CECS - CECS News

Prestigious publishing in CS
by Heather McEwen

2012-02-13 09:00:00

Research staff and outstanding graduates in the Research School of Computer Science have recently been advised that their work (published in a paper, Looking Back on the Language and Hardware Revolutions: Measured Power, Performance, and Scaling,) has been selected for publication by the Communications of the ACM (CACM) Research Highlights. CACM is the flagship monthly journal of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in the USA. The paper reports on ANU, University of Texas, and the University of Washingtons investigations which are the first to systematically measure and analyze application power, performance, and energy on a wide variety of computer hardware.

According to Professor Steve Blackburn, one of the lead researchers on the team, the findings could help lower the energy costs of electronic devices ranging from small mobile devices and supercomputers to massive server farms.

Student thinks locally to act globally

2012-02-06 09:00:00

ANU College of Engineering and Science student, Michael Mazengarb, who is studying a combined Engineering and Science degree, will apply his passion for preserving the environment at the worlds largest round of climate change negotiations.

Read the article in On Campus

Steady as she goes
By Heather McEwen

2012-02-01 09:00:00

Professor John Hosking, the new Dean and Director of the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, had his first opportunity to address the College as a whole at the College Staff Forum on 31 January 2012.

He took the opportunity to thank Alistair Rendell, Interim Dean, on a personal and professional level for the difficult task of steering the College during what was a fairly lengthy captaincy, and the College joined him in a vote of thanks.

Professor Hosking remarked that he felt welcomed into a vibrant College with committed staff and students, thanking three graduate students for their outstanding contribution to outreach to develop a high school tool to demonstrate the role of IT in the environment. Torben Sko, James Sheridan and Ben Swift were presented with certificates and gifts to acknowledge their achievements.

The way forward: Smart modules and smart inverters

2012-02-01 09:00:00

PhD candidate, Arnold McKinley, from the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems in the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, discusses how many of the modules and inverters currently available on the market lack the 'smarts' that would make solar systems more efficient, in the February 2012 edition of Solar Australia.

Read the article, The way forward: Smart modules and smart inverters

HCI Summer School a great success
by Heather McEwen

2012-01-20 09:00:00

In a first for the College, the Research School of Computer Science (RSCS) presented a summer school on Human Computer Interaction (HCI) from 5 - 9 December 2011.

Forty students from ANU, UC, UniSA, QUT and Deakin University gathered for theoretical and practical workshops led by Dr Henry Gardner the Director of RSCS, and Professor Bruce Thomas, Deputy Director of the Advanced Computing Research Centre, University of South Australia. Professor Thomas is also Director of the Wearable Computer Lab.

The Summer School is the brainchild of both academics and is a collaboration between ANU and UniSA, as a summer course to help students to gain credits towards their degrees. It was supported by Microsoft Research and the Australian Government funded Engineering Hubs and Spokes project.

Tim Flannery virtually impressed
by Heather McEwen

2012-01-20 09:00:00

Late last year Torben Sko, the creator of a National Science Week Project Grant, Who Could You Be? had the chance to show Professor Tim Flannery his virtual character!

The computer software is the result of months of work by Torben and fellow PhD candidates James Sheridan and Ben Swift to develop an educational tool for high school students.

Using computer software originally created by Seeing Machines (which is used to track facial expressions to detect driver fatigue) and researchers in the former Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering at ANU, Torben created software to build and use Tim Flannerys facial features in a touch screen interactive display.

The Tim Flannery virtual character mimics the facial movements and expressions of the viewer enabling a virtual interaction to demonstrate how technology can provide solutions to some of the worlds environmental problems, a subject that is close Tim Flannerys heart.

Video star

2012-01-20 09:00:00

In recent video competition, Chris Arnold, a 2nd Year Engineering student won the Information Services Video Contest launched by the Division of Information for his video, "What is Wattle?"

You can view the clip on the contest page here.

Chris chose the topic of Wattle as it is a common service he uses. Hes created a pretty sophisticated clip that shows the different features in Wattle and reinforces how important Wattle is to a students academic life.

Congratulations on winning, Chris!

Engineers & IT students are a creative lot!

2012-01-10 09:00:00

No less than seven of the 14 winning images that feature in the ANU Community Calendar for 2012 were captured by undergraduate engineering and IT students from CECS!

Congratulations to Ka-Jin Chan, Cecil Li, Angie To and Kellie Ly.

The calendar is a project of the Dean of Students. Copies are available by contacting Dinah Withey in the Office of the Dean of Students.

Higher Degree by Research Student poster day 2011
by Heather McEwen

2012-01-09 09:00:00

For a snapshot of the innovative research and creative ability of our research students go to our HDR Student Poster Day 2011 site.

We would like to thank our sponsors for this event: The Canberra Business Council and the Office of Commercialisation.

If you are interested in supporting Poster Day, contact:
Project Manager
T 02 6125 6601
E Heather McEwen

Software engineering student a winner
by Heather McEwen

2011-11-28 09:00:00

4th Year Software Engineering student, Zakaria Bouguettaya in the Research School of Computer Science recently took out the inaugural NICTA/Optus Unleash Your App Android app development competition launched just two months ago in September 2011.

Zaks mobile app helps Canberrans to ride the public bus service by displaying and searching timetables, and using the users GPS capability to map a path to the nearest bus stop.

Research for the application, and for its further development, has not been without controversy. Zak and his fellow students from the 'Imagine Team' that developed the app tried taking the idea direct to ACTION in Canberra at one stage, and to the Transport Planning section of the Department of Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS). Territory and Municipal Services Minister Simon Corbell also became involved.

I'd like to extend my congratulations to Zak and the team," said Dr Henry Gardner, Head of the Research School of Computer Science.

The win is well deserved, all the more so because of its public good focus, he said. "It's interesting to see the entrepreneurial spirit alive and well in students and to acknowledge that we have aspiring good corporate citizens in the ranks of computer science!"

Visit the Imagine Team Website
Download the latest MyBus app
View the NICTA media release

Global Renewable Energy Trends
by Heather McEwen & Andrew Blakers

2011-11-11 09:00:00

A capacity crowd of 200 senior public servants, academic and general staff of ANU, students, and Canberra businesspeople, packed the Finkel Lecture Theatre at the University to hear what Dr Dan Arvizu, Director of the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) had to say about global renewable energy trends, on Monday 31 October.

Dr Arvizu discussed the enormous scale of the solar energy resource, and the exciting consequences of the ever-decreasing cost of harvesting solar energy. Dr Arvizu discussed the particular circumstances of the USA where energy is very cheap due to the presence of large subsidies, and there is therefore reduced economic incentive to find sustainable, renewable alternatives. Coupled with a tight credit regime since 1998, the US market for solar has been suppressed, although it is now starting to grow rapidly.

Dr Arvizu told the audience that the imperatives (common across the globe) to research into sustainable alternative energy sources remain and must be addressed now, not in decades, and he commented on his own sense of urgency both as an engineer and a researcher.

You can see the video of his inspirational address here.

The organisers gratefully acknowledge the support of the ACT Government through the Australian National University's Solar Energy Endowment Fund which made the public lecture possible.

Grant wins
by Heather McEwen

2011-11-04 09:00:00

The Interim Dean of the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, Professor Alistair Rendell, congratulated CECS academic staff on their successful grant wins today, saying that "staff from CECS are primary leads on 6 successful ARC grant applications and participants in 3 externally led grants." In October Dr David Nisbet won an NH&MRC grant for his research in bioengineering, and Dr Brad Yu won a Group of 8 Australia - Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme grant.

Congratulations to everyone.

Professor Marcus Hutter and Professor John Lloyd, ARC Discovery Project name: Feature reinforcement learning
Dr Rajeev Gore, ARC Discovery Project name: Mechanised foundations of proof calculi

Less talk, more code!

2011-09-22 09:00:00

Google Maps Challenge on Thursday, 29 September at 5:30pm

Google Engineers are visiting the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science. All interested staff and students are invited to attend their hands-on interactive tour of the Google Maps API.

They will take you inside the API and the solutions used to build a fast, feature-full, flexible API beginning with the basics by completing small exercises of increasing complexity.

Free pizza and Google prizes are also on offer.

'Future-proofing' yourself in IT
By Heather McEwen

2011-09-13 09:00:00

Computers and IT are here to stay and ANU Masters Courses are one of the best ways to stay ahead of the game, especially for public sector employees that are involved in major policy initiatives requiring technological change in order to succeed.

Federal and State Government policy initiatives on climate change, procurement reform, the National Broadband Network, Medicare consolidation, building sustainable future cities, or improving transport and infrastructure call for skilled managers and strategists, but they also call for innovative thinkers, leaders and problem solvers in computing.

The Techno Expo
by Heather McEwen

2011-08-17 09:00:00

On 15 August 2011 more than seventy research students from the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science presented their research in an illustrated poster, and talked with visitors from business and academia.

Congratulations to our prize-winners who each won financial assistance for conference travel, plus a cash prize to help them to celebrate:

CECS Dean's Awards for Teaching Excellence

2011-07-26 09:00:00

Staff in the College of Engineering and Computer Science are invited and encouraged to nominate for the Dean's awards for Teaching Excellence. The awards align with the Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Education and the Australian Awards for University Teaching offered by the Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC).

Up to four awards are available annually, each consisting of a Certificate and a prize of $2,000.

CECS sweeps ResearchFest poster exhibition

2011-07-11 09:00:00

Congratulations to three higher degree by research students who swept the board at the ANU ResearchFest poster exhibition on 6 July, said Professor Alistair Rendell, Acting Dean of the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science.

ResearchFest is a celebration of research students at ANU and brings students together to participate in talks, training and events to enrich their student experience, and help them to gain better skills along the way.

Ready, GetSet, Go!

2011-06-08 09:00:00

Sixty Year 11 and 12 girls visited the College of Engineering and Computer Science on Friday 13 May for the annual GetSet (Girls in Engineering and Technology) event. Students participated in a full day of fun, hands-on activities covering artificial intelligence and computer vision, engineering in developing countries, biomaterials for human health, as well as solar energy and sustainability - all delivered by some of our enthusiastic early career researchers, and other volunteers, within the College.

PM visits ASI laboratories at ANU

2011-03-22 09:00:00

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited the solar laboratories of theAustralian Solar Institute at ANU ahead of Professor Ross Garnaut'slaunch of his paper on low emissions technology on 23 March. His paperwill focus on solar and other sustainable energy solutions in relationto low emissions technologies.

The Prime Minister's visit highlighted the leading research anddevelopment role that Australia, ANU and ASI have in finding new ways tofind sustainable energy solutions to the world's reliance on mineralresources for its energy needs.

Read the article, Here comes the high-cost sun, The Australian, 22 March2011.

Women in Technology

2011-03-22 09:00:00

More than 80 female staff and students gathered on 17 March at the first networking event organised to introduce new undergraduate students to staff and fellow students at the start of the new semester.

We welcomed back four alumni who gave brief talks about their ANU experiences before talking about where they are now, said Heather McEwen, CECS Marketing Manager.

Each had an impressive bragalogue of their achievements following graduation, and were full of praise for the female academic staff that they felt were aspirational. All spoke about the quality of the ANU degree programs and how valuable these are out in the workforce, or in academia, said Ms McEwen.

The alumni work in government, in SMEs, and one is a PhD candidate. They all took the time to mix with students, sharing ideas and views on what to do while at Uni, and gave a few ideas on what to do afterwards.

None felt that being in a male dominated environment at university had disadvantaged them, and some had a few positives to emphasise.

And their over-riding messages to commencing and current students?

Take every opportunity to become involved in extra curricula activities; do your best to gain industry experience while studying; and network, network, network. Linda Postniece pointed out that this is something that women usually do very well, and with ease.

Our thanks to Bethel Sendaba and Bridget Lally (engineering) and Linda Postniece and Nandita Sharma (computing) for coming along to talk to us.

Thanks also to Professor John Richards, Master of University House, for donating the Lucky Door Prize of dinner for two at Boffins Restaurant.

CECS - CECS News

Prestigious publishing in CS by Heather McEwen

Student thinks locally to act globally

Steady as she goes By Heather McEwen

The way forward: Smart modules and smart inverters

HCI Summer School a great success by Heather McEwen

Tim Flannery virtually impressed by Heather McEwen

Video star

Engineers & IT students are a creative lot!

Higher Degree by Research Student poster day 2011 by Heather McEwen

Software engineering student a winner by Heather McEwen

Global Renewable Energy Trends by Heather McEwen & Andrew Blakers

Grant wins by Heather McEwen

Less talk, more code!

'Future-proofing' yourself in IT By Heather McEwen

The Techno Expo by Heather McEwen

CECS Dean's Awards for Teaching Excellence

CECS sweeps ResearchFest poster exhibition

Ready, GetSet, Go!

PM visits ASI laboratories at ANU

Women in Technology

Prestigious publishing in CS
by Heather McEwen

Steady as she goes
By Heather McEwen

HCI Summer School a great success
by Heather McEwen

Tim Flannery virtually impressed
by Heather McEwen

Higher Degree by Research Student poster day 2011
by Heather McEwen

Software engineering student a winner
by Heather McEwen

Global Renewable Energy Trends
by Heather McEwen & Andrew Blakers

Grant wins
by Heather McEwen

'Future-proofing' yourself in IT
By Heather McEwen

The Techno Expo
by Heather McEwen