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From the Dean It is my pleasure to bring you this second edition activity combining the skills demanded of of the magazine τεχνη & λογόσ profiling the todays’ professionals with the forward thinking research of the Faculty of Design and Creative required to shape the professions of the Technologies during the year 2013. The Faculty future and produce adaptable and ingenious houses the Schools of Art & Design, Computer graduates. The increasing research intensity and Mathematical Sciences, Communication of the Faculty brings an added dynamism Studies, Engineering. Colab complements the to our teaching and learning. Through our Schools as a combined research and teaching research we seek to frame our world in new unit which has an integrative, cross-cutting and ways, to understand, theorize and generate. Creative Technologies brief for the faculty. Our researchers impact upon practice to create futures that transform how we think and act in From the table of contents you can see this our social and professional lives. We strive to breadth of discipline areas covered and the produce graduates who are not only adaptable Research Institutes associated with the Faculty to these new futures but are capable of taking The Faculty’s unique intersection of design, leading roles in further shaping them. science, technology, the arts and creativity is demonstrated through the research projects and I hope you enjoy reading the magazine, and are the profiles of researchers presented here. as inspired as we are by the brilliance and the buzzing, blooming profusion demonstrated by Auckland University of Technology has always the work of our researchers. had a strong focus on engaged and generative Professor Desna Jury Dean, Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies, Auckland University of Technology i Research Review Contents Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies Volume I An annual magazine of the Faculty of DCT at Auckland University of Technology From the Dean i Editors, Contact Details, Acknowledgements ii Content iii Editors Staff Awards and Fellowships Gained in 2013 2 Profiles from Discipline Areas within the Faculty A. Art & Design 3 B. Colab 15 Tony Clear Diana Kassabova Associate Dean Research Research Specialist C. Communication Studies 19 [email protected] [email protected] D. Computer and Mathematical Sciences 27 E. Engineering 39 Research Outputs Masters Degrees 2013 52 Adam Winship PhD Completions 2013 56 A. Art & Design 58 Contact Details Research Support Analyst B. Colab 71 Eva Ihaia [email protected] C. Communication Studies 74 Acknowledgements D. Computer and Mathematical Sciences All researchers who contributed articles and images School of Computer & Mathematical Sciences 80 Lecturer - Communications Programmes at AUT Richard Pamatatau who interviewed Professor W. Ings Institute for Radio Astronomy and Space Research (IRASR) 97 Communications Executive - M&E - Corporate Knowledge Engineering and Discovery Research Institute (KEDRI) 99 Anne-Marie Holder & Community Affairs at AUT who took the photos of Dr J. Rotimi and Assoc. Professor D. Parry E. Engineering School of Engineering 101 ISSN 2382-0225 (print) Institute of Biomedical Technologies (IBTec) 112 ISSN 2382-0233 (online) Designed by AUT Printsprint iii ii iii Staff Awards and Fellowships Gained in 2013 Peter Gilderdale Received a double gold medal in the label design (series) section at the 33rd San Francisco International Wine Competition (together with AUT alumnus Christopher Thompson). Professor Welby Ings Awarded the Inaugural AUT University Medal. Awarded the 2013 AuSM award for Best Postgraduate Supervisor at Auckland University of Technology. Dieneke Jansen Won the 2013 National Contemporary Art Award sponsored by Waikato Society of Arts and hosted by Waikato Museum. Monique Jansen Winner of the inaugural Parkin Drawing Prize, Aotearoa New Zealand’s premier award for drawing. Professor Nikola Kasabov Awarded Distinguished Visiting Fellowship by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE), UK. Jim Marbrook Awarded Special Media Award at the New Zealand and Australia Mental Health Achievement Awards for his filmMental Notes. Dave Moore Awarded AUT Vice Chancellor’s Award 2013 for Established Research Team (Director and member). Tim Pasang Awarded Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Professor John Raine Elected a Distinguished Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand for his contributions to leadership in New Zealand’s research and innovation eco-system, through university research and commercialisation developments, and at a national policy level. 2 2 Art & Design A Practitioner of Disobedient Thought (Interviewer Richard Pamatatau) Interview with Professor Welby Ings computer screen, is Madonna, the pop singer. As a practitioner of disobedient thought, and the And all we have is half an hour to jam in enough winner of Auckland University of Technology’s that presents a fair picture and some context of inaugural University Medal, Professor Welby the life of a busy busy fella. Ings was surprisingly compliant when it came to If it seems already that this text about talking about himself. Professor Ings is a bit stream of consciousness, I was expecting (without evidence of course) that that’s because it was a kind of stream of he might be difficult talent, perhaps recalcitrant consciousness kind of conversation. Like being around a conversation, and that extracting what a few hours into a dinner party, but without the makes him tick might be problematic. lubrication fine dining and wine affords; and in the morning. Especially when there’s already been a bit written about him; and his work – particularly It was preceded by student meetings and to the films – speak for themselves. be followed by more meetings with students including an (academic) discussion of and about So when we met in his office, a room with the already mentioned pop singer. In fact we seven clocks – props from those films or gifts could have had quite the conversation about from students – it was clear, that more-than- Madonna, a well-known figure in the pre-Lorde anything-else – we’d not have any excuse music world who has spawned thousands of to deviate from the half hour slot allotted wannabes, sold millions of albums, and become for a wrap on the medal winning scholar, his a figure of study for academics across a range of academic career and more. disciplines. That’s because we knew her music Talking and using a journalistic methodology to and its place in the 80s – a kind of musical- interrogate high achievers can be challenging; temporal location thing. We started to, but in the where to go, where not to go, what to canvass, end came to a conclusion (of sorts) that she is what to ask and what not to ask about and most both ahead of time and on-time. Plus she is a lot of all how to keep the talent engaged and talking of fun and playful while being adventurous and ‣ A composite photo of Professor Ings by G. McLeod and talking. There are so many variables and challenging. A bit like the conversation which the prying (because that is what it can be) can at was gaining momentum while the clocks in his times be quite difficult for the talent. Especially office moved forward and our time together when the talent is credentialed, media savvy and shortened. pushed for time. Professor Ings is the inaugural recipient of The Fortunately Professor Ings is happy to yap; University Medal, AUT’s pre-eminent academic on everything from Madonna, the pop singer award that recognises a significant body of - not the mother of Christ, the heft of Tolstoy, sustained and outstanding contribution to the Foucault and other theorists, the merits (or not) academe. of marks and just what creativity is, or is not… In presenting the award the Vice Chancellor so the issue became one of containment (or Derek McCormack said: “In essence, a university restraint) rather than extraction. is its teaching and research. Teaching and Professor Ings obviously has a few things going research inspires our students, promotes on, as they say. (Who they are is not important curiosity and new discovery, and ultimately so take it in this context as an anecdotal conceit delivers knowledge, expertise and creativity to rather than peer-reviewed evidence.) the wider communities we serve in business, industry, our society and beyond.” But among the things are the specific and the non-specific, the real and the imagined-but- “Universities gain their reputation by the soon-to-be real and going off on his desktop quality of their teaching, the excellence of their 4 3 4 Art & Design graduates, and the extent and impact of their was shortlisted for the 2006 Academy Awards. “there are scholars who write, analyse and At this point I wasn’t sure where we were going research on issues of significance.” The films reference the nature of secrets, life, contextualise and then there are those who but I was getting the drift that Professor Ings space and identity in small and apparently create.” He is obviously the latter and that is perhaps not the sort of person to stick to the Of course such comments are to be expected. difficult rural communities. Professor Ings says creativity for him is part of normal thought. But or any map and relies on his internal compass They are the stuff of a media release plus public there are elements of his life in them but there we know this already because he has talked to find direction, and at the same time tries to relations plus perception-making and when are enough moments in them that many people about (or referenced) his childhood and related enable others to do the same. the Minister for Tertiary Education is present could relate to. A bit like type they suggest and experiences down on the farm and in the back to present the medal a certain formality is There’s still a bit of the fact-stating to go gesture.