Interim and permanent buildings

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1960s, 1970s, 1980s, chemistry, computer science, geology, library, mathematics, physics, technology

This year is the 50th anniversary of two significant university buildings. Ironically, the one originally called ‘interim’ is still here, while the other has gone!

The northern side of the new Library/Arts Building in 1965. Image courtesy of the Hocken Collections, S13-217g.

On 7 April 1965 the new Library/Arts Building was officially opened by the Minister of Education with much fanfare (complete with a student protest about inadequate government funding for university staff and facilities). The library, which had been taking up more and more space in the old clocktower building, now had a spacious new home, and there was also room for some of the arts and commerce departments. Those departments later moved out into other new buildings, allowing the library to expand. But as the university grew and grew, the library space became inadequate. Since the building’s design did not allow for any additions, some of the collections were moved into other spaces. Eventually the central library building was replaced by the current Information Services Building, completed in 2001.

Not far away from the library is the other 1965 building, now known as the Information Technology Services Building. It started out as the Interim Science Building. The word interim did not refer to the building, but to its usage – it was to provide temporary additional space for the physical sciences until their large new buildings were completed in the 1970s. There was a lot less fanfare over this building. I haven’t yet uncovered any evidence that it even had an official opening – its residents simply moved in and started using it in September 1965.

Though the numbers seem small by today’s standards, the university was growing rapidly in this period, making the old buildings woefully inadequate. The student roll jumped from 2000 in 1955 to 3700 in 1965; by 1975 it had reached 6300. As the Vice-Chancellor Arthur Beacham commented in 1964 when plans for the interim building were announced, it meant the university could avoid restricting entry into the physical sciences, whose labs were cramped into every attic and basement available.

The key feature of the Interim Science Building – a two-storey light steel-frame construction – was that it could be built quickly. The design, by Auckland architects Beatson, Rix-Trott, Carter & Co., had already been used for buildings at Auckland and Massey universities, though of course the foundations had to be customised for the site. The site was a particularly interesting one. With no space for a long building readily available around campus, it was built to span the Water of Leith. Once government funding was approved in October 1964, the University of Otago accepted a tender from Dunedin building firm Mitchell Brothers and, true to schedule, science departments moved in just under a year later.

The Information Technology Services Building, formerly the Interim Science Building, photographed by Ali Clarke, March 2015.

For several years the Interim Science Building provided extra laboratory space for the geology, physics and chemistry departments. In the 1970s, as the large new Science I, II and III buildings were completed, those departments moved out. The initial plan was for the building to then become available for expansion of the School of Home Science, but nobody had foreseen the ever-growing needs of another original occupant of the building, the university’s computing services.

The timing of the Interim Science Building construction was providential for the beginnings of computing at Otago. Space was reserved for installation of an IBM 360/30 early in 1966; this was run by the mathematics department. The large space under the building, where it crossed the Leith, proved convenient for the running of all the cables needed for the computer and its powerful air conditioning system. There were some disadvantages though. Brian Cox, the mathematician who became Otago’s first computer scientist, recalls that the puzzle of frequent false fire alarms was solved when they discovered that waterblasting under the building had accidentally stripped the insulation off all the wiring! Rumour has it that people waiting for the computer to work through a program sometimes passed the time by fishing out the window.

The Computing Centre’s first machine, from its 1971 ‘Notes for users’.

Early computers were very large in size, if not in data capabilities – Otago’s first IBM had 16KB of memory! A new computer, installed in 1973, filled half the ground floor of the Interim Sciences Building. Later computers were smaller, but there were many more of them, together with a growing staff to manage computer services all around campus, train users and carry out academic research and teaching in computer science. By the mid-1980s computing had taken over the entire building, which was renamed the Computing Services Building to reflect that. The building design had proved flexible – “hardly any of its internal walls are the originals”, commented the staff newsletter in 1986. Later, when Computing Services became Information Technology Services, the building was renamed the Information Technology Services Building.

Do you have any memories to share of the Interim Sciences Building? And do you know of any early photos of the building? The only ones I’ve located so far are in newspaper clippings. It’s hard to photograph these days because the trees have grown so much!

Another view of the ITS Building, photographed by Ali Clarke, March 2015.

Recruiting scientists

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1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, anatomy, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, microbiology, neuroscience, physical education

Looking at bacteria on an agar model of a set of teeth during the microbiology project at the first Hands-on science camp, 1990. Image courtesy of the Hocken Collections, University of Otago Photographic Unit records, MS-4185/042, S15-500d.

Recruiting good students is a priority for every university department. Everybody wants to attract the brightest and the best, but there is no shortage of competition from other subjects and other universities. Attracting interest early is essential, for once students have dropped a subject in school, they are unlikely to consider it as an option for tertiary study. In 1987 Donald McGregor, Dean of Otago’s Faculty of Science, noted “grave and widespread concerns over science and mathematics education in New Zealand”. Students were less well prepared than a few years earlier, many were turning away from science at an early age, and a much smaller proportion of the brightest students were enrolling in tertiary science courses.

Some individual science departments had already established programmes to promote their subjects in schools – for example, in 1985 the Department of Mathematics and Statistics started a junior maths competition and, together with the Department of Computer Science, organised a national computer art competition. Now the Science Faculty set up a Science-Link Committee to foster links with schools and promote science in the community, and also a Science Education Forum for concerned educators to support one another in advancing science and maths education at all levels in Otago. University scientists took part in a wide variety of activities to promote science in schools, ranging from more competitions and science fairs to an adopt-a-scientist programme and a junior chemistry club (for intermediate school children).

One of the boldest new schemes of the Science Education Forum had a national reach and included all of the sciences. Hands-on science brought a group of secondary students of ‘exceptional’ ability to Otago in January 1990 for a week of science activities – Gerry Carrington, convenor of the organising committee, described it as an “outward bound school for scientists”. The first science camp was an enormous success, setting a pattern which has continued ever since. In the mornings students worked in small groups on a challenging project designed by one of the university departments and guided by staff and tutors. The afternoons were taken up by a more relaxed recreation programme, allowing them to explore the Dunedin environs. Participants from out of town – about 100 of the 140 involved that first year – stayed in one of the residential colleges, and organisers arranged sponsorship for those who could not afford the expenses.

Some intense work underway during the anatomy project at Hands-on science, 2015. Image courtesy of Hands-on science.

After that first year, described by students as “exciting and inspiring”, Hands-on science became a fixture on the university calendar every January, attracting more applications each year. Eventually the roll settled at around 240, with many turned away (there were 520 applicants for this year’s course). As well as their research projects, students listened to inspiring lectures. A programme of “science snacks”, allowing participants to get a briefer taste of a wide variety of science activities, was later added to the afternoon schedule, though there were still a few purely recreational activities on offer, including quizzes, discos and outdoor challenges.

It’s not all serious! Students demonstrate the ascent of humanity during Campus Capers, a treasure hunt to familiarise students with the campus, 2013. Image courtesy of Hands-on science.

In its first 26 years Hands-on science has proved an effective recruitment tool for the sciences and, more specifically, for the sciences at Otago – around 40% of those attending end up as Otago students. More than half the participants some years are female, so it has helped encourage women into science careers. In more recent years there has also been increasing interest in the programme from Maori, who have been, traditionally, much under-represented in the sciences. Hands-on science has also proved particularly valuable for young people from small towns, giving them an opportunity to meet others with an interest in science.

Unsurprisingly for a programme designed for exceptional students, there have been some remarkable individuals attending Hands-on science. Perhaps the best-known to date is Chris Butcher, one of the engineers who created the Halo computer games. For some, the programme has determined their entire career. Christopher Lind, a 16-year-old from Rangiora, was inspired by Otago’s Brian Hyland, who explained the science of studying the brain and its functions. “I knew right then I wanted to be a neurosurgeon… I thought the brain sounded interesting and brain surgery was a frontier science”, he commented to the Otago Daily Times when he returned to Dunedin for a conference in 2009. Lind graduated in medicine from Otago and is now a neurosurgical professor in Perth, Australia.

With stories like this it is no wonder the people behind Hands-on science felt reason to celebrate last year when they held the 25th programme! Do you have any stories to share of Hands-on science? And can you help identify any of the participants in the photographs?

The physical education project at a recent Hands-on science course. Image courtesy of Hands-on science.

New blood in the 1980s

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1980s, 1990s, computer science, dentistry, gender studies, Maori, medicine, psychology, women's studies

In the late 1980s, the powers that be decided it was time to inject a little new blood into the university – some new young scholars working in emerging fields. The general stability of the existing academic staff meant there were few opportunities to appoint new people and the increasing age of staff was a matter of concern. In 1988 the Academic Staffing Committee, which controlled all academic appointments, decided to appoint three “new blood” lecturers, inspired by an Oxbridge model. The posts would be funded from a special Development Fund rather than usual faculty budgets for a three year period. The committee invited the various faculties to propose areas of scholarship for the new blood posts. Priority was to be given to new areas of scholarship or areas seen to be of strategic importance, to the appointment of “women and any other groups under-represented on the academic staff” and to outstanding young scholars for whom there was no current post.

After a few weeks of campaigning and investigation, the three posts were awarded to the fields of artificial intelligence, Maori health and women’s studies. Others which came close to making the cut were bio-organic chemistry and family policy. Intriguingly, all of these fields had a strong interdisciplinary component. That was particularly the case for women’s studies, whose working party attracted support from staff in English, history, classics, Maori studies, German, theology, religious studies, law, education, drama, social and preventive medicine, surgery, psychology, physical education and consumer and applied science. As the proposal pointed out, Otago would soon be the only New Zealand university without a women’s studies programme, and risked losing students to other institutions, including a new extramural course from Massey.

Anna Smith, Otago’s first lecturer in women’s studies. From the University of Otago Newsletter, August 1989.

The three new lecturers were appointed in 1989. Anna Smith, a doctoral student in English at Canterbury and critical editor of Landfall, became Otago’s first lecturer in women’s studies. She established a Stage 2 paper in feminist theory and coordinated an interdisciplinary Stage 2 programme in women’s studies. The programme slowly built up and in 1994 it became possible to major in women’s studies for a BA. By then Smith had left (she now teaches English at Canterbury). Annabel Cooper, an Otago English PhD graduate who had been tutoring in women’s studies from the beginning, became a lecturer in women’s studies in 1993, together with American scholar Sarah Williams. The Otago programme may have been slow off the starting blocks, but it proved to have more staying power than others and is today the strongest in New Zealand. It gradually evolved from “women’s studies” into “gender studies”. After being part of various administrative structures, including the Department of English, the School of Liberal Arts and the Department of Anthropology, it now forms part of the Department of Sociology, Gender and Social Work.

The other new blood lecturers remain at Otago to this day, and both are now professors. John Broughton, of Ngati Kahungunu and Kai Tahu, became lecturer in Maori health in 1989. He was an Otago dental graduate who had been working in private practice, as well as teaching part time at the dental and medical schools for some years. He was also a well-known playwright and chair of Dunedin’s Te Araiteuru Marae. Thanks to funding from the National Heart Foundation, Otago was also able to appoint Paparangi Reid as a half-time lecturer in Maori Health at the Wellington School of Medicine in the same year (she now teaches at Auckland). Not all 1990s medical students shared the University of Otago’s growing concern for Maori health issues, especially when a dentist rather than a doctor was doing the teaching, but Broughton became a respected educator in the field. In dentistry, he developed an innovative and popular programme of clinics run by students for Maori communities, both in the Dunedin school and far afield. This proved significant in developing the university’s links with various iwi, several of which now have formal memoranda of understanding with Otago; it was also a highly signficant experience for the students. Thanks to his links with mana whenua, Broughton has been frequently called on to consult and advise on things Maori for the university, particularly before the Office of Maori Development was established in 2007. He has been a professor since 2012 and his inaugural professorial lecture, “A Bro-fessor in the Whare,” can be viewed on iTunesU.

John Broughton (right) with Greg Seymour, Dean of Dentistry (left) and John Ward, University of Otago Chancellor, at Waitangi after signing a Memorandum of Agreement with Ngati Hine Health in 2011. Photograph courtesy of John Broughton.

The new blood post in artificial intelligence went to Anthony Robins, a Canterbury psychology graduate who had recently completed a doctorate in cognitive science at the University of Sussex, where he studied computational models of categorical structure. His appointment meant Otago could expand into the rapidly emerging field of cognitive science, offering this as a MSc programme from 1990. Robins’ appointment was a joint one between the Departments of Computer Science and Psychology for his first three years; after that he was based in computer science. This was a real interdisciplinary project and the cognitive science course also had papers from philosophy, anatomy, anthropology and information science. It was New Zealand’s first foray into this field. Robins, who was promoted to professor in 2013, continues to teach and research in the field of cognitive science, where his particular interest is in neural networks as a tool for modeling aspects of memory and forgetting. But he also teaches introductory computer programming and has developed a special interest in researching computer science education. He has been involved in the wonderful Robocup and other robotics programmes which introduce school pupils to the exciting world of robots, helping recruit the next generation of programmers. His inaugural professorial lecture – “Teaching, Learning and the Music of Memory” – is available on iTunesU.

Anthony Robins teaching in the robotics lab in 2012 with Otago student Louis Lepper (left) and Philip Anderson of Kings’ High School (right). They are training for the Robocup soccer event. Photograph courtesy of Anthony Robins.

The three new lectureships were clearly very successful in bringing “new blood” to Otago and their impact has been long-lasting. They allowed Otago to catch up in the emerging fields of Maori health and women’s studies, and to become the New Zealand pioneer of cognitive science. Not least, they brought some fine young scholars to the university, with two of them remaining for many years to become leading researchers and teachers who are also notable for their community engagement. All credit to the Academic Staffing Committee of 1988!

A tale of two departments

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1960s, 1970s, 1980s, computer science, computers, information science, mathematics, technology

Otago students wanting to specialise in computing have a choice of two departments in which to base their studies: computer science (based in the Division of Sciences) or information science (based in the Division of Commerce). Universities around the world have varied ways of dividing their computing and information technology courses and departments. Otago’s departmental division would probably have once been seen as eccentric, but it has survived intact over many years (and many reviews!). Otago computing pioneer Brian Cox comments that courses evolved in different ways at different universities depending on local needs and existing resources and interests. For instance, in universities with engineering schools, computer science found a natural home within engineering. At Otago, commerce got in on the act at an early date.

In 1966 the university established its Computing Centre and installed an IBM 360/30. The computer was available to staff and students conducting research, and for university administration. Brian Cox, an Otago graduate who had completed a PhD at Cambridge before returning to Otago as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics, was appointed to run the centre. He had obtained experience with early computers in the UK while working on complex calculations for his thesis. The Faculty of Commerce realised early on that students aiming at careers in the business world would benefit from learning about this quickly evolving technology, and Cox helped teach some commerce courses. Then, in 1968, the first academic computing courses were offered in the Faculty of Science, as part of the advanced applied mathematics papers.

From these 1960s beginnings, Otago has experienced the parallel development of computing as an academic subject in both science and commerce. There has been considerable cooperation, with combined first year courses, but each field has developed its own specialty. Within commerce, information science focuses on the practical application of information technology in business, while in science, computer science is more centred on the technical and scientific elements of the workings of computer technology. Students can major in either subject for both BSc and BA degrees, and information science can also be a BCom major.

For many years, computer science – which became a full major in 1978 – was taught from the Computing Centre, which had a double life serving the IT needs of the university as well as teaching.  While this ensured the best use of resources at a time when computers were very large and very expensive, it also had disadvantages. Should a computer break down, completing the payroll definitely took priority over academic needs once it was back in service! In 1984 the two functions were finally separated with the establishment of the Department of Computer Science, Cox becoming the foundation professor.

Hank Wolfe with the Department of Quantitative and Computer Studies computer – a PDP 11-34 – in 1979. Image courtesy of Hank Wolfe.

Meanwhile, over in the Faculty of Commerce, business computing was taught from the 1970s department with the rather cumbersome name of Marketing, Quantitative and Computer Studies – generally known as MQCS. In 1978 it split off from Marketing to become just Quantitative and Computer Studies, and has been Information Science since 1992. Hank Wolfe left the rat race of Washington DC to become a lecturer in the department in 1979, and is still there as an associate professor. Like other members of the department at that time, he had considerable business experience as well as an academic qualification. One of his first tasks was to teach students COBOL and FORTRAN. Things have moved on considerably from his early days, when a class of 150 or so students lined up to have the one card reader process the “mark sense” cards they had filled out, hoping they would have a good run.

I’m happy to say I was able to produce this blog post without having any idea of the workings behind my computer or its network or its software – thank goodness for all those computer science and information science experts who contribute to our technological working world! Do you have any interesting memories to share of past days in Otago’s computing departments?