Reserve the last Tuesday of each month to hear from some of the leading minds in science today. Massey University Auckland scientists and guest speakers take you into the fascinating world of scientific discoveries.
Most lectures are held on the Massey Auckland campus in the Sir Neil Waters lecture theatre. See map on the right.
Lectures start at 7pm. Light refreshments are served after the talk.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on its own is not a very sexy topic, but trying to predict it using machine learning and data analysis might be!
Although often criticised as an economic measure, the problem that needs to be solved is not GDP’s relevance, but the ability to get quick up-to-date indicators of GDP in a relevant time frame. Information on what happened three months ago is of limited use.
We will look at the colourful history of GDP including criticisms and some clever global estimation strategies. Finally, our approach to building a real-time GDP predictor using machine learning will be outlined, together with its forecasting results from the last six months.
In this talk, Professor Downey, awarded the Rutherford Medal in 2018, will examine the history of how we began to understand the number pi over the last four millennia.
This is also the story of the development of a branch of modern mathematics called analysis; a story still being told today.
Find out more about previous speakers and their topics.
Massey University offers study programmes at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Massey University demands excellence in our research.We bring together world-leading experts from several disciplines to further knowledge and make a difference in New Zealand and the world.
We are keen to hear your thoughts about this series and ideas about topics you are interested in.
All lectures take place from 7–8.30pm unless noted otherwise.
Sir Neil Waters Lecture Theatre
Massey University Auckland, Albany