A Google Research Award value at us$40,000 has been won by a team of Computer Scientists from the Universities of Adelaide and New South Wales.
The team members are:
Dr Brad Alexander,
Dr Fred Brown,
Dr Katrina Falkner and
Professor Zbigniew Michalewicz of the University of Adelaide and
Associate Professor Hossam el-Gindy of the University of New South Wales.
The aim is to create a curriculum to develop student's problem
solving skills at all levels of University study and distribute this curriculum widely.
The specific aim of
this proposal is to develop, test, and distribute the
first two courses in this curriculum to lay the foundation for the remainder.
The curriculum has an
emphasis on computing because computing problems
pervade almost all modern endevours.
Mastery of problem solving requires exposure to good
problem solving tactics and strategies; practice with
many problems; fast and useful feedback; and, importantly, re
lection. To meet these requirements within
the practical constraints of a University environment,
namely, large classes and few teachers, all courses in
the curriculum will be carefully designed to maximise
the following:
- Student motivation: Keeping the problems and
content engaging to encourage student to practice themselves.
- Automation: Using easy-to-use processes and
tools to improve feedback and responsiveness.
- Student community: Encouraging students to teach each other and reflect with others.
Another key design principle is portability - the aim
is make the setting up, running, and refinement of
these courses as straightforward as possible. This curriculum is of most value if it isn't tied to one place
and time.
The first course in the series, Puzzle Based Learning, will taught at the University of Adelaide in 2009 by world renowned AI researcher and puzzle lover Professor Zbigniew Michalewicz.
Computer Scientist Wins Excellence in Teaching Awards
Dr Katrina Falkner, a Lecturer in Computer Science, has won two teaching awards.
Each year the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, presents some of its best teachers with Awards for Teaching Excellence and the best of the best also receive the Executive Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence.
In 2007 Dr Katrina Falkner has recieved both Awards.
In addition to her Computer Science research as an active member of the
Jacaranda Research Group, Katrina is
also interested in Education research.
In 2006 she completed the
Grad Cert in Education (Higher Education), which
examines different approaches to teaching in a University environment.
She is a founding member of
ERGA (Education Research Group of Adelaide), which coordinates
Learning and Teaching activities across the University of Adelaide.
In 2007, ERGA held the 2nd ERGA Conference: Assessment that Works, building on the
previous year's successful ERGA conference,
Building Higher Education that Works: Methods and Results.
New Links With Top Chinese Department of Computer Science
Computer Science has recently established a collaborative arrangement with one of
the top three Computer Science Departments in China.
The Computer Science and Technology Department of Tsinghua University is one of the
top 3 Computer Science departments in China (ranked the top in 2006).
It is also one of the largest Computer Science departments in China,
comprising 4 research institutes and 1 state key lab.
The collaboration agreement enhances existing links between The University of Adelaide
and Tsinghua University. Among the goals of the agreement:
- It will provide support for Tsinghua students to undertake PhDs in Adelaide,
- Staff and senior PhD students will undertake extended exchange visits,
- Annual workshops will be co-hosted and alternate between Tsinghua and Adelaide, and
- Staff will be encouraged to work on joint research projects.
The longer term goal is to establish a collaborative research centre in a key research
area of mutual interest.
Pictured at the signing of the agreement are (from the left):
A/Prof. Chen Wenguan (Tsinghua), Prof. Lin Chuang (Tsinghua), Prof. Hong Shen (Adelaide), Prof. Sun Maosong (Chair of CST, Tsinghua), Prof. Fu Jianhua (Vice Chair of CST, Tsinghua).
Premier's Science and Research Fund Grant
The Australian Centre for Visual Technologies,
Tenix Defence, DSTO, and Rising Sun Pictures have been awarded a Premier's Science and Research Fund grant to develop a Visual Technologies Laboratory. The PSRF will provide $750,000 over 3 years towards the project, with partner contributions bringing the total grant amount to over $1.6 million.
This project will establish a state-of-the-art Visual Technologies Laboratory for research into the production and analysis of visual digital media based in South Australia. The Laboratory will provide a mechanism for generating both the world-class technologies and the skilled workforce required by the next generation of digital content-based industries. The Visual Technologies Laboratory will provide the infrastructure, focus and leadership in research required to establish South Australia as the focal point of Australian visual technologies industries. The capabilities to be provided will be invaluable to the Defence, Film and Television Production, Computer Games, Video Surveillance, Mobile Content and ICT industries amongst a host of others. These industries are unified by their dependence on visual digital media, and the fact that constant innovation is vital to their ongoing growth. These industries also represent an important opportunity for South Australia to leverage existing capabilities in order to take part in the rapidly expanding new economies surrounding digital content. This dynamic sector of the economy is largely immune to issues of geographic separation and thus offers a significant opportunity for growth in exports for South Australia.
Major Research Grants for Computer Science
Researchers in Computer Science have won four highly prestigious
research grants funded by the Australian Research Council.
The four grants worth over $926,000 are:
Enhanced parameter estimation for multi-component fitting in computer vision
Chief Investigator: Prof MJ Brooks
Funding 2008 : $85,000 ,
2009 : $85,000 ,
2010 : $80,000
This project will benefit Australia's scientific knowledge and technology base in the area of computer vision. By
contributing improved methods for parameter estimation applicable to a wide variety of technical problems, the
project will aid the generation of improved software products in a wide variety of domains. Examples include:
augmented reality systems, with which virtual reality artifacts may be immersed within real video; behaviour
analysis in surveillance, in which complex, articulated 3D object motions may be characterised.
A Platform for Rapid and Flexible Development of Context-Aware Web Services
Chief Investigator: Dr M Sheng
Funding 2008 : $75,118 ,
2009 : $72,118 ,
2010 : $69,118
Context awareness is one of the most exciting trends in computing today, and it holds the potential to make our
daily life more productive, convenient and enjoyable. The proposed project will produce a comprehensive platform
for developing context-aware Web services, which will facilitate ready implementation of many innovative
applications and make important contributions to Australian society and the national economy. One such
application is an intelligent seniors assistance service that will improve quality of life for senior citizens while helping
them maintain an independent lifestyle. This project will also place Australia at the forefront of Web service
development.
Towards Scalable, Internet-Based RFID Traceability Networks
Chief Investigators: Dr M Sheng; Prof PH Cole
Funding 2008 : $80,000 ,
2009 : $80,000 ,
2010 : $75,000
Food and drug safety is a major public health issue in Australia. Recent events involving poisoning of chocolate
bars and paracetamol tablets in Australia have demonstrated the urgent need for improved ways of locating and
recalling commercial products that have been released into the community. This project will develop novel
techniques for locating items in large-scale distribution networks driven by RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)
technology. The outcomes of the project will make it easier to rapidly and accurately pinpoint product locations in
the event of problems such as an illness outbreak due to contaminated food or counterfeited drugs.
Interactive 3D modelling from video
Chief Investigators: Dr AJ van den Hengel; Dr P Torr
Funding 2008 : $80,000 ,
2009 : $75,000 ,
2010 : $70,000
Many industry sectors are becoming increasingly reliant on the production of 3D models from imagery. These
models are used for purposes such as video post-production, virtual reality, reverse engineering, 3D medical
imaging, planning and simulation. By developing technologies and expertise in these areas, and particularly in
model generation, within Australia, the research team aim to provide a capacity of significant value to Australian
industry and a valuable export opportunity.
Computer Scientist Appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Strategy)
Professor Mike Brooks' appointment as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Strategy) follows on from his appointment as Chair of the Research Quality Framework Board at the University of Adelaide. The RQF Board was established in 2007 to oversee the University's preparation for Australia's first research assessment exercise, scheduled for introduction in 2008.
At the time of his appointment to the RQF Board, Professor Brooks was head of the School of Computer Science, where he holds the Chair in Artificial Intelligence.
He is a leading international researcher in computer vision and image analysis and has published over 100 articles in the field. His work has seen wide commercial utilisation and has resulted in international awards in the area of video surveillance.
Professor Brooks served for eight years on various Australia Research Council Discovery Grant committees. From 1992-2006 he was a Program Leader within the Cooperative Research Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing. He is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society and an associate editor of the International Journal of Computer Vision.
Google Presentation for Secondary School Students
When & WhereFriday September the 14th 2007 at 6pm
Union Hall Building
The University of Adelaide North Terrace |
Do not miss this presentation delivered by Alan Noble, the Director of Google Australia and New Zealand. Alan graduated from The University of Adelaide and is responsible for managing and growing Google's Engineering, Research & Development centre in Sydney.
Come along to learn more about the future of ICT, how the landscape for commerce and the internet is changing and the exciting opportunities that will be available to students who graduate from ICT degrees over the next few years.
To attend, please register for this event or contact Kirby Gagliardi.
Puzzle Based Learning
Starting in 2009, the School of Computer Science will offer a new course on Puzzle Based Learning, taught by world renowned AI researcher and puzzle lover Prof. Zbigniew Michalewicz. To promote the course, some puzzles were posed to future students at Open Day. And now, as promised, here are the solutions!
New Degree in Computer Graphics
Starting in 2008 a new undergraduate degree in Computer Graphics will be offered by the
School of Computer Science and the School of Architecture,
Landscape Architecture & Urban Design.
This innovative program will combine essential Computer Science skills with a
practical foundation in Design Studies and Digital Media providing students with
both the technical and artistic skills required within this field.
Shortage of IT Graduates
Australia is continuing to experience a shortage of IT graduates despite increasing demand according to a recent report in ITWire.
Student Successes in Singapore
Congratulations to the 26 new Bachelor of Computer Science graduates from the
Ngee Ann Adelaide Education Centre in Singapore.
Pictured here after the Singapore graduation ceremony are a few of
the graduates along with the Acting Head of Computer Science, Associate Professor David Munro.
Adelaide Student Wins Apple University Consortium Honours Scholarship
The Apple University Consortium has awarded
Sam Pohlenz a $4,000 scholarship to support his Honours Project
entitled "Development of Context-Aware Web Services".
Previous research in this area has explored how the notion of traditional Web
services can be extended by incorporating 'context' information - that is,
data that can be used by the Web service to adapt itself in order to
give more intelligent and more personalised results.
Sam's project will focus on building a toolset that can be used to develop
these context-aware services so that they can then be deployed into a
working environment.
Sam is supervised by Dr Michael Sheng.
A full list of the scholarship recipients and details of their projects are available
on the AUC Website.
Google Visits Adelaide
Google will be on campus at the University of Adelaide on Friday 23rd March.
Come meet Google Sydney's Site Engineering Director Alan Noble and find out:
- How does Google deal with massive amounts of data?
- What cool applications can Google build with that data?
- What does Google's Sydney Engineering Centre do?
(and is it true there's free food)
In this talk, Alan will answer these and other technical questions, offering a glimpse of Google behind the scenes. You will find out how Googlers work, play and change the world...
Where:Napier Lecture Theatre 102, Napier Building, North Terrace.
When:3.10 to 4pm, Friday 23 March 2007.
To Attend:www.google.com.au/adelaide-talk
Two Successful Learning and Teaching Development Grants
The University of Adelaide's Learning and Teaching Committee allocated $150,000 for 2007 to fund Learning and Teaching Development Grants aimed at improving learning and teaching outcomes in the University. Applicants from the School of Computer Science have been successful in attracting almost $60,000 of this funding for innovative teaching projects.
Congratulations to Katrina Falkner and Brad Alexander (with Edward Palmer (CLPD), Joy McEntee (Humanities), Said Alsarawi (Electrical Engineering), Michelle Coulson, James Botten and Lynn Rogers (Science)) for their success in gaining funding for their project entitled: "Evaluating effectiveness, defining standards and sharing effective methods of assessment across disciplines". The grant is valued at $32,071
Congratulations also to Cheryl Pope and Henry Detmold (with Matt Roughan (Maths)) for their success in gaining funding of their project entitled: "Leveraging an industry partnership to enhance the computer networking student experience". The grant is valued at $27,440
Computer Scientist to Head Research Quality Board
Professor Mike Brooks, Head of Computer Science, has been seconded to the position of Chair of the University's Research Quality Framework Board. The Federal Government is introducing the Research Quality Framework, RQF, as a mechanism for distributing funds to Universities on the basis of research excellence. Professor Brooks' extensive experience in research leadership will help guide the development of the University's submission.
For the remainder of 2007, the School of Computer Science will be led by Associate Professor David Munro in the role of Acting Head supported by Dr Fred Brown in the role of Acting Deputy Head. Associate Professor Munro will retain his role of Associate Dean (IT) during this period.
International Workshop on Parameter Estimation for Computer Vision Problems
The
Australian Centre for Visual Technologies is hosting the
The International Workshop on Parameter Estimation for Computer Vision Problems.
A series of talks will be presented including the following (contact
acvt@acvt.com.au for times and locations):
- Object Recognition Beyond the Visible Spectrum.
Dr. Antonio Robles-Kelly, National ICT Australia, Canberra
- Trace ratio problems revisited.
Dr. Chunhua Shen National ICT Australia, Canberra
- Statistical Optimization for Geometric Fitting: Theoretical Accuracy Bound and High Order Error Analysis.
Kenichi Kanatani Department of Computer Science, Okayama University, Japan
- Fast Projective Reconstruction: Toward Ultimate Efficiency.
Kenichi Kanatani Department of Computer Science, Okayama University, Japan
Closing the credibility gap
Having recently published a book on the subject, Matthew Michalewicz appeared in an Australian Financial Review article discussing ways in which businesses can establish credibility. The complete article is available here.
New Lecturers Join School
The School welcomed two new lecturers in November 2006, Dr Michael Sheng (left) and Dr Li Jiang. Michael is an expert in web services and pervasive computing and was previously at CSIRO's ICT Centre in Canberra. Li Jiang is an expert in decision support for software engineering and has just come from University of New Brunswick in Canada. Both will play an important role in the School's software engineering teaching and research.
Adelaide student takes on world in design contest
School of Computer Science student Patrick Coleman has finished third in
the software component design category in one of the world's
top programming events. Patrick was one of only eight students,
from a field of over 700 competitors,
qualifying to compete in the Component Design final of the
2006 TopCoder Collegiate Challenge.
The final, a gruelling three-day event, required the contestants
to create detailed designs for new and challenging
software components each day. The contest attracted widespread interest
with AOL broadcasting events live on the final day from the contest
venue in San Diego.
Patrick, who is also a member of the South Pacific Champion team
for the ACM International Collegiate Programming
Contest in 2006, will now prepare for the 2007 final
of the ACM Contest in Tokyo next March.
ICT salaries up 12%
The Ambition Technology Market Trends and Salaries Report: Summer 2007 estimates that ICT salaries have increased by an average of 12% in the last 6 months, as demand for IT professionals outstrips supply. More details here.
Tsinghua University delegation visits Adelaide
The University of Adelaide received a high-level delegation from China's top rating Tsinghua University in late November 2006. The two universities aim to develop collaborative and exchange links at both the staff and student levels. Pictured below is Professor CUI Guowen, Director of COACE, Tsinghua University, along with Mike Brooks. Computer Science's Prof Hong Shen will visit Tsinghua in December 2006 to undertake further discussions.
Student prizes 2006
Congratulations are due to the following students who were awarded prizes for 2006 in the following categories:
Best Poster - Honour/Masters Project
Winner of Apple iPod Prize: Simeon Nasilowski
Honourable Mention ($50 book voucher each) to Smarom Chantratri, An Zhao, John Millard
Best Poster - Mobile & Wireless Networks
The following students each won a $50 book voucher: Vlad Stefan, James Brooks,Ekim Kocadag
ACM Programming Competition - Winners Australia and New Zealand
$50 book vouchers and world finals travel contribution went to: Alex Flint, Patrick Coleman, Khang Thoai Tran
Computer Graphics Project
Winner of project prize (Apple iPod): Tawan Achavanuntakul
Winner of Rising Sun prize (DVD set): Adam Masters
Prof. Michalewicz appointed SA Ambassador
Congratulations to Professor Zbigniew Michalewicz on his recent appointment as a Business Ambassador for the State of South Australia. The main responsibility of the appointee is to promote South Australia as a wonderful place to live, be educated, visit, work, invest and do business. "I am sure Professor Michalewicz will make an outstanding addition to our program," said Hillary Hurrell, Director, South Australian Business Ambassadors Network (SABAN). The SABAN program was an inaugural project of SA Business Vision 2010 and it provides an important rallying point for business, academic and community leaders committed to making a difference to the future of the State.
PhD Scholarship with the DHPC group
The Distributed High Performance Computing group is offering a PhD scholarship for 3 years commencing in 2007. The project is in the area of performance modelling and prediction of parallel networks and algorithms. Further details are available here.
Honours/Masters projects on display
Computer Science Honours and Masters students recently showcased their projects to staff members from across the Faculty, and representatives from local industry. The presentations were the culmination of a year's work and were of a very high standard. Congratulations to all involved!
New ARC Discovery Grant awarded, 2007-2009
DP0770482 Prof MJ Brooks; Dr AR Dick
Title: Automated acquisition of surveillance-camera network topology
2007: $67,000
2008: $67,000
2009: $67,000
Category: RFCD 2802 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND SIGNAL AND IMAGE PROCESSING
Administering Institution: The University of Adelaide
Project Summary
The development of an automated system for acquisition of camera network topology is a crucial prerequisite to obtaining intelligent surveillance systems operating at the network level. Such systems will contribute improved methods for safeguarding Australia from terrorism and crime by facilitating the tracking of suspicious individuals and vehicles, and detecting anomalous behaviours in busy environments. The leading-edge techniques involved will also constitute smart information use of significant commercial value to Australian industry.
Online IT job ads soar
The Age reports that online job ads have reached a record high, with IT job ads growing particularly strongly.
From the article:
Olivier Group director Robert Olivier said that the IT industry leaped ahead during the month after steadily gaining ground over the last few months.
"Technology once again is becoming the sort of sexy industry it was in the late '90s," he said.
...
Online job ads in the IT and telecommunications sector rose by 4.6 per cent in September from the previous month, while the multimedia internet and graphics sector soared 17.1 per cent, and a massive 90.75 per cent since September last year.
Mr Olivier said the sector was tipped to keep growing, with the industry functioning generally untouched by higher interest rates and petrol prices.
Adelaide Team Crowned Australian Champions - Again
A School of Computer Science student team has won the title of Australian Champions for the second year running in the world's most prestigious ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. The team - comprising Patrick Coleman, Alex Flint and Khang Tran - solved an astounding 8 out of 10 complex problems in the 5 hour session to take first place in a highly competitive field of 80 teams from the best universities across Australia and New Zealand. The team will now represent Australia at the world final to be held in 2007.
Summer scholarships 2006/7
The University of Adelaide runs a summer research scholarship programme for undergraduate students who are interested in the prospect of future postgraduate study and research. The School of Computer Science will match the living allowance offered by the university to successful applicants, bringing the total stipend to $300 per week. Details on the scheme and how to apply are available here. Details of the research projects available in Computer Science are listed here. If you are interested in a project or research area that is not listed, please get in touch with a staff member with relevant research interests.
New professor appointed
We are delighted to announce that Hong Shen will join the School of Computer
Science at the University of Adelaide as Professor of Computer Science in October 2006.
He received his B.Eng. degree from Beijing University of Science and Technology, M.Eng. degree from
University of Science and Technology of China, Ph.Lic. and Ph.D.
degrees from Abo Akademi University, Finland, all in Computer
Science. He has extensive academic experiences internationally
including 9 years service at Griffith University (Australia) from
Lecturer to Professor and 5 years service at the Japan Advanced Institute
of Science and Technology as Professor and Chair of the Computer Networks Laboratory.
With main research interests in parallel and distributed computing,
algorithms, high performance networks, data mining and multimedia
systems, he has published more than 200 papers, including over 100
papers in major journals such as a variety of IEEE and ACM
Transactions.
Prof Shen has received over 10 research grants, including national
competitive grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC), Japan
Society for Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) and Japan Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). He was a
core member and stream coordinator in the JSPS 21st Century Centre of
Excellence "Verifiable and Evolvable e-Society" led by Prof. T.
Katayama. Prof Shen has been an editor/associate editor/editorial-board member for 7
international journals; chaired numerous international conferences;
served on Program Committee for more than 100 international
conferences. He was the co-recipient of the1991 National Education
Commission Science and Technology Progress Award and 1992 Sinica
Academia Natural Sciences Award.
PhD project opportunities with Prof Shen are listed here.
2006 Google Anita Borg Scholarship
The Google Anita Borg scholarship is a $5000 scholarship for the 2007 academic year. Female students studying Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering or related technical fields are eligible to apply. The deadline is Friday, September 15, 2006. More details are available at www.google.com.au/anitaborg.
Affordable Adelaide
Statistics from the Economist Intelligence Unit released this week show that it costs 18% less to live in Adelaide than Australia's most expensive city, Sydney. Melbourne is 17% more expensive and it costs students 6% more to live in Brisbane and Perth. (Main story)
"Winning Credibility" book launch
Matthew and Zbigniew Michalewicz launched their new book "Winning Credibility: A Guide for Building a Business from Rags to Riches" (www.credibility.com.au) at a recent American Chamber of Commerce event at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. In attendance were many leading figures from the local academic and business community, including the Vice Chancellor and President of Adelaide University, Dr James McWha, the CEO of Playford Capital, Ms Amanada Heyworth, and the Chairman of the Venture Capital Board, Dr Roger Sexton. The book is currently number 1 in the Dymocks best seller list, published in the Advertiser on August 5 2006.
Matthew is a Visiting Fellow at the School of Computer Science and teaches the Masters course "Commercialising IT Research". Zbigniew is Professor of Computer Science at the school.
Photograph by award-winning photographer Richard Humphrys (www.RichardHumphrys.com.au)
Uni Adelaide highly ranked for research
The University of Adelaide is at the forefront of Australian
universities when it comes to research, according to a paper published
this week. The paper, 'Ranking and Clustering Australian University Research Performance, 1998-2002' lists the University of Adelaide as #2 in the national research rankings based on research output per academic staff member. The full table is available here.
Student awarded Apple scholarship
Computer Science PhD student Peter Nguyen has been awarded an Apple University Consortium scholarship to attend Apple's WWDC conference in San Francisco in August, 2006. WWDC, the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, provides an opportunity to review latest Apple technology and discuss technical advances with Apple engineers.
Adelaide Team Crowned South Pacific Champions
A team of students from the School of Computer Science
has won the title of South Pacific Champions in the
world final of the International Collegiate Programming
Contest. The final, held this April in San Antonio
Texas, brought together 83 teams who qualified from over
6000 teams from 1733 universities in 84 countries. The
University of Adelaide Team - made up of Patrick Coleman,
Alex Flint, and Khang Tran - successfully answered two
questions, during the gruelling five-hour test of programming
skill, ranking them in the middle of the elite field and earning
them the title of South Pacific Champions.
Preparations are now underway for next year's contest. If you
are a student of the University of Adelaide and you are interested
in competing please contact
Brad Alexander
for more information.
Link to the ICPC official website.
