NZ Analytics Forum at ORSNZ and NZSA Conference – Analytics in Agriculture

The NZ Analytics Forum invites you to their event on Analytics in Agriculture, in partnership with the joint ORSNZ and NZSA Conference @ Massey University, Palmerston North. It is free to attend whether you are at the conference or not, but please register at the link below if you plan to attend.

The event is free of charge and is kindly sponsored by Fonterra.
When: Thursday 29th November 3:30pm – 5:10pm, followed by drinks and nibbles until 6pm
Where: Massey University, Palmerston North in the AgHort lecture block

Registration: Please register via this link

Mark Piper, Director Group Research & Development, Fonterra
At the age of 19 Mark joined the New Zealand Dairy Group (which later became part of Fonterra). In the 24 years Mark has been with Fonterra he has worked in the manufacture of casein and cheese, coordinated supply chain activities for sales into Japan and Korea, managed a technical team for Fonterra Japan and was a Product Group Manager for Fonterra’s global cheese business. Mark moved to Chicago in 2010 and was the Regional Director Ingredients Americas for Fonterra before relocating back to New Zealand in January 2016 to head up the Transformation Office for Fonterra. In February 2017, Mark relocated to Palmerston North to head up Fonterra’s Global Research & Development teams.

Mark will talk about his role inside Fonterra as the head of our Research and Development function, how Analytics is used inside Fonterra to assist in the development of new products, improvement of existing formulations and to improve the food quality standards too.

Vanessa Cave, Team Leader of Statistics in the Bioinformatics and Statistics Group, AgResearch
Vanessa has more than 10 years’ experience collaborating with scientists in the agricultural and environmental sciences, using statistics to solve real-world problems. As a biometrician, Vanessa provides expertise on experiment and survey design, data collection and management, statistical analysis, and the interpretation of statistical findings. Her interests include data visualisation, analysis and integration of high-dimensional datasets, and the statistical challenges related to digital agriculture. Vanessa is also a developer of the Genstat statistical package, a data analysis tool particularly suited to applications in agri-science.

Vanessa’s Talk: Digital Agriculture at AgResearch
Agriculture is one of New Zealand’s largest export income earners. However, digital technologies and analytics are transforming the agricultural industry. AgResearch, a Crown Research Institute that exists to provide science and technology for the benefit of the New Zealand’s agricultural sector, is involved in a number of scientific research projects aimed at preparing New Zealand for the era of “Digital agriculture”. Digital agriculture refers to the use of new and advanced technologies, integrated into one system, to help make farming (more) profitable and sustainable. It offers the potential to provide solutions for the challenges facing New Zealand agriculture. In this presentation, we will describe a suite of recent research projects that can be loosely grouped under the Digital Agriculture umbrella.

Kim Frew, Strategic Delivery Partner, Advanced Analytics Strategy Lead, Fonterra
Kim is a Strategic Delivery Partner in VelocityNXT, Fonterra’s innovation and transformation programme and a key member of the Fonterra Advanced Analytics Community of Expertise. She has held a number of roles over the last four years at Fonterra in the Office of the CFO, NZMP (Fonterra’s Ingredient business) and in Velocity & Innovation. Her focus is cross-functional problem solving using the technical, human and business aspects of creating sustainable value through analytics, where she acts as an agent of change. Kim has also previously worked across multiple industries as an analytics consultant.
Kim will speak to the use cases Fonterra is exploring to create new value, how we ensure people are empowered at the centre of analytics design and delivery and the potential for analytics in our ecosystem for innovation.

We look forward to seeing you at this exciting event,
The NZ Analytics Forum Steering Committee

NZ Analytics Forum at 2018 Joint NZSA/ORSNZ Conference

During the upcoming joint NZSA/ORSNZ conference in Palmerston North, there will be a NZ Analytics Forum event on Analytics in Agriculture.

When: Thursday 29th November: 3:30pm – 6pm
Where: Massey University, Palmerston North in the AgHort lecture block

The event is free of charge, but registration is required. Note that NZSA/ORSNZ conference delegates must register separately for the NZ Analytics Forum event.

Further information is available here.

NZ Analytics Forum | ORSNZ and NZSA Conference Palmerston North | Analytics in Agriculture

2018 Joint NZSA / ORSNZ Conference – registration closing soon

Tēnā koutou katoa!

Time is flying and the joint NZSA/ORSNZ Conference being held from 27-30 November in Palmerston North draws ever closer!

Just a reminder that the closing date for registrations is in less than two weeks from now! That is, need to register BEFORE the 1st November 2018, otherwise a late fee will apply.

Please register via our conference webpage at:  http://www.massey.ac.nz/nzsa2018

We also have an awesome feature that allows you to take a peek at the abstracts as they are being processed at: https://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz/NZSA2018

This includes the abstracts for our keynote speakers. Alan Welsh, Ilze Ziedins, Stefan Nickel, Geoff Jones, and Jean Yang, as well as the ANZJS Discussion Paper to be presented by Francis Hui.

We’re looking forward to seeing you in November!

Ngā mihi,
Jonathan and Rina

Invitation to celebrate Hans Daellenbach Prize award: ORSNZ Wellington Branch Social Networking Event

Dr Michael O’Sullivan, President of the Operations Research Society of New Zealand, invites you to join him for drinks and nibbles as he briefly discusses ORSNZ current activities within NZ and presents Professor Vicky Mabin with the ORSNZ’s premier award, the Hans Daellenbach Prize, for contributions to OR in NZ and internationally.

The award was announced at last year’s ORSNZ conference. You can read the citation here.

Tuesday 23 October 2018, 5:00 – 6:30 pm
Vic Books Café /Bar, Ground Floor, Rutherford House, Bunny Street, Wellington

RSVP for catering purposes by Tuesday noon to [email protected]

Enquiries: [email protected]

 

Brief bio:

Professor Vicky Mabin, from the Victoria Business School, specialises in the Theory of Constraints and systems thinking methods along with traditional OR to improve operational processes, organisational change, priority setting and resource allocation decisions

2018 AUT Mathematical Sciences Symposium

The 2018 AUT Mathematical Sciences Symposium will be held on Thursday 22 November and Friday 23 November 2018 at AUT’s city campus.

The following invited speakers have been confirmed:

  • Gregoire Loeper, Monash University, Australia
  • Renate Meyer, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
  • Matt Parry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • Winston Sweatman, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

To submit a contributed talk, abstracts of up to 250 words should be submitted through the symposium website by Monday 12th November 2018.  Registration is free of charge and open to all members of the mathematical sciences community.

For further information and to register visit the symposium’s website or contact [email protected].

ORSNZ member, Bob Cavana, co-editor of new book on “Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet”

ORSNZ member, Bob Cavana, along with colleague Ockie Bosch, are co-editors of new book on “Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet”,which has been published by MDPI, in print and electronically. The new book, which is a special issue of the international journal “Systems”, presents a collection of papers addressing important systems education and sustainability issues. As stated in the preface: “The range and magnitude of contributions to this book illustrate the diversity of systems education practices and programs (learning systems) in the global systems community, and the relevance of systems thinking and practice to examining issues related to the long-term sustainability of the planet.”

Further details about Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet are available at: http://www.mdpi.com/books/pdfview/book/596

Systems_Education_for_a_Sustainable_Planet.png

Business optimisation through data science, AI, and mathematical algorithms…

Dr. Amit Garg, a Guinness world record holder in mathematics, as well as the CEO & founder of ORMAE – Operations Research, Machine Learning and Analytics Experts, is visiting New Zealand and is giving a talk about business optimisation through data science, AI, and mathematical algorithms.

When: Thursday 17 May 2018, 6:15 – 8:30pm
Where: Sir Paul Reeves Building, AUT

For more information and to buy tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/business-optimisation-through-data-science-ai-and-mathematical-algorithms-tickets-45550653230?utm_term=eventurl_text

Workshop on Construction Simulation Opportunities in New Zealand

The joint research group of the University of Auckland and the Auckland University of Technology (SimCon) invites you to join a free 2‐hour workshop “Construction Simulation Opportunities in New Zealand” to gain new insight into the impacts and benefits of using simulation in the built environment engineering.

Event details
When: Tuesday 31 October 2017, 5.00 pm‐7:00 pm
Where: City Conference Centre, WA224 AUT City Campus, 55 Wellesley St, Auckland
Cost: This event is free, and light refreshments will be served.

What will you learn?
‐ The use of simulation to lift productivity and competitiveness within the construction industry
‐ The use of simulation for project planning, control and diagnosis
‐ The cutting‐edge research being developed by SimCon research group

Who should attend?
Architects, engineers, construction managers, general contractors, owners, policy makers and professionals who struggle to understand the real benefits of construction simulation tools and methods.

For enquiries and registration: Please email [email protected]

National Science Challenge 11 sponsors this event.