This Special Section of the ANZIAM Journal (Electronic Supplement) contains the refereed papers from the 2017 Mathematics for Industry NZ Study Group (MINZ 2017) held at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand from 26--30 June, 2017. The MINZ is a special interest meeting of ANZIAM, the Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics division of the Australian Mathematics Society. MINZ was formed to provide a national entity to host workshops where companies pitch their problems to New Zealand’s mathematical scientists. They then work collaboratively to generate practical solutions through modelling, statistical analysis or computation.

Six challenges were presented from diverse industries, with more than 100 delegates participating.

All published papers were written by the problem moderators in consultation with the company representatives. The manuscripts were submitted to the editors, Dr Luke Fullard, Dr Richard Brown, and Professor Tony Roberts, and were subsequently refereed by two expert referees. On the advice of the referees manuscripts were accepted for publication, subject to the recommended revisions, and formally approved by the editorial committee.

co-Directors

Dr Richard Brown and Dr Luke Fullard

Deputy Directors

Professor Emeritus Graeme Wake and Lisa Hall, Fonterra

Administrative Officer

Dr Seumas McCroskery, KiwiNet Innovation Network

Two invited speakers presented at the conference:

• Prof Jan Thomas, Vice-Chancellor, Massey University
• Dr Melanie Roberts, Research Scientist, IBM Research Australia

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the immense work provided by the Challenge moderation teams. Their contributions have allowed for the reports in this booklet, along side the industry representatives who articulated the challenges in such a way to allow immediate deliberation. We thank those that worked tirelessly behind the scenes to allow for a smooth running event. Last but not least we thank everyone who came to MINZ and contributed your time and effort, to make such an event successful.

Industry challenges

Click to download the booklet of equation free summaries.

Fonterra

Optimising the flavour profile and longevity of milk powders

Fisher & Paykel Appliances

Modelling the mechanical action of a front loading washing machine

Horizons Regional Council

How could we best optimise our region's freshwater monitoring networks?

Zespri

Predicting timing of kiwifruit harvest

Sanford ltd

Comparing and contrasting shear forces and hydrodynamics of Industrial Larval Mussel tank design and operation

Transpower

Transmission Line Conductors -- Big Data Cleansing, Probability of Failure Derivation, and Asset Health Relationship