Mathematics has moved way beyond the classroom walls as the result of a Massey University initiative. The country’s top mathematicians will gather at the University’s Auckland campus soon for their third annual brainstorm on a wide range of industry and everyday problems.
The Mathematics in Industry Study Group members will sit down with industry seeking to find solutions in just days that might otherwise take months to develop. Some of the scenarios they face include the balance systems in washing machines; working out how much spray is retained by plants; and developing sophisticated models for agricultural land management.
The annual week long workshop is directed by Massey’s Professor Graeme Wake and the Centre for Mathematics in Industry which he formed with a national group of academics in his discipline. Applied and industrial maths is different from “˜pure’ maths due to its cross disciplinary approach and focus on “˜real world’ results.
This study group is making a name for the results it has come up with in previous sessions in Auckland and at Australian based think tanks. Fisher and Paykel (Appliances) has participated in previous sessions and has presented the washing machine problem at this session. Says Philip Renwick, a spokesman for computer aided engineering at Fisher and Paykel (Appliances): “Mathematicians have a different way of approaching things than engineers do. We are learning new ways of approaching things from them. It definitely adds another string to our bow.”
Professor Wake is widely known for his success in applied mathematics and the Mathematics in Industry Study Group is also gaining widespread respect from both industry and government. The Auckland based event will be opened by the Hon Steve Maharey and those attending include the Government’s statistician.
“The 2006 event is sponsored in part by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, the government research and development investment agency and is acknowledged for its potential to contribute to the commercial world and to technological breakthrough.
Professor Wake says there is increasing collaboration between mathematicians and companies who recognize that high level mathematical thinking can deliver them a competitive advantage. “Industry now is only becoming aware of what applied mathematics can offer.”
For three years Professor Wake has been leading a group introducing the benefits of applied maths to industry in Korea through his partnership with Korea’s Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
MISG 2006 runs at Massey University’s Auckland campus in Albany from January 30 to February 3. Full details are at http://misg2006.massey.ac.nz
From Massey News