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History of NSW ANZIAM - Relaunch and the Wollongong years 2000-2011

By Mark Nelson

Link to the main page about the NSW ANZIAM branch.

A quick overview

The Sydney ANZIAM branch appears to have entered a period of little activity around the turn of the millennium. It was relaunched by Neville de Mestre, through his role as Chair of ANZIAM in 2001. (Neville was ANZIAM deputy chair in 2000, chair in the years 2001-2004 and deputy chair in 2005).

I've called the period from 2003-2011 the "Wollongong years" because for the last eight of these years (2004-2011) the chair of the branch was based at the University of Wollongong: 2004-2006, T.R. Marchant; 2007-2008, M.I. Nelson; 2009-2010, G. Cox; and 2011, N. Thamwattana. In addition, we provided the Secretary for the four years in which this position was filled: 2008, G. Cox; 2009-2001, M.I. Nelson.

Although the branch was not being "controlled/run" from Wollongong in 2003, we did organise the branch meeting in that year!

The "Wollongong Years" were a period of regular branch meetings, with eight meetings in nine years. The only year with no activity was 2005. With the exception of the first meeting, in 2003, all meetings were co-organised with the ACT ANZIAM branch. The run of meetings without breaks from 2006 to 2013 (eight) is currently (26th November 2018) a record! (The run of meetings from 2001 to 2004 is, as of 27th November2018, currently the second longest streak.

All of the seven meetings organised over the period from 2004 to 2011, were designated as joint meetings with the ACT branch.

The turn of the millennium: 2000

I believe that there was no branch activity throughout 2000 because at ANZIAM 2001 (3-7 February, Barossa Valley) it was announced that the Sydney branch of ANZIAM would be reactivated with a meeting at `The Entrance' (de Mestre, appendix B).

The turn of the millennium: 2001

Neville de Mestre (Bond University, Queensland) re-launched the Sydney ANZIAM branch by organising the 2001 branch meeting at the The Entrance RSL on the NSW Central Coast (3-4 November). One of the reasons for choosing this location was Neville hoped that it would entice academics to attend from Newcastle (de Mestre, 2009). <

The meeting program does not include a delegate list, but there were at least 181 attendees (BOU 1, CSIRO 1, DSTO 1, MQU 1, UNC 2, USN 7, UoW 3, UTS 1, UNSW 1). There were fourteen talks, including four from students and the invited speaker. As of today (22.11.18) four is the lowest number of student presentations at a branch meeting. (There were also four student presentations at the meetings in 2003, 2004 and 2017). As a percentage of the total number of presentations (29%) the 2001 NSW ANZIAM branch meeting has the equal joint lowest number of student presentations with the 2017 branch meeting. The student prize was awarded to Raseelo Moitsheki (UoW).

There was an early start on Saturday, with registration at 8.30 and the first talk, by the invited speaker, at 9:00. Talks finished at 13:00, followed by lunch and a free afternoon until 18:30/19:00 when there were "Informal Drinks and Dinner for those interested". (A rather leisurely perambulation by today's standards). On the Sunday the program started at 09:00 and finished with lunch at 13:00.

The invited speaker was Dr John Croucher (MQU) who talked on "Gambling, Sport and Mathematics". All talks, including that of the invited speaker, were of thirty minutes in duration!

It is noted in the conference book that the lecture room facilities are "Overhead projector, television, video player, whiteboard. NOTE: No computer projection".

The turn of the millennium: 2002

In 2002 the NSW ANZIAM branch held its first event, a a very successful meeting at Bannisters Point. There were 33 registered delegates, although only 30 attended the meeting (Sexton 2002) - the figure of thirty remained a record until the 2011 branch meeting (31). The registered delegates included 20 (!) from USN, 7 from UOW and 3 from ADFA. There was one delegate each from Canon, DSTO and UNSW. There were 15 presentations, including nine by students. (Both the total number of presentations at this meeting and the number of student presentations would not be surpassed until the 2008 branch meeting. The percentage of the talks given by students, 60%, would be equalled at the 2007 meeting. It was exceeded at the 2009 meeting, 72.2%.)

The winner of the best student presentation was Alex Antic (UoW) who was given a $100 prize. At this distance in time (19.12.11) I do not remember how the best student presentation was determined. It was something along the lines of "write the names of the two best speakers onto a piece of paper". I also do not remember if only non-students voted or if everyone voted.

Geoff Aldis brought a computer projector, but the delegates were informed that "There is no guarantee that it will work, so bring slides for backup". (The program does not say who was providing the laptop). The meeting was held in the very uncharacteristic month of May!

For the first time there were no invited speakers. The duration of all talks was twenty-five minutes.

The conference dinner was a three course meal including tea or coffee. No BYO.

The Wollongong years: 2003

In 2003 the New South Wales Branch of ANZIAM held its annual branch meeting over the weekend of 22-23 November at Mittagong RSL Club. The meeting was organised by Maureen Edwards, Tim Marchant, Scott McCue and Mark Nelson (all UOW). There were 18 participants: thirteen from NSW (USN, 3; UOW, 10) and three from the ACT (ADFA, 1; ANU, 1; CSIRO, 1 ). (That only adds up to 16, because in 2018 I don't remember where John Edson came from and there is one person not on my list of attendees!).

The invited speaker was Dr Bob Anderssen (CSIRO) who spoke on "Inverse problems in Rheology: Rheological implications of completely monotone fading memory" (sixty minutes). In addition to the invited speaker, a further nine individuals gave presentations (all thirty minutes) including four by students. As of today (22.11.18) four is the smallest number of student presentations at a branch meeting. (There were also four student presentations at the meetings in 2001, 2004 and 2017).

The prize for the best student presentation was awarded by Dr Bob Anderssen. It's now 2018, but I can see from my notes that before he announced the winner he asked the question ``What makes a good talk?''. His answer included the following points.

  1. Logical story.
  2. Balance the background and the mathematics.
  3. Keep it Simple Stupid. Don't have too much mathematical detail.
  4. Talk to the projection, not to the projector... or rather stand in front of projection.
The prize for the best student presentation was awarded to Ms Bronwyn Bradshaw-Hajek.

The conference dinner was an alternate serving three course meal with tea/coffee. A limited amount of wine was supplied, with delegates able to purchase additional drinks at the bar.

The conference dinner was started half-an-hour early so that the delegates could watch as much of the Rugby World Cup Final as possible. A partisan crowd at the RSL club enjoyed an excellent game and although many were disappointed by the result it seemed to this observer that the outcome was most agreeable.

(The nationalistic editors of The Australian Mathematical Society Gazette removed the above paragraph from the printed report, c.f. Nelson 2003.)

For some reason the branch AGM was not held during the 2003 mini-meeting. Rather, it was held in January 2004 at the University of Sydney (Marchant, 2005). At the AGM the NSW ANZIAM branch express a desire to co-organise a joint branch meeting with the ACT branch in 2004.

Although not directly related to the activities of the branch it is interesting to note the following from the ANZIAM Annual General Meeting in 2004.

"... the chair asked for comment on the requests from various Branches for membership lists. A/Professor Weber suggested an automated list server, on the ANZIAM website, might allow all that was required. Professor Taylor and Dr Clarke agreed to bring a proposal to the Executive Committee as soon as possible."

Minutes of the Twenty-Ninth General Meeting of ANZIAM (02/02/2004) as reported at the Twenty-Seventh General Meeting of ANZIAM (01/02/2005, item 2).

The Wollongong years: 2004

During 2004 the main activity of the NSW ANZIAM was the join NSW/ACT mini-meeting. This was held at Vincentia Golf Club on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th November. The organising committee for the mini-meeting comprised A/P Tim Marchant (UOW), A/P Rod Weber (UNSW@ADFA), and Dr Harvinder Sidhu (UNSW@ADFA).

"Around 25 delegates from NSW and ACT Universities attended" (Marchant 2005). There were ten talks, including four from students. All presentations were of thirty minutes duration. As of today (22.11.18) four is the lowest number of student presentations at a branch meeting. (There were also four student presentations at the meetings in 2001, 2003 and 2017). Mr Paul-James White (UOW) won the student prize. Interestingly, both of the student speakers from the University of Wollongong were undergraduate students! (To my mind, if there were twenty-five delegates and only ten speakers then a lotta people were having a holiday and slacking off!)

The mini-meeting book only lists the speakers and the session chairs. Seven of the delegates came from NSW (MQU, 1; UOW, 3; USN, 3) and five came from the ACT (ANU, 2; CSIRO, 1; UNSW@ADFA, 2). There are approximately thirteen delegates missing in action! All talks were thirty minutes in length and there was no invited speaker.

The conference dinner was unusual it that there was not a set menu, but rather "guests can order directly off the Club's Chinese, Thai and Australian menu. For example, the Thai banquet is $20 a person" (mini-meeting booklet). Perhaps of more interest to delegates was the notification in the mini-meeting booklet that "some bottled wine will be supplied"!

At the AGM it was agreed that another joint ACT/NSW mini-meeting be organised for 2005, with the location probably in the Blue Mountains.

The Wollongong years: 2005

The branch did not hold a meeting in 2005. In the report to the ANZIAM AGM (Marchant, 2006) it was noted that the "NSW and ACT ANZIAM branches will hold a joint mini-meeting in April/May 2006, somewhere in the Blue Mountains. The AGM of NSW ANZIAM will be held during this mini-meeting."

The Wollongong years: 2006

A joint branch meeting was held with the ACT ANZIAM branch at Vincentia Golf Club on Friday the 8th and Saturday the 9th December. (The same location as the 2004 meeting). The organising committee was A/P Tim Marchant (UOW) and Dr Harvinder Sidhu (UNSW@ADFA).

According to the report of the meting "Around 25 delegates attended from NSW and ACT universities attended" (Marchant, 2007). This is the same number as were stated as attending the 2004 meeting. Actually, it is the same exact phrase. A co-incidence or an error from copying the previous report? I rather suspect it is an error since the meeting report further states that there were four student presentations, the same as in 2004, whereas the program shows that there were five! Furthermore, according to the program one of the ACT delegates did not work at an ACT university and the invited speaker, Professor Venkat Subramanian (Tennessee Technical University, USA), came from neither NSW nor ACT!

There were ten talks (including the invited speaker), five from students. The invited speaker spoke for one hour (interestingly this was the first talk on the second day of the meeting), all other speakers had twenty-five minutes. Mr Barry Cox (UOW) won the student prize. (Now, if that figure of 25 delegates is correct... I shall have to repeat my comment about the 2004 mini-meeting: if there were twenty-five delegates and only ten speakers then a lotta lotta people were having a holiday and slacking off!)

The program only lists the speakers and the session chairs. Seven of the named delegates came from NSW (CSU, 1; UOW, 5; USN, 1) and five came from the ACT (Geoscience Australia, 1; UNSW@ADFA, 4). There was one delegate from the USA. There are approximately twelve delegates missing in action! The invited speaker was given 50 minutes, the remaining speakers were given twenty-five minutes.

The format for the conference dinner differed from that in 2004. This time, only the Thai banquet was available. However, some things had not changed since the conference booklet contained the same important message that "some bottled wine will be supplied".

Although I did not attend the mini-meeting, I subsequently heard that following the conference dinner ("some bottled wine will be supplied)" the newly licensed delegate X was designated to drive student Y's car back to the conference accommodation. Student Y recovered in rapid time, as their talk the next day (at 10.30am) won the prize for the best student presentation!

At the NSW ANZIAM AGM Dr Mark Nelson was elected chair of NSW ANZIAM "for 2007 and beyond" (Marchant, 2007), even though he was not present at the meeting! That was to teach me the perils for not attending NSW ANZIAM branch meetings.

At the 2007 ANZIAM no request was made for funding due to sufficient existing funds. In the "Report on NSW ANZIAM 2006" presented at the ANZIAM meeting in February 2007 (Marchant, 2007) it was announced "An email list of NSW ANZIAM members is to be generated. In the first instance this is to be used to solicit nominations for a new NSW ANZIAM committee. As of 27th November 2018 no such email list has been constructed. The road to email nirvana was paved with good intentions...

The 2006 meeting was the first of an eight year run in which the NSW ANZIAM branch organised a meeting every year. The last year of this run was the 2013 meeting. (As of 26th November 2018 this is a record for the most consecutive meetings).

The Wollongong years: 2007

In 2007 the NSW and ACT branches organised a joint meeting at the University of Wollongong (10th December). The organising committee for the mini-meeting comprised Dr G.N. Mercer (UNSW, ADFA), Dr M.I. Nelson (UOW) and Dr H.S. Sidhu (UNSW, ADFA). There were 15 delegates (ADFA 7, UoW 7, USN 1). There were ten talks, including six from students. The prize for the best student talk was given to Mr Alex Badran (UoW) and Ms Roslyn Hickson (UNSW, ADFA). The former had just completed the second-year of his undergraduate degree! Alex talked about a research problem in financial mathematics that he had investigated during an elective subject.

The invited speaker was Dr M. Matthews (UOW) who gave an overview of mathematical modelling in nanotechnology. His talk was fifty minutes in length, the remaining presentations were twenty-five minutes in duration.

The Wollongong years: 2008

In 2008 the NSW and ACT branches organised a joint meeting at the Coachhouse Marina Resort in Batemans Bay (Friday 21st to Saturday 22nd November). The organising committee for this meeting comprised Dr M.I. Nelson (UOW) and Dr H.S. Sidhu (UNSW, ADFA).

There were 22 delegates, seven from NSW and fifteen from the ACT (ADFA 5, CSIRO 1, ANU 9, misc 1, UoW 6). There were eighteen talks, including ten from students. At the time eighteen presentations was the most at a branch meeting. (This number would equalled at the 2009 meeting and exceeded by the twenty-six presentations at the 2012 meeting).

It was recognised at the meeting that the standard of student talks was very high. The prize for the best student talk was shared between Mr Aaron Thornton (UoW) and Ms Chin Foon Khoo (ANU). Ms Roslyn Hickson (ADFA) was highly commended for her talk. (Roslyn became the first student to win the prize, 2007, and received a highly commended). The winners each received a cheque for $100 whilst Ms Hickson received a cheque for $50. All three received certificates.

For the second time there were no invited speakers, this had occured in 2002. All talks were of twenty minutes duration.

Dr Bob Anderssen was unable to attend the first day of the meeting, he attended a meeting in Ballarat. Flying back to Canberra on the Friday his plane was delayed by 90 minutes. He got up in the early hours of Saturday morning, drove through thunderous rain and arrived for the start of the first session. He arrived before some of the delegates staying locally! He gave the final presentation of the meeting on "Modelling Gene Silencing".

The registration fee covered the hire of the facilities, afternoon tea (Friday), conference meal (a BBQ) and morning tea (Saturday). During the conference dinner, the resort set up a bar for the purchase of individual drinks.

At the AGM appreciation was noted for the very friendly staff at the Coachhouse who had gone out of their way to help organise the meeting at very short notice. A resolution was made to return to the Coachhouse for the 2009 NSW/ACT mini-meeting, to be held in November/December. A resolution was also made to change the co-signatories of the ANZIAM NSW account to A/P C. Macaskill, Dr M. Myerscough and Dr M. Wechselberger (all USN). (I wonder if and when this happened!)

Three photographs taken at the meeting are available on the NSW ANZIAM image gallery (and below). The first shows the winners of the best student talk. The second shows one of the organisers pontificating. The third shows Dr Bob Anderssen (winner of the ``The Most Heroic Attendee''), Associate Professor Harvinder Sidhu (ACT organiser) and Professor Brain Gray.

Student prize winners, NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2008. One of the conference organisers (MIN) pontificating, NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2008.
Figure. The winners of the student prize at the 2008 NSW-ACT meeting: Ms Roslyn Hickson (UNSW@ADFA), Mr Aaron Thornton (UoW), and Ms Chin Foon Khoo (ANU). Figure. One of the conference organisers (MIN, UOW) pontificating. (NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2008). Bonus points if you can identify the other two conference delegates shown in this photograph.
Two of the delegates and one of the conference organisers. NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2008.
Figure. Bob Anderssen (CSIRO), Harvinder Sidhu (UNSW, ADFA) and Brian Gray. (NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2008)

The Wollongong years: 2009

In 2009 the NSW and ACT branches organised a joint meeting at the Coachhouse Marina Resort in Batemans Bay (4-5 December). The organising committee for the mini-meeting comprised Dr M.I. Nelson (UoW) and Dr H.S. Sidhu (UNSW@ADFA).

Thirteen delegates from NSW (UoW 12, misc 1) and ten from the ACT (UNSW@ADFA 5, CSIRO 1, ANU 3, Geosciences Australia 1) attended the meeting. There were eighteen talks, including thirteen from students. The students presentations were all of a high calibre. The student prize committed consisted of Bob Anderssen, becoming the first person to serve on the committee twice (2003 and 2009), Brian Gray, and Jonathan Griffin. The prize for the best student talk was given to Mr Alex Badran, an honours student from UoW. This was the second time that Alex had won the prize, the first time was in 2007, and he was not yet a postgraduate student! (Alex was the first student to win the student prize twice). Mr Ahmed Msmali (UoW) and Mr Thiansiri Luangwilai (UNSW at ADFA) were highly commended for their talks. Alex received $200 (cash). All three also received certificates.

The registration fee covered the hire of the facilities. In addition it covered afternoon tea (Friday), a BBQ buffet dinner and morning tea (Saturday). As at the event the previous year, during the conference dinner the resort set up a bar for the purchase of individual drinks.

For the third time were no invited speakers, this had also occured at the meetings in 2002 and 2008. All talks were of twenty minutes duration.

Although the branch was very happy with the excellent support it had received from the staff at the Coachhouse Marina Resort in both 2008 and 2009, at the AGM it was resolved to "investigate the possibility of moving to a venue that is slightly nearer to Sydney". This was in the hope of attracting delegates from Sydney: neither the 2008 nor the 2009 mini-meetings attracted any delegates from Sydney! Unfortunately, subsequent experience suggests that the only venue for a branch meeting that is close enough to Sydney to tempt Sydneysiders to attend is Sydney itself!

The report that appeared in the Gazette (Cox & Nelson, 2010b) included one photograph. This showed all the attendees of the conference except for one - the photographer! For a bonus mark. Identify the photographer. Two photographs taken at the meeting are available on the NSW ANZIAM image gallery. Both photographs are included below.

As noted in the report to ANZIAM (Cox & Nelson, 2010), "During the course of the year Dr M.I. Nelson has constructed an incomplete history of the NSW branch. It is hoped that missing information will be filled in over time".

Student prize winner, NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2009. Meeting delegates, NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2009.
Figure. Mr Alex Badran (UoW, winner of the student prize at the 2009 NSW-ACT meeting, being congratulated by Dr Bob Anderssen (CSIRO), chair of the student prize committee members. Figure. Meeting delegates minus the photographer (NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2009). For one bonus mark identify the photographer!

The Wollongong years: 2010

In 2010 the NSW and ACT branches organised a joint meeting at the Berry Village Boutique Motel in Berry (Friday 3rd & Saturday 4th December). The organising committee for the mini-meeting comprised Dr M.I. Nelson (UoW), Dr H.S. Sidhu (UNSW@ADFA) and Dr N. Thamwattana (UoW).

Twelve delegates from NSW (UoW 11, USN 1) and six from the ACT (UNSW@ADFA 5, ANU 1) attended the meeting. In all there were thirteen talks, including ten from students. The opening presentation was given by the President of ANZIAM and the closing presentation by the Secretary of ANZIAM. (However, there were not invited presentations). The students presentations were all of a high calibre. The prize for the best student talk was given to Mr Thiansiri Luangwilai, a PhD student from UNSW@ADFA. Thiansiri was highly commended at the previous meeting. (Thiansiri became the second student to receive the prize for the best student presentation and a highly commended). Mr Thien Tran-Duc and Ms Fainida Rahmat (both UoW) were highly commended for their talks. Thiansiri received $100 (cash) and the two highly commendeds $50 each. All three also received certificates.

Despite the presence of both the President and the Secretary of ANZIAM there were no invited speakers and all talks were twenty minutes in length. This was the fourth time were no invited speakers, earlier meetings with no invited speakers were: 2002, 2008 and 2009.

The registration fee covered the hire of the facilities, afternoon tea (Friday), conference meal (two courses), continental breakfast (Saturday), morning tea (Saturday) and lunch (Saturday). The conference dinner started at 7pm, with drinks being served from 6.30pm. However, delegates had to cover the costs of their drinks.

At the AGM it was noted that there were no attendees from Sydney at the branch meetings in either 2008 or 2009 and only one at the meeting in 2010. The branch resolved to investigate the possibility of organising a one-day Winter meeting in June/July at the University of Sydney. (This was seen as a way to create a greater engagement with researchers working in Sydney who suffer from travel sickness - though other's may phrase that sentiment in a different way! Although a good idea, the winter meeting did not happen.)

Finally, the staff of the Berry Boutique Resort were thanked for all their help, going out of their way to help organise the meeting.

The report that appeared in the Gazette (Thamwattana & Nelson, 2011b) included one photograph. This showed all the attendees of the conference except for one - the photographer! For a bonus mark. Identify the photographer. winners of the best student talk. The photograph that appeared in the Gazette is also available on the NSW ANZIAM image gallery and is included below.

The only problem that the organising committee experienced was regard to publicising the meeting. In previous years the meeting was advertises through the Australian Mathematical Society (AUST-MS) email list. In 2010 the Secretary of the AUST-MS declined to forward our email notice to the AUST-MS email list on the grounds that this list was reserved for matters of ``national interest''.

Meeting delegates, NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2010.
Figure. Meeting delegates. (NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2010). .

Finally, some photographs of the conference venue (taken in July 2018).

Berry Village Boutique Motel, NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2010. Berry Village Boutique Motel NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2008.
Berry Village Boutique Motel, NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2010. Berry Village Boutique Motel NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2008.
Figure. Images of the Berry Village Boutique Motel, site of the NSW-ACT ANZIAM meeting in 2008. Photographs taken in June 2018.

The Wollongong years: 2011

In 2011 the NSW and ACT branches organised a joint meeting at the Murramarang Beachfront Nature Resort in South Durras (Thursday 24th to Friday 25th November). The organising committee for the mini-meeting comprised Dr M.I. Nelson (UoW) and Dr H.S. Sidhu (UNSW@ADFA).

There were thirteen delegates from NSW (UoW 6, USN 4, UNSW 3), sixteen from the ACT (UNSW@ADFA 10, ANU 6) and two international delegates (Germany and Japan). This was the largest meeting in the period 1999-2011, although the 2002 meeting had two more registered delegates only thirty people attended the meeting. As of 26th November 2018 this meeting still holds the record for the most number of delegates attending a branch meeting outside of Sydney. (The 2012 branch meeting held at UNSW holds the all-locations record with 42 delegates).

There were sixteen talks, including ten from students. The students presentations were all of a high calibre. The prize for the best student talk was given to Ms Hamizah Mohd Safuan, a PhD student from UNSW, Canberra. Mr Luke Sciberras (UoW) and Mr Matthias Wong (ANU) were highly commended for their talks. Hamizah received $100 (cash) and the two highly commendeds $50 each. All three also received certificates.

There were no invited speakers and all presentations were of twenty minutes duration. This was the fifth time were no invited speakers, earlier meetings with no invited speakers were: 2002, 2008, 2009 and 2010. (As of 11th December 2018, this was the last branch meeting not to have an invited speaker).

The 2011 AGM marked the end of the `Wollongong era' (2004-20011), in which the branch president always came from the University of Wollongong, with the election of Associate Professor John Murray (UNSW) as the branch President. Finally, no-one present at the 2011 meeting attended the 2001 meeting.

At the AGM it was noted that the conference location was excellent and that the staff had gone out of their way to help organise the meeting.

In addition to hire of the facilities the registration fee included:

  • Twin share accommodation for the night of Thursday 24th November.
  • Afternoon tea (Thursday).
  • a three course dinner (Thursday), exclusive of drinks.
  • Continental breakfast (Friday morning).
  • Morning tea (Friday).
  • Lunch (Friday).

One photographs taken at the meeting. It is available on the NSW ANZIAM image gallery and is included below.

The members of the student prize committee with the winner of the student prize and the two highly commended students
Figure. Flanking three students are the members of the student prize committee: Dr Harvinder Sidhu (UNSW@ADFA) and Professor Song-Ping Zhu (UOW). The three students are Ms Hamizah Mohd Safuan (winner of the student prize, UNSW@ADFA), Mr Luke Sciberras (highly commended, UOW) and Mr Mr Matthias Wong (highly commended, ANU). (NSW-ACT ANZIAM 2011).

Analysis of delegates

How many delegates attended how many meetings during the period covered in this article (2000-2011)? Before we see the data, a word of explanation. This analysis is based upon attendence at the NSW ANZIAM meetings in 2001-2004 and 2006-2011. There were no meetings organised in either 2000 or 2005. the maximum possible is ten.

The meetings in 2001-2003 and 2009-2011 were held in `remote' locations and I have a `pretty good' handle on the attendees.

I did not attend the 2004 meeting. I know that there were approximately 25 people there. The program for the meeting only lists the speakers (10) and the three session chairs (only one of which gave a presentation). So approximately thirteen people are missing in action!

I did not attend the 2006 meeting. I know that there were approximately 25 people there. The program for the meeting only lists the speakers (10) and the three session chairs (none of whom gave a presentation). So approximately twelve people are missing in action!

The program for the meeting in 2007 only lists the speakers (10) and the three session chairs (none of whom gave a presentation). It is known that 15 people attended the meeting. So two people are missing in action. I have made an educated guess that these were the individuals elected into the positions of secretary and treasurer of the branch.

The program for the meeting in 2008 only lists the speakers (17), the session chairs (one of whom did not in addition give a presentation) and two organisers (neither of whom gave presentations). Another delegate is know as he is mentioned as being on the student prize committee. It is known that 22 people attended the meeting. So one person is missing in action.

Analysis of attendence at NSW ANZIAM meetings for the years: (2000), 2001-2004, (2005), 2006-2011. There were no meetings organised in 2000 or 2005.
Number of NSW ANZIAM meetings attended Frequency
1 77
2 20
3 9
4 5
5 3
6 2
7 1
8 0
9 0
10 0

The five people to attend four meetings are: William Bertram (2002-2004, 2007), Grant Cox (2002-2003, 2007, 2009), Bill Gibson (2001-2004), Geoff Mercer (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011), and Thien Tran-Duc (2008-2011),

The three people to attend five meetings are: Thiansiri Luangwilai (2006, 2008-2011), Tim Marchant (2002-2004, 2006, 2010), and Jason Sharples (2007-2011).

The two people to attend six meetings are: Mark Nelson (2002, 2003, 2007-2010), and Ngamta (Natalie) Thamwattana (2001-2003, 2006, 2008, 2010).

The one person to attend seven meetings is: Harvinder Sidhu (2004, 2006-2011).

Acknowledgements

Dr Grant Cox informed me that there was a branch meeting in 2001 and Dr Bronwyn Hajek supplied me with a copy of the program. Neville de Mestre (email) filled in many of the missing details. Raseelo (Joel) Moitsheki (email) claimed the prize for the best student prize at the meeting.

Professor Harvinder Sidhu (UNSW@Canberra) supplied with `fresh' programs for the 2004 and 2006 ACT/NSW mini-meetings (22nd January 2018)!

Missing information

I would like to track down the minutes of the 28th ANZIAM AGM (2002) and the 29th ANZIAM AGM (2004).

Footnotes

  1. The 2001 program does not have a list of delegates. I have based attendance upon the number of speakers plus four people known to have attended but not presented: Bronwyn Hajek, Neville de Mestre, Raseelo (Joel) Moitsheki, Natalie Thamwattana. Bronwyn attested to Natalie and her own attendance. Joel attested to his own attendance.

Version

  • Version 1.0. Parts one through three of this series have been based upon scrag-ends. In contrast, I have a plethora of information about the activities of the Sydney/NSW branch of ANZIAM over the time period of this article.

    • Programs for the meetings in: 2001-2004, 2006-2011. (This is a complete set as there were no meetings in either 2000 or 2005).
    • The relevant issues of the Australian Mathematical Society Gazette.
    • The minutes and papers of the ANZIAM executive committee (2007-2009, 2011).
    • The minutes and papers of the ANZIAM AGM (2001, 2005-2011). (There was no AGM in 2003, there was no ANZIAM meeting that year.)
    • NSW ANZIAM financial statements (2004-2007).
    • I attended the meetings in 2002, 2003, 2007-2010. (A more thoroughly analysis of the notes I took at these meetings might reveal long-forgotten points of interest (?). But I have not had time to do so. Maybe when I retire...)
    • It has been helpful that I started writing this history in 2009, since things which I knew and recorded in the past I have now forgotten about!

    This version was finished on 27th November 2018.

Abbreviations

ADFA Australian Defence Force Academy
ANSTO Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
ANU Australian National University
ANZIAM Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics
ANZIAM is a division of the Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS).
BOU Bond University
CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
CSU Charles Sturt university
DSTO Defence Science and Technology Organisation
MQU Macquarie University
UNC University of Newcastle
UND University of Notre Dame
UNSW University of New South Wales
UNSW at ADFA University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy
UNSW, Canberra University of New South Wales, Canberra
UoW University of Wollongong
USN University of Sydney
UTS University of Technology, Sydney
UWS University of Western Sydney

Bibliography

This shows the sources that I have used to write part four of this series. (Not necessarily very accurate, as I don't always remember to update things).

  1. ANZIAM Executive Committee. 2007-2009, 2011.

    Contains the branch report that is tabled at the AGM and is unlikely to contain anything else. It appears that sometimes I did not keep the agenda for the AGM, but I kept the minutes for the executive meeting.

  2. Annual General Meeting of ANZIAM. 27th (2001), 30th (2005) — 36th (2011).

    The branch is supposed to submit a report each year to the ANZIAM executive, which is printed for both the executive meeting and for the ANZIAM AGM. Reports appeared in: 2005-2009. A reports was not submitted in: 2001. I did not attend the AGMs in 2002-2004. I've listed the reports that appeared under the names of the author's elsewhere in this bibliography.

    It is sometimes useful to read the minutes of the previous general meeting. This is usually item 2 on the agenda. For instance, the minutes of the 2000 meeting (distributed at the 2001 general meeting) contain a report of what was said by Dr Charlie Macaskill about branch activities in 1999.

    Finally, it can be instructive to read the ACT branch report.

  3. Australian Mathematical Society Gazette. Volume 27 (2000) to 36 (2009).

    A detailed reading of the Gazette might reveal more information about the branch. Due to lack of time I have not examined each issue in detail.

  4. Cox, G., and Nelson, M.I. (2010). Report on NSW ANZIAM 2009. 35th General Meeting of ANZIAM (02.02.10) Item 7c.
  5. Cox, G., and Nelson, M.I. (2010). Report on NSW ANZIAM 2009. The Australian Mathematical Gazette 37(2), 84--85.

    6. This article is available on the web at: http://www.austms.org.au/Publ/Gazette/2010/May10/CommsANZIAM.pdf .

  6. Financial Statement. (2004). NSW ANZIAM Branch.
  7. Financial Statement. (2005). NSW ANZIAM Branch.
  8. Financial Statement. (2006). NSW ANZIAM Branch.
  9. Financial Statement. (2007). NSW ANZIAM Branch.

    10. The financial statement should appear as part of the branch submission to the AGM, but this does not always happen.

  10. Marchant, T.R. (2005). Report on NSW Branch 2004. 30th General Meeting of ANZIAM (01.02.05) Item 6b.
  11. Marchant, T.R. (2006). Report on NSW ANZIAM 2005. 31st General Meeting of ANZIAM (07.02.06) Item 6b.
  12. Marchant, T.R. (2007). Report on NSW ANZIAM 2006. 32nd General Meeting of ANZIAM (30.01.07) Item 6b.

  13. de Mestre, N. (2009). Neville sent me two emails regarding the organisation of the 2001 meeting (12.12.09).

  14. Moitsheki, Raseelo (Joel). (2010). Joel sent me an email (06.01.10) to confirm that he had won the prize for the best student presentation at the 2001 meeting. (His talk is not listed on the program). The title of his presentation was "Analytical solutions for two dimensional solute transport with velocity-dependent dispersion".

  15. Nelson, M.I. (2004). NSW ANZIAM 2003 Branch Meeting. The Australian Mathematical Gazette 31(1), 63.
  16. Nelson, M.I. (2008). Report on NSW ANZIAM 2007. 33rd AGM of ANZIAM (05.02.08). Item 6b.
  17. Nelson, M.I. (2009). Report on NSW ANZIAM 2008. 34th AGM of ANZIAM (03.02.09) Item 7b.
  18. Nelson, M.I. (2009b). ACT/NSW ANZIAM meeting. The Australian Mathematical Society Gazette, 36(1), 28-29. Read the article online.
  19. Nelson, M.I.. (2012). Report on NSW ANZIAM 2011. ANZIAM Executive Meeting. (29.01.12) Item 11c.

  20. Program. ANZIAM Weekend Mini-Conference. New South Wales Branch. November 3-4, 2001.
  21. Program. NSW Branch of ANZIAM Mini-Meeting. May 25-26, 2002.
  22. Program. NSW ANZIAM Mini-Meeting. 22-23 November, 2003.
  23. Program. ACT & NSW Joint Mini-meeting. 26-27 November 2004.
  24. Program. ACT & NSW Joint Mini-meeting. 8-9 December 2006.
  25. Program. ACT & NSW Joint Mini-meeting. 10 December 2007.
  26. Program. ACT & NSW Joint Mini-meeting. 21-22 November 2008.
  27. Program. ACT & NSW Joint Mini-meeting. 4-5 December 2009.
  28. Program. ACT & NSW Joint Mini-meeting. 3-4 December 2010.
  29. Program. ACT & NSW Joint Mini-meeting. 24 \& 25 November 2011.

  30. Sexton, J. (2002). Report on NSW Branch Meeting of ANZIAM 2002. (2002) Australian Mathematical Gazette. 29(3), 188.

  31. Thamwattana, N. and Nelson, M.I. (2011). Report on NSW ANZIAM 2010. 36th AGM of ANZIAM (01.02.11) Item 7c.
  32. Thamwattana, N. and Nelson, M.I. (2011b). Report on the 2010 NSW ANZIAM meeting. The Australian Mathematical Society Gazette, 38(5), 269-270. Read the article online.

Updated: 01 Apr 2019
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