The 32nd ANZIAM Applied Mathematics Conference was held in Masterton, New Zealand (100 km north east of Wellington) on 4-8 February 1996. This was the third time the conference was held in New Zealand (the other two were Wairakei 1987 and Hanmer Springs 1991). There were 172 registrants (including 35 students) and in addition 20 accompanying persons.
The venue of the Solway Park Travelodge Conference Centre proved to be excellent with good lecture facilities for the 120 talks (3 streams for the contributed papers and 7 invited plenary talks) and 5 posters. A reserve list of talks which were notified after the deadline of 8 December were slotted in as opportunities arose. The recreational and social facilities were excellent with pools, parks and a golf course nearby proving popular.
The invited speakers were as follows.
In addition, a special session on How to Give an Effective Presentation was delivered by Mrs Margaret de Mestre. A half-day mini-symposium on Mathematics in Agriculture was held in recognition of the leadership in this area provided by New Zealand Applied Mathematicians. Professor Diekmann provided the plenary in this area. The Conference Booklet is now provided with an ISBN number for referencing purposes.
Special events were included with the theme dinner `Math-Hatters' competition (best hat) being a highlight. The joint winners of the Cherry Prize from 35 talks were:
Highly commended in this competition were Mr Ian R Ball (University of Adelaide), Ms Sacha O Cyganowski (Deakin University), Ms Maureen P Edwards (University of Wollongong), Mr Gordon Hume (University of Sydney), Mr Dimitry E Pelinovsky (Monash University) and Ms Yvonne M Stokes (University of Adelaide). Professor Brian Gray of the University of Sydney chaired the Cherry Prize Committee.
In line with the pattern inaugurated at the 31st ANZIAM Applied Mathematics Conference, the students presented their nominations for the `Cherry Ripe Award'. Those acclaimed in this area were: Dr Andrew Pullen, University of Auckland (winner) and honourable mentions were given to Dr Steven Barry (Australian Defence Forces Academy, UNSW), Dr Graeme Hocking (Murdoch University), Dr Mark McGuinness (Victoria University of Wellington), Dr Wayne Read (James Cook University, Townsville), and Dr David Stump (University of Queensland). Thank you to the student fraternity for their initiative in arranging this highly successful innovation.
The finances went well with sponsorship being provided from AgResearch (NZ Pastoral Research Ltd) and Massey University who assisted in the visit of Professors Diekmann and Kimura respectively. A small profit was made on the conference to return to the central organisation.
This concludes two years of planning. An exit questionnaire to the participants provided positive feedback for the Executive Committee of ANZIAM. The organisation was shared by a hard working committee (representing the New Zealand Branch of ANZIAM):
Professor Robert McKibbin (Massey University) Secretary and Deputy Director
Mr Adrian Swift (Massey University) Treasurer
Dr Michael Roberts (AgResearch) Technical Programme
Dr Graham Weir (Industrial Research Ltd) Accommodation
Dr Mark McGuinness (Victoria University of Wellington) Transport
Dr Aroon Parshotan (Landcare Ltd) Tours
Mr Easwaran Balakrishnan (Massey University) Conference booklet
with myself as Conference Director (being both Director and Chair of ANZIAM made it a hectic conference for me especially).
Graeme Wake
University of Auckland
Conference Director, ANZIAM 96