Computational Modelling Crunching the big problems
What is Computational Modelling?
Computational Modelling is all about formulating and modelling real-world problems, then developing solution methods to solve these problems on a computer.
The applications of such an approach are practically endless. You could become involved in creating a new product - a pacemaker, a refrigerator, or perhaps part of a satellite - to see whether it works at a theoretical level before a company commits time and money to building the real thing. You might help to determine the stress under heavy winds in a new kind of sail for the next America's Cup, plan how to map the wave patterns of the ocean from space, or optimize the layout of components to be used in a new type of dishwasher or washing machine.
Otago's BAppSc in Computational Modelling will give you advanced mathematical modelling and computational expertise, along with a broad-based understanding of business. You'll become familiar with powerful, cutting-edge software packages and programming languages. You'll learn about examples from industry and engineering, biological and bio-technical systems, finance and geophysics. These skills will put you in an excellent career position - business and industry around the world recognize the value of mathematical and computational modelling, and people with skills in this field are highly sought after.
Why Study Computational Modelling?
- Formulating a real-world problem, developing the model, and using computers to solve the theoretical system is a rewarding and enjoyable experience.
- You'll have a vast range of career options. Few qualifications have relevance to such a wide variety of areas as Computational Modelling. You can explore the area you're most interested in through a major final-year project.
- It's a growing field. Career opportunities exist now to make use of your skills, and with the growth in high technology based enterprise, demand for Computational Modellers will increase.
Career Opportunities
Career prospects in Computational Modelling are excellent. Opportunities abound in all areas of product development, financial modelling and business, physical and health science, animal and plant science, process engineering, food technology, design, telecommunications, software development, and information technology.
Chances are, you'll begin your career by joining an existing firm. You could work for a large company, helping them with the development of their own products. Or, you may enter a consultancy practice, working on a range of projects for a number of different clients.
Your skills will also make you a valuable asset to any engineering firm, and with your advanced programming abilities, there will also be plenty of scope to work in the computer industry. Here, you'll be particularly effective at applying your skills to modelling and optimization, so you may find yourself working in areas such as systems analysis or developing scientific programs to represent real-life situations. With the business knowledge that you gained during your degree, and some industry experience under your belt, you'll be well qualified to become your own boss, if you want to start your own innovative business venture.
Background Required
Students from a range of backgrounds are welcome to study for Otago's BAppSc in Computational Modelling. Because of its solid mathematical content, you will need a good pass in Year 13 Mathematics. Experience or familiarity with computing and/or physics also helps, but it is not essential.
What Will I Study?
Throughout this degree you'll continue to develop advanced mathematics skills, putting you in the best possible position to make the most of what Computational Modelling has to offer. You'll learn about how to model realistic examples taken from both the physical and life sciences, including topics as diverse as how predators and their prey interact or why the weather cannot be predicted a long time in advance. Another paper looks at modelling and optimisation, which is central to issues like scheduling airline timetables, integrated circuit design, or the efficient loading of a ship.
Most of this work takes place in Otago's well-equipped computer laboratories, making use of the latest technology and software.
In your fourth year, you'll undertake a major Computational Modelling project, where you can pursue an area that has taken your interest. Because Computational Modelling lends itself so well to interdisciplinary study, you could be working on a problem from just about any area, from medicine to marketing. Your project might have a strong practical focus or it might be centred on the underlying theory of a particular system - it's up to you.
Further information
For more detailed information on Computational Modelling papers and course requirements, please see the main University website at http://www.otago.ac.nz/subjects/como.html
Major Subject and Programme Requirements
Minor Subject Requirements (for BAppSc only)
Profile: John Enlow
A Man who sees his future in liquid Crystals
When John Enlow came to the University of Otago there was no such thing as a major in Computational Modelling. But clearly he was ahead of his time. He devised his own course of study, with his papers coming from an Applied Mathematics major together with computer programming, electronics, physics and chemistry.
"I wanted to put my mathematical skills to practical use and solve real-world problems," says John. "But I found that mathematical analysis on it's own often required such drastic simplifications of the system that the results were not very useful. I decided that to do what I wanted I would need to combine the strength and rigour of mathematics with the power of modern computers and numerical methods."
John was attracted to researching liquid crystals as a PhD topic after attending a seminar in the physiology department. "The beautiful structures and their intimate relationship with mathematics was an intriguing combination I couldn't pass by," says John.
It was, to be precise, bicontinuous cubic lyotropic surfactant liquid crystals that came to occupy John's energies over the next few years. Quite a mouthful, but these structures are related to substances everywhere - right down to the film that forms on a cake of soap.
Yet liquid crystals are so tiny that it's impossible to see any them in any detail under microscopes. So John's work involved assembling the theoretical structures atom by atom, which are tested using a range of X-ray and computer technology.
Understanding the properties of surfactants and the structures they form is important for many subjects, including biological and medical research.
For example, explains John, "babies born prematurely often haven't developed enough surfactant in their lungs, which they need to breathe normally. So they must be given surfactant until their bodies produce enough of it on their own. It's very expensive and not always easy to administer to these tiny babies."
To help combat this problem, John teamed up with paediatricians and physiologists to try and improve the delivery of surfactant by administering it as an aerosol.
"It's projects like this that make my work so rewarding," says John, now a lecturer for the University's Computational Modelling degree. "You get to solve interesting problems from the real world and then see your solutions put to work."
Contacts
For further information regarding Computational Modelling, please contact:
Dr. Gerrard Liddell
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Tel 64 3 479 7772
Fax 64 3 479 8427
Email gliddell@maths.otago.ac.nz
Other Websites
Computational Modelling Regulations http://www.otago.ac.nz/subjects/como.html
Department of Mathematics & Statistics http://www.otago.ac.nz/maths
Infosheet PDF
You can download the latest Computational Modelling Infosheet (216k in PDF format).
