Australasia Wolfram Technology Conference 2024
Schedule
Thursday, 15 August
9:00–9:30
Registration Open
9:30–9:35
Acknowledgment to the Country
Mr Daniel Stavrevski | School of Science | RMIT9:35–9:40
Introduction
Professor Mark Osborn | Dean of the School of Science | RMIT9:40–10:30
Keynote
Dr Anshu Manik | Director of Technical Consulting | Wolfram Research10:30–10:50
Integrating Wolfram Language
Dr Ben Odgers | Principal Consultant—Advanced Analytics | AtturraWhether in academic, corporate or government environments, in every ecosystem today, we're inundated with platform choices.
The pace and popularity of AI has only added to the myriad of options. In this talk, we'll explore a series of real-world, cross-industry examples showcasing the variety of roles Mathematica/Wolfram Language can play in such ecosystems, both on a standalone basis and when integrated with other platforms.
10:50–11:00
Break
11:00–11:20
Code Assurance
Dr Ron Monson | Founder | onSoCWe all want to write bug-free code. As our programs complexify, however, this task can quickly turn Sisyphean without adopting proven idioms and testing practices. In this talk, we will demonstrate how a new tool, CodeAssurance, can instill new levels of correctness into a growing Wolfram Language code base. Building on Wolfram Language's built-in testing framework, CodeAssurance adds a crucial new feature—scalability—to systematic testing and, in the process, transforms functions' unit tests into first-class citizens. Finally, while GenAI is rapidly upending traditional notions of code generation and algorithmic creativity, we will also argue that the imperative of ensuring code reliability remains as important as ever.
11:20–11:40
My Journey with Integration in Finite Terms in Mathematica
Dr Sam BlakeSince around 2004, I have been obsessed with integrals in computer algebra systems. This talk outlines this journey and highlights some interesting algorithms and integrals along the way.
11:40–12:10
Panel Discussion
12:10–12:50
Lunch Break
12:50–13:10
Interactively Simulating Open Quantum Systems
Dr Harini Hapuarachchi | RMITOpen quantum systems are real-world, imperfect quantum systems interacting with their environment. The time evolution of an open quantum system is governed by its quantum master equation, a complex differential equation with multiple parameters. Quantum master equations are often used to simulate the outcomes of various experiments involving real-world quantum systems. Mathematica is a robust and user-friendly tool for interactively simulating and visualising the evolution of open quantum systems by parametrically solving their quantum master equations. In this brief talk, I will demonstrate just such an interactive simulation and visualisation of a simple quantum system, showing how this can enhance collaboration between quantum theorists and experimentalists.
13:10–13:30
Courseware Development
Associate Professor Paul Abbott | Wolfram U and University of Western AustraliaThis presentation gives an overview of the suite of tools using Wolfram technology that enable the rapid development and deployment of high-quality, interactive courseware, including:
- Building on Wolfram U, An Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language and Fast Introduction for Programmers
- Avoiding reinvention by direct embedding of Demonstrations into notebooks
- Using repositories, including the Function Repository and Paclet Repository
- Accelerating the development of educational tools, including generative AI tools
13:30–13:50
The Wavelet Transform Modulus Maxima Approach to Multifractal Analysis within Mathematica
Professor Alison Ord | University of Western AustraliaWe analyse, develop and test the wavelet transform modulus maxima (WTMM) approach to multifractal analysis before analysing geological data in one, two and three dimensions. The physics of mineralising systems, here hydrothermal systems, divides itself into two overlapping aspects:
- 1. The physics of fluid and heat transport through a deforming, chemically reacting permeable medium, and
- 2. The statistical thermodynamics of coupled fluid flow - thermal transport - chemically reacting - deforming systems.
The crucial importance of combining both aspects is that insight is gained into:
- Why a mineral deposit forms where it does, and
- Why it grows to the size it does together with what controls the efficiency of the mineralising processes.
This approach leads to a prediction that the spatial distribution of alteration/mineralisation should be multifractal. We explore this prediction through the wavelet transform modulus maxima approach to multifractal analysis. We describe various aspects of computing the singularity spectrum. Results of analyses of geological data are compared with those already obtained through application of LastWave (a signal processing–oriented command language).
13:50–14:00
Break
14:00–14:20
Determining Chemical Kinetics through Colour Space Analysis
Felicity Draper | Deakin UniversityMeasuring the rate of chemical reactions typically requires a range of specialised instruments, which are only capable of measuring one set of conditions at a time. One commonly used method to determine how much of a chemical is in your reaction is absorbance spectroscopy, which measures how much light the reaction mixture takes in using a spectrometer. To speed up this process, we have developed an instrument that uses a digital camera to take a photo of one hundred reaction vials at a time, allowing us to observe the drastic colour changes that occur throughout the reaction.
Using Wolfram technologies, we aim to deconvolute the complex chemical parameters that lead to changes in the colour spaces of our reaction mixtures, including the intensity and wavelength of the light absorbed. Different variations of chemical features can be easily seen on an absorbance spectra but remain challenging to extract via colour space analysis. Overcoming these challenges with improved image processing will allow us to greatly increase the rate of chemical discovery.
14:20–14:40
Enabling Computational Thinking with Mathematica in Secondary Education
Stephen Alderton | Mathematics and Numeracy Leader | Beechworth Secondary CollegeThis talk explores the integration of Wolfram Mathematica to foster computational thinking in secondary education. We will introduce a model for learning computational thinking, drawing connections between problem solving, modelling and mathematical thinking within the computational process. High-end applications of Mathematica in secondary school curricula will be showcased, illustrating its versatility in enhancing mathematics learning and computational thinking. Additionally, we will cover practical approaches to assessment, highlighting both formative and summative methods that effectively measure students' computational thinking competencies. This talk aims to provide educators with insights on leveraging Mathematica to develop critical computational thinking skills in their students.
14:40–15:00
Music Spectrograms as Artwork
Andrew NortonA multi-resolution filterbank can be used to produce a spectrogram for music from, say, an imported MP3 file. A spectrogram that is made at a high enough resolution resembles sheet music. Animated to synchronize with music playback, a spectrogram makes for beautiful and interesting artwork to watch while listening to the music.