An Interview with Google

The organising committee recently caught up with Isa Notermans, Talent & Outreach People Programs Specialist from Google (Australia) who are a Platinum Sponsor of NZCSRSC for an interview.

NZCSRSC: Who and what is Google?

Isa: At Google we are making the world’s information universally accessible and useful to all, which can come in all shapes and sizes such as our search engine, Android and Chrome operating systems and our wonderful world of apps. Google was founded in 1998 by two Stanford Grads – Larry Page & Sergey Brin and the term Google comes from ‘Googol’ – 10 to the 100 zero’s relating to the fact that there is an endless supply of information out there.

NZCSRSC: What makes Google tick?

Isa: One thing over all else powers Google’s momentum and that is it’s people. Those that are passionate about making a difference and making the world’s information universally accessible and useful all contribute to what Google has become and what it will be. We share a few common values, top of most is our belief that if we focus on the user, everything else will follow. For example, search is what we're known for. For us we won't be satisfied until a user finds exactly what they are looking for first time, every time. Naturally we still have a long way to go!

NZCSRSC: What can we expect from Google in 2010?

Isa: We are constantly innovating and working on ways to improve our products, so you can expect to see lots of exciting things this year ... locally, we're busy working on products and features that make life easier for Australians and New Zealanders, like making it easy to search for movie show times near you, or being able to see public transport options on Google Maps.

NZCSRSC: What is Google and the Internet going to be like in 2020?

Isa: It's very hard to predict ... with a flourishing internet eco-system, you never know where the next application will come from. We do notice a few major trends though ... the web is becoming increasingly social as people want to share the useful and fun information they find, and more and more people are visiting the internet from their mobile phone. As these trends converge we're going to see some really interesting new products emerge.

NZCSRSC: How is Google helping with global issues such as climate change?

Isa: Climate change is something we feel very strongly about, particularly because it fits so well with our mission of organising information and making it accessible and useful. More information
about how power is being used can help consumers make more informed decisions, which is why we have created a feature called Power Meter (available in the US right now) so people can manage and monitor their usage more closely. We've also developed special layers for Google Earth that share climate change information. To make sure that we're doing our part, we're committed to being carbon neutral, and we've designed some of the world's most efficient data centres, as well as developing on-site renewable energy in some places, to reduce our impact on the environment.

NZCSRSC: What involvement within the NZ ICT community does Google have?

Isa: We are currently about to embark on our Australasian national campus tours. We will bringing our roadshow to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Waikato. We also have several Alumn’s working at our office in Sydney and around the world and our Girl Geek Coffee Clubs on campus currently have a chapter running out of the University of Auckland.

NZCSRSC: How is Google helping support women in computer science and technology?

Isa: In lot’s of ways! The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship is in it’s 5th year! Through the scholarship, we aim to encourage women to excel in computing and technology, and become active role models and leaders in their communities. Such scholarships have created programs like the Google Girl Geek Coffee Clubs on campus as well as sponsorship of the Girl Geek Dinners in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. We also want to encourage young girls to think about computer science at a tertiary level which is why we started the Girls@ Google Day. This year we hope to launch the Junior Anita Borg Scholarship for such girls hoping to study an ICT discipline at University.

NZCSRSC: Why is Google a great place to work?

Isa: We still maintain a small company feel. At lunchtime, almost everyone eats in the office café, sitting at whatever table has an opening and enjoying conversations with Googlers from different
teams. Our commitment to innovation depends on everyone being comfortable sharing ideas and opinions. Every employee is a hands-on contributor, and everyone wears several hats (as well as bare feet and shorts if that is what you feel comfortable in). The rumours are true, we enjoy a very colourful and entertaining workplace that is filled with inspiring people, projects and passions.

NZCSRSC: Are there any employment or internship opportunities at Google?

Isa: There sure are! As we continue to grow, we are always looking for those who share a commitment to creating search perfection and having a great time doing it. We are aggressively inclusive in our hiring, and we favor ability over experience. Also, take a look at:
http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/jobs/

We have a year round intake of interns for our 12 week full-time program for all degree levels check out: http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/jobs/students/internships/

An Interview with The IET

The organising committee recently caught up with Karla Smith from The IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology), a Gold Sponsor of NZCSRSC for an interview.

NZCSRSC: What did you study when you were at university?

Karla: I did Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Canterbury. I've completed a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), a Postgraduate Diploma and a PhD.

NZCSRSC: What are you doing now?

Karla: At present I am self-employed and still based in Christchurch. I'm currently contracting to Rodgers Hulston and White Ltd (a consulting firm specialising in telecommunications engineering).

NZCSRSC: How did you get involved with The IET?

Karla: I got involved with the IET through the Present Around the World Competition; I won the Christchurch Event in 2007, and went to Melbourne for the next level of the competition (the South Pacific Present Around the World Competition). Shortly after I returned the Young Professionals AGM was held, and I thought it would be good to be more involved. I am currently Treasurer of the Christchurch Young Professionals, and an IET Council member (Council advises the Board of Trustees, which is the IET's main governing body).

NZCSRSC: Who is The IET?

Karla: The IET is one of the world’s leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community, with more than 150,000 members in 127 countries and offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. The IET provides a global knowledge network to facilitate the exchange of ideas and promote the positive role of science, engineering and technology in the world.

NZCSRSC: What does The IET do?

Karla: The IET aims to share and advance knowledge in Science, Engineering and Technology to enhance people's lives. Some examples of the way it does this are: running seminars, workshops and conferences, publishing magazines, creating materials for schools to use and providing career development tools for engineers.

NZCSRSC: What role does The IET play in the NZ ICT industry?

Karla: The IET runs seminars and lectures in the subject area. Plus the IET offers the professional registration ICTTech for ICT Technicians.

NZCSRSC: How can I get involved with The IET?

Karla: There are lots of ways to be involved with the IET. Membership is the first step most people take, but many of our events are open to non-members as well as members. If you see advertising for an IET event, come along! Your Local Network's Present Around the World Competition is a great way to get started as well, since you don't need to be a member to enter. All you have to do is a ten minute presentation on a topic of interest to the IET, and most of the marks are given for presentation skills. An entrant from New Zealand has won the Global Competition (held in London) for the past two years!

NZCSRSC: How can I become a student member of The IET?

Karla: If you email membership.auckland@theiet.org, membership.wellington@theiet.org or membership.christchurch@theiet.org (as appropriate), we can answer any queries about becoming a member. We subsidise the first year of membership for student members, so it only costs $25.

NZCSRSC: What are the benefits of being a student IET member?

Karla: You get informed of any events that are being run in your area, you get a fortnightly magazine full of articles about new advances in engineering and technology, you get free or reduced entry to certain events, and it looks good on your CV! I've found that you get out what you put in - especially if you volunteer your time to help govern the IET. As a Council member I talk to engineers from all over the world, get to experience meetings with 60+ people, and influence the direction the IET takes. It's an amazing opportunity for me to network and gain experience. At the Local Network level I've honed my organisational skills, learnt some PR skills, and done more networking!

NZCSRSC: What scholarships and awards are there that students can apply for?

Karla: The main award that the IET offers in NZ is the NZ postgraduate award. This is open to any member of the IET who is going to undertake postgraduate study (entries close at the end of September each year for the following year of study). There are also a number of awards and scholarships open at all members of the IET. These can be found at http://www.theiet.org/about/scholarships-awards. As an example, a New Zealander won the Sir Henry Royce Award in 2009.

NZCSRSC: Where can I find out more about The IET in my area?

Karla: You can take a look at the website: http://www.theiet.org/nz, which has information about the IET in New Zealand, and also has links to the three Local Networks (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch). The Auckland Local Network covers the top half of the North Island, the Wellington one the bottom half of the North Island, and the Christchurch one covers the whole South Island. Alternatively, go along to any event that you see advertised and talk to a committee member.

Submission deadline extended!

The final call for papers deadline has now been extended to 31st December 2009.

1st Call For Papers Submission Deadline: 11 December 2009

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN!

We are now inviting submissions for full and short papers for the 8th New Zealand Computer Science Research Student Conference (NZCSRSC 2010), to be held in April 2010 at Victoria University of Wellington.

OVERVIEW

The NZCSRSC is a conference organised by Computer Science research students to strengthen the research community in New Zealand by providing opportunities for students to share, discuss and acquire valuable feedback in regard to their research, build research network and definitely establish friendship. It is also a good opportunity for Computer Science research students from around New Zealand to gain vital experience in writing academic papers, peer reviewing, and presenting work at the conference.

More information available at:
http://ecs.victoria.ac.nz/Events/NZCSRSC2010

PAPERS

Submissions are now being accepted for:

• Full papers (with presentation) – not exceeding 8 pages.
• Short papers (with poster) – not exceeding 4 pages.

All papers must be in PDF format.

Papers must follow the ACM style guidelines (PDF).

Papers must be written by a student author and reflect the student's own research. Papers can contain research in progress i.e. research does not need to be complete for a paper to be accepted. Papers may be co-authored as long as the primary author is a Computer Science research student at the time of submission and is affiliated with a New Zealand university. Papers extending work published in previous NZCSRSC are also accepted, provided the advancement is significant.

More information available at:
http://ecs.victoria.ac.nz/Events/NZCSRSC2010/Submissions

IMPORTANT DATES

• Paper submission deadline: 11 December 2009
• Review period: January 2010
• Camera ready deadline: TBD
• Conference: 12-15 April 2010

More information available at:
http://ecs.victoria.ac.nz/Events/NZCSRSC2010/ImportantDates

TOPICS OF INTEREST

The conference incorporates all major research areas in Computer Science including (but not limited to) the following:

• Agile Software Development
• Algorithms and Data Structures
• Artificial Intelligence
• Bioinformatics
• Computer Vision
• Computer Theory
• Data Mining
• Databases
• Digital Libraries
• Distributed Systems
• Formal Methods
• Genetic Programming
• Graphics
• Human Computer Interaction
• Image Processing
• Information Systems
• Intelligent Tutoring Systems
• Internet Security
• Knowledge Engineering
• Machine Learning
• Networks
• Pattern Recognition
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Software Visualisation
• User-Centred System Design
• Virtual and Augmented Reality

REVIEWING

The NZCSRSC is a peer reviewed conference. By submitting a paper, each student author agrees to be a reviewer. For each paper an author submits, they will receive three papers to review during the review period. Each author will be presented with their papers to review at the beginning of the review period.

PLAGIARISM

All submissions will be checked for plagiarism. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you are unsure what constitutes plagiarism, or would like more information on academic referencing, please see http://ecs.victoria.ac.nz/Events/NZCSRSC2010/Submissions

PUBLICATION STATUS

These papers are work in progress. They are not archival publications and will not constrain future submissions. Your work in progress may be reused for later publications if appropriate. Copyright belongs to the author(s) / owner(s) of the paper. Note that this is a student conference reviewed by students.

CONTACT DETAILS

Queries regarding the call for papers or submissions:

Rashina Hoda, rashina@ecs.vuw.ac.nz

General contact and queries:

Craig Anslow, craig@ecs.vuw.ac.nz
Siva Dorairaj, Siva.Kumar.Dorairaj@ecs.vuw.ac.nz

http://ecs.victoria.ac.nz/Events/NZCSRSC2010/

NZCSRSC 2010

Following on from the successful tradition of previous NZCSRSC conferences. Next years conference, NZCSRSC 2010 is going to be held at Victoria University of Wellington 12-15 April 2010. More information is located on the conference web site: http://ecs.victoria.ac.nz/Events/NZCSRSC2010

I hope you will either submit something or attend the conference.

Best wishes.

Cheers Craig

NZCSRSC '09

Taken from the May 2009 CSANZ Newsletter

The 7th New Zealand Computer Science Research Student Conference (NZCSRSC ’09) was held at the University of Auckland from 6-9 April 2009. The NZCSRSC is a truly unique and significant event, being the only dedicated ICT student conference in New Zealand. Moreover, NZCSRSC is organised and run entirely by postgraduate students.

The aim of the NZCSRSC is to establish and reinforce a nationwide community of ICT research students. It provides an opportunity for students to establish contacts and share their research with graduates from across New Zealand, and members of the wider community.

This year’s NZCSRSC, like past years, was an action packed week! We opened the conference with a powhiri where we heard an incredibly moving and sincere speech from Prof. Ian Witten from the University of Waikato, and enthusiastic welcoming words from the University of Auckland’s Acting Dean of Science, Prof. Alan Lee and Computer Science Head of Dept. at the University of Auckland, Assoc. Prof Robert Amor.

Following the official welcome we moved to the Fale Pacifika for the Endace Opening Dinner. Here we were treated to a truly unique performance from the Auckland Playback Theatre who took real stories about the lives of postgraduate students from the audience and replayed them, in a somewhat embellished version. Very entertaining!

During the week we had the chance to hear about the cutting edge of research in Computer Science here in NZ with 25 student presentations and 14 student posters. Congratulations to Matthew Jervis for winning the best poster award on Augmented Document Trays and Lech Szymanski for the best presentation on Building a Support Vector Machine using a Neural Network.

We also heard fascinating and inspiring talks from keynote speakers. Dr. Alan Blackwell from the University of Cambridge spoke about Interdisciplinary Design Research for Interactive Technology, J.P. Lewis from Weta Digital explained Why academic research matters to Weta Digital and Assoc. Prof. Poul Nielsen from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute and Department of Engineering Science here at the University of Auckland presented The Physiome Project: a framework for understanding ourselves through computational modelling.

In keeping with NZCSRSC tradition we ran a range of workshops aimed at building skills in research and beyond. And as in previous years the workshops were a great success, with topics ranging from staple favourites such as “The publication game” and thesis writing, to discussions about industry, research careers, presentation skills and time management. Also, during lunch on Wednesday we held discussion groups where each table discussed interesting topics in Computer Science ranging from advances in specialised fields to ethics and the wider community.

Of course NZCSRSC ’09 would not be complete without the Orion Health Social Night! On Tuesday night we were whisked away for a pleasant dinner cruise around Auckland harbour including a team quiz onboard. It was a night to relax, enjoy the beautiful views and indulge in the wonderful company!

On Wednesday night we held an industry dinner. This was a mix and mingle event where companies prepared stalls with information, and students were invited to visit each stall and chat with industry representatives about their experiences in the ICT industry.

What NZCSRSC would be complete without a little live music? Thanks to Prof. Ian Witten and Hong Yul Yang for providing us with some tunes during the closing lunch on Thursday. To complete Auckland’s four seasons in one week, the conference closed with a spectacular hail storm. What a week!!

We would like to thank all those who helped in the organisation and running of this conference including local contacts, volunteers, authors, keynotes, workshop presenters and the departments around the country who encouraged and supported their students to participate in NZCSRSC ‘09. We would like to extend a special thank you to our leading sponsors, BuildIT, Orion Health, Endace and the University of Auckland.

In terms of meeting the conference goals, I can confidently say that the NZCSRSC has had a significant impact on strengthening the ICT research student community in NZ. What does this mean in practical terms? It means that we, as students, feel connected to a group of people who can understand and identify with our experience as research students. For many of us, this was a chance to meet with old friends again, as well as meeting new people this year. We are learning more and more about the ICT research that is done in this country. NZCSRSC is about getting us out from behind those computer screens and putting us face to face with the cutting edge of Computer Science research in NZ and the research students who are behind it all. Our hope is that it may continue for many years to come, and we simply can’t wait to see what the next NZCSRSC have in store for us!

Rachel Blagojevic
On behalf of the NZCSRSC ’09 organising committee
For more information visit https://nzcsrsc09.auckland.ac.nz/

NZCSRSC ’09 is almost here!!

NZCSRSC ’09 is less than one day away! We hope you are all ready for an great week here in Auckland! Get ready to be inspired, to share your research, to learn new skills and to meet other research students from all around the country!

We have an exciting programme planned for the week beginning with a Powhiri, our official welcome, at 4.30pm. Following this will be the Endace Opening Dinner with a performance from the Auckland Playback Theatre.

Over the rest of this week you will have the chance to hear about the cutting edge of research in Computer Science here in NZ through student presentations and the poster session. You will also hear from keynote speakers, Dr. Alan Blackwell from the University of Cambridge, J.P. Lewis from Weta Digital and Assoc. Prof. Poul Nielsen from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute and Department of Engineering Science here at the University of Auckland. Our keynote speakers are all very active in the research community here in NZ and around the world and are sure to inspire us with their knowledge and experience.

There are many opportunities for you to participate in NZCSRSC ’09. You will have the chance to attend a range of workshops aimed at building your skills in research and beyond. See here https://nzcsrsc09.auckland.ac.nz/workshops for more details. Also during Wednesday lunch we will be running discussion groups. This is a chance for you to discuss interesting topics in Computer Science with like-minded conference participants. See here https://nzcsrsc09.auckland.ac.nz/discgroups for more information.

Of course NZCSRSC ’09 would not be complete without the Orion Health Social Night! On Tuesday night we will whisk you away for a pleasant dinner cruise around Auckland harbour. It’s a night to relax, enjoy the beautiful views and the wonderful company.

On Wednesday is our industry dinner. This is a mix and mingle event where we have invited companies to set up stalls with information and students are invited to visit each stall and chat with industry representatives about their experiences in the ICT industry.

All in all we are set for an exciting, action packed week! So safe travelling for those of you coming from afar. We can’t wait to see you all here tomorrow!!