2019

2019 news archives for Wellington Faculty of Engineering.

  • Man sits holding probes to a Mars Rover vehicle.

    A year with the Mars Rover

    Not many students get to say they built the Mars Rover over the summer, but that’s exactly the project Electronics and Computer Systems Engineering graduate James Barrett dived into last November and completed throughout his Honours year.

  • Man stands smiling in front of whiteboard.

    Future paths: ongoing learning and AI

    Globally, a lot of research is being undertaken in the field of Evolutionary Computation (EC), a branch of artificial intelligence (AI), where algorithms are inspired by biological evolution. EC techniques have proved extremely useful in identifying patterns and pulling out relevant information from vast amounts of labelled or categorised data.

  • A satellite flying in front of clouds and blue sky.

    New Zealand innovation headed for space

    A research collaboration between Wellington Faculty of Engineering’s Robinson Research Institute and USNW Canberra Space will accelerate the adoption of novel technology for use in satellites.

  • Smiling man stands in front of a whiteboard showing mathematical equations.

    The language of code: type checking for Wyvern

    Even for the non-technical, many of the characteristics of programming work are as most of us imagine them: precise, painstaking, and utterly dependent on accuracy. One of the ways programmers ensure this accuracy is through ‘type checkers’—tools that check for errors in code in the same way that we might use a spellcheck in a Microsoft Word document. How, though, do we make sure code is consistent if type checkers aren’t reliable? School of Engineering and Computer Science PhD candidate Julian Mackay’s research examines exactly this issue.

  • Two men smiling at camera, one wearing a mechanical glove.

    A stroke of genius

    Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability, with nearly 80% of the world’s 25.7 million stroke survivors experiencing upper limb disability. Survivors typically receive close to 45 minutes of therapy every day, despite the Australian Stroke Foundation’s recommendation of three hours of therapy daily. Instead of depending on clinicians and having to get to the hospital, what if there was a way for people affected by stroke to receive the recommended duration of therapy at home?

  • Man stands smiling with arms folded.

    Developing zero-carbon aquaculture through data science

    A collaboration led by Victoria University of Wellington has received $13 million in funding to help New Zealand transition to a zero-carbon society by applying data science to the aquaculture industry.

  • A group of five men stand with a certificate: Hamish Clark, centre, with SECS and WellingtonNZ staff after being presented with the Best Industry Project award.

    The final word from our BE(Hons) cohort

    How can we coordinate effective search and rescue operations during an emergency in a hazardous mine? What alternatives to very high frequency radio can we adopt for better tracking of animal behaviour leading to more sustainable ecosystems? How can web developers build applications that cater for both server and client?