The Gibbons Lectures 2010: Facing the Data Mountain

Dear CSI Newsletter subscribers,

Please find linked information on the 2010 Gibbons Lectures organised by the department of Computer Science. This public lecture series was extremely popular last year and the department would welcome your attendance at this year's lectures.

Best wishes, John Hosking
Director Centre for Software Innovation

The Gibbons Lectures 2010: Facing the Data Mountain

The Department of Computer Science is delighted to announce the 2010 Gibbons Lectures. The lectures describe developments in research in Computer Science and are aimed at a general but technical audience - to Computer Science students at all levels, to IT practitioners in other departments and outside the University. The lecture series is memory of Associate Professor Peter Gibbons, who sadly passed away early in 2008. 

2010 Synopsis:

It is estimated that in 2010 nearly one “zetabyte” of digital information will be created and stored world-wide. One zetabyte is a sextillion characters - a billion trillion to put it in more familiar terms! Not all of this is available on-line but it is estimated that the data now available on the web is approaching 1/2 a zetabyte. 

How do we make sense of such large quantities of information? The speakers in the 2010 Gibbons lecture series will address different aspects of the problem. 

Schedule of lectures:
May 05: How the dragons work - Prof. Ian Witten (The University of Waikato)
May 12: There's gold in them thar mountains - Prof. Gill Dobbie (The University of Auckland). Inaugural professorial lecture.
May 19: The health care revolution - Alec Holt (The University of Otago)
May 26: Internet challenges - Assoc. Prof. Nevil Brownlee (The University of Auckland)

Where: University of Auckland Conference Centre, 22 Symonds St, Building/room 423-342
When: 5.30pm for refreshments, prior to a 6.00pm start. 
Please RSVP to robyn@cs.auckland.ac.nz for catering purposes.

Further information and abstracts are available on the Gibbons Lectures webpage at http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/our_department/Gibbons_Lectures/ 
Video streaming will be available via the webpage

Peter Gibbons’ Biography

Peter’s academic career began at Massey University where he completed a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics with 1st class Honours in 1970. This was followed in 1972 by an MSc in Computer Science with Distinction - the first degree in Computer Science awarded in New Zealand. He completed his PhD in Toronto then returned to New Zealand to lecture at Massey, moving to Auckland in 1980 to the newly established Department of Computer Science. He was with our department through to his retirement in 2004, including a 3-year period as Head of Department from 1997. 

After retirement he continued his association under an Honorary appointment. Peter’s research area was on the boundary between Mathematics and Computer Science in the field of Combinatorics. Peter’s particular interests included block designs (especially Steiner systems), Latin squares, graph domination questions, and the development and implementation of computer algorithms for combinatorial search and enumeration. Peter taught his research specialization both at graduate and undergraduate level. He also taught introductory programming to first-year students and at a more advanced level. He got involved with new areas, such as Multimedia and BioInformatics, where his knowledge and expertise could be applied. 

Peter inspired many others into research, often drawn from the thousands of students whom he taught. These colleagues can be found throughout New Zealand and the world 

A lecture series that focuses on cooperation across multiple research areas is a fitting long-term memorial.

Gibbons Lecture Fund

The Computer Science Department is committed to funding the Gibbons Lectures in its initial stages. However, the prestige of the lectures and their permanence depends on establishing a permanent source of funding. To that end the department has established a fund that will be built up to provide support. We welcome contributions to the fund. If you are able to help, please contact the Head of Department, currently Prof. Gill Dobbie (gill@cs.auckland.ac.nz)