Scholarships

NZi3 $20k+fees Industry PhD Scholarship with Motim Technologies - open until filled

Future Forest Research funded PhD opportunity - Open until filled

NZi3 Research Award - open year round

NZi3 Industry PhD Scholarship with Motim Technologies

These scholarships were established in 2011 by the University of Canterbury for the purpose of encouraging research in the field of of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in conjunction with a company. The scholarships provide for a living allowance and tuition fees for three years.
Value: $20,000 per annum, plus tuition fees
Tenure: 3 years (PhD)
Forms: PhD application form & regulations
Applications to: Submit applications to the UC Scholarships Office
Closing Date: refer to individual project specifications below

Project specification - Motim Technologies:

Large-Scale Image Matching using Cloud Computing and GPU

Overview

Modern mobile phones are equipped with cameras in addition to having increased computational capabilities with multi-core CPUs and GPUs. Another trend is the availability of unprecedented computing resources through cloud-computing and massively parallel GPU configurations. This makes it interesting to use Computer Vision to allow users to interact with physical objects and to retrieve associated content simply by taking snapshots and sending a feature set to be matched.

For this purpose, this project will entail researching the next generation image matching engine taking advantage of mobile and cloud-based processing. Research will involve evaluating existing algorithms as well as developing new ones adapted to various mobile and cloud configurations and capable to discriminate between a very large number of image targets. Besides images, matching other media types, including audio and 3D objects, will ideally be achieved by deriving suitable algorithms from work made in image matching.

Motim Technologies will support to this project with highly-skilled supervision from their own PhD qualified staff, as well as provide management, research equipment and some travel support for the project.

Research Challenges

A rasterized image is highly variant to geometric and photometric distortions. The content of an image must therefore be described in a invariant form with sufficient information content for reliable matching against a large number of targets. Where this is not sufficient, other approaches, such as Machine Learning and higher-level representations, must be added.

Combining results from techniques with different performance under various conditions requires the system to be employ sophisticated decision logic. Computation times and bandwidth usage must be minimized.

Expected outcome

The research is expected to yield commercially viable solutions - either as a complete system or as significant parts of such - in addition to academic publications necessary to obtain the degree of PhD.

Required skills

The ideal candidate has excellent analytic skills and a strong math background (algebra and statistics), in addition to knowledge and interest in one or more of the following areas:

Computer Vision: Image formation -geometric and photometric- and image content. Invariant description of image content for efficient matching.
Image Processing: Filtering of image content to enhance the saliency of matchable features. Segmentation of regions of interest. Normalizations of e.g histograms.
Data Structures: Tree structures for efficient descriptor matching and high scalability.
Signal Processing: Filtering and matching in the frequency domain. Wavelets.
Machine Learning: Pattern recognition of audio and image data. Object classification and recognition, e.g. Neural Networks for OCR.
Computation: GPU-programming models and how they can accelerate existing and new solutions. Distributing computation between handsets and server and necessary protocols.

Closing date

Applications open until filled.

Future Forest Research - funded PhD opportunity

Agile Steep Terrain Tree Felling Machine Recent developments in steep-terrain harvesting of plantation forests have utilised cable-assisted excavators with felling and bunching heads as an alternative to human tree fallers.

This project involves a new approach to develop a light-weight innovative machine that can move through the forest on steep terrain. The outputs of this project will include:

A mobile tele-operated machine to allow a payload such as a felling device to move around a forest on steep terrain.
A modular and re-configurable design approach will be used. Simulation software tools and physical prototypes will be used to develop design concepts and study machine kinematics and dynamics. The machine will include an embedded single-board-computer as a platform for semi-autonomous operations.
New cutting methods, such as water jet, will be investigated as these may reduce the machine payload and increase its portability. A chain-saw, weighing approximately 10 kilograms, will be the target payload for the initial concept.

It is envisioned that this research task will lead to the development of an innovative product.

Applicants are required to submit the following documents by email to Hamish House, NZi3 Director (hamish.house@nzi3.com):

Your current Curriculum Vitae
An A4 page typed statement about how your experience or interests relate to the project
Contact details of a supervisor or lecturer willing to provide a reference
A copy of your current academic transcript

Value: $30,000 per annum
Tenure: up to 4 years
Applications to: Submit applications to hamish.house@nzi3.com
Closing Date: as soon as filled

If you have any questions about this scholarship, please email hamish.house@nzi3.com or phone 03 364 2467 xt 3467

NZi3 Research Award

These scholarships were established in 2007 on behalf of sponsors of the ICT Innovation Institute (NZi3) at the University of Canterbury for the purpose of encouraging research in the field of ICT, either in conjunction with a company or with the intention of developing and commercialising a product.

(For the purposes of this award ICT refers to technologies which embody hardware or software in a product, rather than their use in a service industry)

Applications for the NZi3 scholarships must be received by the UC Scholarship Office. The selection panel (made up of academic and industry representatives) will shortlist the applicants and interviews may be conducted.

NOTE: NZi3 Research Awards are subject to funding and availability

NZi3 research Award application form & regulations

If you have any questions about this scholarship, please email hamish.house@nzi3.com or phone 03 364 2467 xt 3467