Computer Scientists announced as Fellows of Engineering New Zealand
Professor Bing Xue, Professor Neil Dodgson, and Dr Yi Mei from the School of Engineering and Computer Science have been honoured as Fellows of Engineering New Zealand—following the footsteps of Professor Mengjie Zhang who was elected in 2021.
Every year Engineering New Zealand elects a handful of leaders in the field to a Fellowship. Engineering New Zealand is the premiere professional society for engineers in New Zealand. Fellows are recognised as leaders in the industry by their peers, and are upheld as industry experts.
Professor Bing Xue has been recognised for her significant contributions to information and communication technology (ICT) engineering research, technical expertise applications, engineering education, and women in engineering. She has more than 300 fully refereed publications, and 10,000 citations to her name.
Her major contribution includes the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science techniques for various engineering applications, ranging from the New Zealand primary industry to health and (bio)medical domains. Professor Xue co-led the establishment of the first AI postgraduate qualifications and AI undergraduate major in New Zealand, and has supervised a large number of research students from diverse backgrounds.
Professor Xue says, “I am very excited to receive this Fellowship. This is a huge recognition of my achievements in my career. This also motivates me to continue my work in this area and serve our community.
“No one can become a Fellow without the support of others, so I deeply appreciate the great support from my co-workers, collaborators, the School, the Faculty of Engineering, and the University.”
Professor Neil Dodgson’s election to a Fellowship is in recognition of his 25 years of work in engineering, including leadership in research, and administration. His research career is in 3D television, modelling of three-dimensional shapes (in both CAD and animation), and the intersection of art, design, aesthetics, computing, and psycho-physics.
Professor Dodgson explains the meaning behind this merit.
"The election of three Fellows in ICT demonstrates that software engineering has matured to the point where it is on a par with the longer-standing engineering disciplines.
"It recognises that software engineering is no longer the Wild West it once was, but is now a discipline in which the practitioners are expected and required to follow the obligations that come with professional engineering practice."
Dr Yi Mei has been promoted by the University to post of Associate Professor. Dr Mei specialises in ICT engineering—a branch of engineering that tackles the overlap between technology and real-world problems. He is recognised for his significant contributions in excellent research, technical expertise, and education in ICT engineering—leading to prestigious research excellence and teaching/supervision awards, and successful collaborations with various industrial partners such as Northland Waste, Wellington Free Ambulance, and Oasis Engineering Ltd.
"Over the past decade, I have developed algorithms that pushed the boundaries of solving well-known optimisation problems such as vehicle routing, job shop scheduling, tourist trip planning, and cloud resource allocation.
"It’s my great honour to be elected as an Engineering New Zealand Fellow, which means that my ongoing efforts in ICT Engineering have been recognised.
"I’m very glad to see more and more Fellows of Engineering New Zealand come from ICT, showing that the organisation is now recognising this maturing engineering discipline, and its importance for New Zealand.”
Learn more about the Engineering New Zealand Fellows: https://www.engineeringnz.org/join-us/fellow/