Matt Adams: Patent Attorney
Matt completed a Masters degree in Computer Science at Otago in 1994. The topic of his Masters was natural language understanding. He worked on a joint project between the Department of Computer Science and the Faculty of Law. The project involved extracting information automatically from unreported legal judgments. This got Matt thinking about the best way to combine science and law.

He joined A J Park, an intellectual property law firm, and completed the professional patent attorney examinations and a law degree at Victoria University of Wellington. Matt is now a partner in the Engineering and Information Communication Technology team in A J Park’s Wellington office. He specialises in protecting, registering and licensing patents in the computer and information technology fields. Matt is also a copyright specialist.

Alexis Angelidis: film animation for Pixar
After completing his PhD in computer graphics at Otago, Alexis was appointed as technical director by Pixar Animation Studios in California. Pixar is the company that created the animated film "Finding Nemo", and is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Alexis had previously worked with two New Zealand companies based in Dunedin --- ARL (Animation Research Ltd) and CAT (Character Animation Technology). Alexis has created an open source shape modelling tool called 'swirling sweepers'.

Alexis now works on many of Pixar's famous movies like 'Ratatouille' and 'Up' and in March 2010 Alexis and three others won the category Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture for the movie "Up" at the VES (Visual Effects Society) Awards in Los Angeles.

Will Baker: film animation for Massive
After earning a degree in computer science from Otago, Will joined Massive Software, a company that creates software for the visual effects industry and has among its clients Weta Digital and Rhythm & Hues (associated with the Narnia film). After working for Massive Software, Will worked for Binary Star (a games company based on the North Shore) for a couple of years, and currently he designing and building an animation software package as an independent contractor for a company in LA. Will writes: "My time in Otago will always be recalled fondly by me - the atmosphere of the town and the campus life is worth going for alone!"

Jane Clark: business analyst
Jane graduated with a BA in Computer Science. She started her career as an analyst developer for Sequel - a Wellington database development consultancy where she worked mainly on a Ministry of Health payments database and application. She then worked as a contract test analyst for 9 months at Kiwibank working on their new front-end application for NZ Post staff. She returned to Dunedin because of her partner's job and worked as a contract test analyst for 4 months at Ministry of Health, then took a permanent role as a business analyst /researcher at AbacusBio, an agri-business consultancy. Then she returned to Wellington and began a Business Analyst role at NZ Trade and Enterprise. At NZTE she does mainly requirements analysis and specifications for updates to a Customer Relationship Management application and other applications.

Jane writes: "To summarise, I would say that I've worked in all stages of the software development life cycle, which is a real advantage because the business analyst role means I do a lot of liaison between developers, testers and clients. My Otago degree gave me a good backing in all three disciplines, and I have found there is a wide range of jobs and industries that I am qualified to work in, which is great!"

Dave Ferguson: robots on Mars
After earning a degree in computer science at Otago, Dave went to the USA to work in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. Most of his research was focused on autonomous vehicles that can drive you to work while you catch a little extra shut-eye and smart cars that can park themselves. Dave wrote: "Perhaps the most exciting research-related undertaking I've been involved in is developing an autonomous navigation system for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers. My advisor and I developed a planning algorithm that the guys at the Jet Propulsion Lab decided they would like on their rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and they twisted our arms (it really wasn't hard) to port it to their systems. So I've been working with a couple guys out in Pasadena and the code finally made it through all of their rigorous testing and is currently shooting across the solar system to be uploaded to the two robots on the surface of Mars." Dave has now moved to New York to spend some time doing Artificial Intelligence research for a computer science-based hedge fund called Two Sigma.

Vivien Hii: IT for Les Mills
After earning her computer science degree at Otago, Vivien decided to combine her interest in physical fitness with her IT skills and became the IT support person for Les Mills New Zealand. At the head office in Auckland, Vivien provides IT support for all 11 Les Mills clubs around the country, does database administration, and designs business cards and flyers for the company. Her job mainly involves helping people, and Vivien writes that she deals with around 50 calls for help every day.

Anar Khan: Bioinformatics
Anar's aversion to lab work during a Biochemistry degree spurred her to get into Bioinformatics. She undertook a Diploma for Graduates in Computer Science then did a MSc (Biotechnology) degree based in the Computer Science Department. Before finishing her MSc she was approached by AgResearch and since then has been working as a bioinformatician at Invermay in Mosgiel.

Anar says: "My role is to collaborate with molecular biologists on research projects which require a large amount of computational data analysis. A major focus is to discover features of DNA sequence which influence the phenotype of an organism, for example whether a plant is beneficial to grazing animals. Bioinformatics is a new field so there are no tried and true methods, you can invent your own. I get to be creative and the complexity of biology as a domain keeps me on my toes. I'm really grateful I studied computer science at Otago, as it gave me a solid grounding in algorithms, databases and coding and it taught me principles I use in my work every day."

Michael Macknight: IT for life sciences
While Michael was studying computer science at Otago he became interested in a project for the Department of Physiology, who were dissatisfied with the performance of their old paper chart recorders and asked Michael to develop a computer-based system to replace their old paper-based one. The project led to the co-founding of ADInstruments, which manufactures similar products for the world market. ADInstruments now has nine company offices and over 40 distributors worldwide, although the research and development office is still in Dunedin. The company specialises in data acquisition systems for the life sciences.

Jenny McDonald: IT for education
After studying medicine, Jenny re-trained in computer science at Otago by doing a Diploma for Graduates. She then began working for the Higher Education Development Centre of the University of Otago, and became the director of its Educational Media unit, which works with lecturers to find ways of enhancing teaching and learning through appropriate use of information technology. She writes: "Doing computer science does not mean you will end up consigned to talking to machines all day! I would hate that. Designing solutions to some intriguing problems with a talented team of programmers, designers and AV producers is really rewarding. The best thing is when you evaluate something you have been part of creating and find that it has had a positive impact on students and their teachers."

Stuart Miller: IT for medicine
He earned his degree in computer science at Otago, then Stuart joined Orion Health as a software developer. He explains: "Doctors don't have time to run six different applications at once to get all the information on a patient: that's why Orion Health makes a Medical Applications Portal, which brings them all together. The software I write makes a real difference to doctors and their patients." Orion Health is a New Zealand company with offices in Auckland and Wellington as well as Australia, North America, the United Kingdom, and Spain.

Paul Naylor: computer games
After earning a computer science degree at Otago, Paul first worked in software development for banking and then realised people were willing to pay him to make computer games for a living. He worked for various companies in California on games such as "Warbreeds" and "Panzer General 3D: Assault" and was senior software engineer for the Playstation 2 game "Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown". Paul moved back to New Zealand in 2003 to focus fulltime on Traygames, an online game service company (co-founded by Paul) having offices in the United States and New Zealand.

Tim Nixon: computer games
Tim studied both computer science and design at Otago, followed by a Master's degree in Entrepreneurship. His interest in computer games led him first to found the local student chapter of the IGDA (the International Game Developers' Association) and then to bring together a group of fellow graduates to form what has swiftly become one of New Zealand's leading interactive entertainment companies, Straylight Studios, based in Dunedin.

Denise Potgieter: Naval officer
After earning a degree in computer science at Otago, Denise joined the Royal New Zealand Navy. Her first posting was to the Devonport Naval Base, where she worked on the Bridge Simulator used for training. She has completed several operational deployments on a Naval frigate, to the Persian Gulf and also to Vladivostok, Russia. She has also passed her Weapon Engineering Charge board, which means she will be a Weapon Engineering Officer or overall in charge of the weapons department onboard an ANZAC-class frigate in the future.

Luke Reid: successful innovator
After completing his degree in computer science at Otago, Luke specialised in the development and commercialisation of new technology in the ICT sector. He co-founded Skinkers, which grew to be the world leader in desktop alerting software, winning a European award for innovation in 2006. Clients included broadcasters and large corporates (e.g. BBC, The Wall Street Journal). In 2007 Luke founded Areograph in Dunedin. Areo is a research and development company working with view dependent texture mapping and image based modeling for military, film and games industries.

Leah Rickard: business development
After earning degrees in languages (Spanish) and computer science at Otago, Leah joined Orion Health. Leah's role is on the business side of things rather than the software development side - she checks calls for tender to decide whether Orion should respond and make a bid for the business. Sometimes the decision depends on technical factors, for which her computing background is relevant. (And is it just coincidence that Orion has an office in Palma de Mallorca, where everyone speaks Spanish?). In 2009 Leah moved to London to work for Orion's UK office. She worked as a Bid Writer for about the first three years of her time with Orion and then worked briefly in the Documentation Team and the Integration Team (this team configures Orion's products before they were installed at customer sites). Since joining the UK team Leah has done some bid work and helped prepare demo systems, and is taking up a new role as an Implementation Consultant.

Kylie Robinson: graphics
After earning her degree in computer science at Otago, Kylie joined Animation Research Ltd (ARL), the Dunedin-based company that became famous for producing the America's Cup graphics. Kylie has worked on the Ribena cyberberries ads, the Human Potential television documentary series, and the underwater world of giant squid for Whale Watch Kaikoura.

After leaving ARL Kylie worked as a freelance Animator in London, before moving back to New Zealand and working for Natural History NZ (NHNZ) as a VFX Supervisor. Kylie has also co started an electronics design company whose product is used by Animation Research Ltd (ARL), to supply tracking data for the creation of real time graphics such as the America's Cup graphics.

Kylie also designed the penguin that is the logo of the Department of Computer Science (thanks, Kylie)

Craig Smith: Entrepreneur
While studying Computer Science, Finance, and Marketing at Otago Craig teamed up with his brother to develop and launch Language Perfect - an online vocabulary tool for high school students.

Says Craig - "It's exciting to be at the cutting edge of the education revolution, towards interative, collaborative learning tools that have an enormous effect on society. The University environment is just amazing - you've got all this expertise and astonishing resources available. Language deparments, graphics departments, and thousands of students to test and give suggestions."

After winning the $40K Audacious Business Plan Award at the end of his first year of study, then the ComputerWorld Excellence Awards Young ICT Category in his second year, Craig took a year off to develop the business. He returned in 2010 to complete his degree.

As for Language Perfect - it currently has more than 20,000 annual subscribers!

Jennie Stenhouse: computer games
After completing her degree in computer science at Otago, Jennie got into the computer game industry with an internship at Sidhe, New Zealand's largest game development company. Although offered a fulltime position at Sidhe, Jennie was lured away to Norway by Mixmedia, where she is leading a team in the development of a massively multiplayer game.

Mark Williams: control software for Formula One racing cars
Mark Williams doesn’t need computer games to get a feel for Formula One fantasies. He’s been at the forefront of world motor racing for a decade. Soon after Williams completed his PhD at Otago he joined British American Racing (BAR) to develop on-car embedded control software. He moved to the Jaguar Formula One team to run their PC software group before returning to BAR, which was first renamed Honda, and then in 2009 became Brawn GP. The team achieved a fairy-tale comeback from Honda's withdrawal to win the drivers' and constructors' championships. Having fulfilled his goals at Brawn, Williams moved on to Red Bull Racing ahead of the 2010 season. He managed on- and off-car software groups, then ran projects integrating systems across the team, including video analysis, GPS data, and track surveys, and he is currently running Red Bull's driving simulators.

At Otago Williams developed a technique for analysing digital video streams to extract three-dimensional coordinates of objects, which set him up for his career. “Two key lessons from Otago have shaped my time since,” he says. “Firstly, the PhD process taught me how to produce solutions: defining a problem, understanding it and solving it are crucial for any engineering enterprise, and that ability is surprisingly uncommon. “Secondly, Professor Brian Cox taught me about attention to detail. It may be commas, apostrophes, or software testing, if everything is treated with rigour it will always produce better results.”

And you don’t get better results in Formula One than winning both the drivers' and constructors'championships.