Governor-General stops by Engineering and Computer Science

22 Feb 2016 - 10:23:39 in Research
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The Governor-General Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae recently paid a visit to Victoria University and stopped in at the School of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS).

Staff and students from ECS presented some of the exciting projects taking place around the School.

Senior Lecturer Dr Taehyun Rhee introduced the Governor-General to his team’s research into 4D entertainment. The project, which involves a multi-disciplinary team from New Zealand and Korea, is looking at how computer graphics and emerging interactive technologies can be combined to create new, immersive, home entertainment experiences.

Postgraduate students Andrew Chalmers, Kieran Carnegie, Thomas Iorns and Chris Dean each showcased their specialisations and gave Sir Jerry a chance to get up close and personal with the technology.

The students talked about their research into making virtual reality a more enjoyable and realistic leisure activity including finding ways to mimic what the human eye sees to reduce simulator sickness.

As part of the presentation Sir Jerry tried out the Oculus Rift, a cutting-edge virtual reality headset, to explore an underwater scene. Later a scan of his face was taken to create a 3D digital model.

Dr Ian Welch, Dr Bryan Ng and Master’s student Matt Stevens spoke about the progress of the Software Defined Networks research group, formed in 2014. Recently the group signed a three-year research agreement with Google to embark on SDN development, maintenance and teaching.

The agreement provides a platform for Victoria to grow its profile in SDN teaching and research, with the goal of bringing more students into this emerging field and partnering with other academic and commercial organisations.

The School of Engineering and Computer sciences was the third stop on the Governor-General’s tour of the University. As part of his visit to Victoria he was also treated to a sneak peek at 'No Man’s Land', a production co-created by Professor John Psathas that will premiere at The New Zealand Festival, and he was part of a round table discussion on the state of Antarctica’s ice sheets and rising sea levels.

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