Keynote talk – Information is Beautiful
Every year, OMG features a keynote address from an invited guest speaker. Watch this space – we will be announcing our 2025 keynote speaker soon!
The Oceania MathsJam Gathering keynote is open to the public for koha (gold coin) at the door. All welcome.
Doors open 4pm, Saturday 25th October
Christchurch Park Function and Event Centre
Abstract
In an age of fake news and misinformation, data visualisation has become essential for building bridges between experts and the general public. Creating not only truthful, but also functional, beautiful, and insightful visualisation is an art form. For far too long have we been plagued by, at its best, ugly and, at its worst, misleading charts. Dr. Bartneck will present some of the foundational ideas, challenges and technologies used to turn data into beautiful information. This includes examples of spectacular successes and failures.
Guest speaker: Christoph Bartneck
Dr. Christoph Bartneck is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Canterbury. He has a background in Industrial Design and Human-Computer Interaction, and his projects and studies have been published in leading journals, newspapers, and conferences. His interests lie in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction, Science and Technology Studies, and Visual Design. He has worked for several international organizations including the Technology Centre of Hannover (Germany), LEGO (Denmark), Eagle River Interactive (USA), Philips Research (Netherlands), ATR (Japan), and The Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands).
The press regularly reports on his work, including the New Scientist, Scientific American, Popular Science, Wired, New York Times, The Times, BBC, Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Economist.
Download the OMG25 keynote poster for a noticeboard near you!
Digital koha welcomed. You can pay by bank deposit to:
MathsJam Gathering NZ
Westpac 03-1599-0119247-000
How to calculate pi by hand
How do we find pi? The current world record for computing π by hand is held by William Shanks, an English amateur mathematician who calculated 707 digits in the year 1873 (correct up to the first 527 places).
Dr. Ross Atkins will explain his new-and-improved method of distributing the calculation of the digits of pi such that many people can be calculating simultaneously. With enough volunteers and time, this distributed calculation of π has the potential to overtake Shanks’ record.
His talk will serve as an introduction to the Calculate Pi by Hand activity facilitated by Mathateca.
Open Mic Maths - Attendee talks
Open Mic Maths is essentially the “Hello, my name is…'' sticker for OMG. A lightning, 5 minute informal talk: it’s your chance to share a mathematical idea or insight you’d like to have a deeper discussion about, a funny (maths) thing you noticed, or a particularly juicy problem to be explored.
Anything goes, from maths-of-juggling demonstrations to statistics presentations (or maybe even both at the same time), but you’ve only got five minutes!
What is Breakout?
Breakout is the next step after Open Mic Maths. The “meet and greet.” You’ve introduced your topic, now you get to discuss with other interested attendees / workshop / further develop the idea.
AV Setup
We will have a whiteboard and projector screen for presenting. Please bring any powerpoint presentation on a USB drive, or bring a device with HDMI port / adaptor.
Alternatively, you can send your presentation to the organisers at info@mathsjam.nz as an email attachment, but this must arrive by Friday 24th October.