wellington Statistics Forum 2010: Realising the value of official statistics See http://www.statisphere.govt.nz/official-statistics-forum-2010.aspx 29 June - 1 July, 2010, at Massey University, Palmerston North NZSA 2010 Conference and International Conference on Statistical Methodologies and Related Topics See http://nzsa_cdl_2010.massey.ac.nz/ SUBSCRIBING AND UNSUBSCRIBING Please forward this NZIMA newsletter to any non-subscriber to whom the material may be relevant and who may wish to receive the publication regularly. 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