NEWCASTLE, 27 DECEMBER 2014: Thousands of Australians will be hitting the roads this summer; cars packed with eskies, tents and boogie boards.
But who makes sure the roads are safe, the traffic lights change efficiently and any road works cause as little delays as possible?
One hundred and ten Australian students have opted to hit the books over the road this summer and attend the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute’s (AMSI) Summer School at the University of Newcastle from January 5 – 29.
Among other specialist subjects these students will be learning about current methods used in traffic flow management. Whether in the inner suburbs of your capital city or the great open roads of the Australian countryside, mathematics, statistics and computational techniques are essential for making our roads safer, our journeys more efficient and our holidays relaxing.
Professor Jan de Gier is the deputy director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS) and will be teaching at AMSI’s Summer School together with Dr Tim Garoni from Monash University.
“VicRoads is a frontrunner in realising that mathematics and statistics is essential to improve traffic networks,” Jan says. “Theory and ideas borrowed from mathematical physics and statistical mechanics being taught at this Summer School are extremely adaptable to traffic modelling.”
In fact, through a long running collaboration between VicRoads, Monash University, the University of Melbourne and the newly formed ACEMS, efficient simulators are being developed — such as CEASAR (ceasar.acems.org.au) — to mitigate bumps in your road.
“The beauty of the AMSI Summer School is that we can efficiently deliver state of the art mathematics and statistics, like this work on traffic management from Victoria, to a large number of future specialists in every state,” says Professor Geoff Prince, AMSI Director.
He continues: “Over the last 12 years most Australian honours and PhD graduates in the mathematical sciences have benefited from our national research training programs, meeting a growing demand for quantitative skills in the economy. These programs have expanded over the last three years due in part to Department of Education funding.”
— ends —
For Interview:
Professor Jan de Gier, University of Melbourne
Dr Tim Garoni, Monash University
Professor Geoff Prince, AMSI
Media Contact:
Simi Henderson, AMSI
+61 405 301 646
simi@amsi.org.au
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