Training experts of tomorrow

Press, 21 April 1979, Page 24

Training experts of tomorrow

1 The University of Canterbury and the Christchurch Technical Institute seem to complement eaci other in the teaching of computer skills: the university tends to give a general education in the technology, the institute to impart specific skills. Professor J. P. Penny, head of the university’s computer science department. says: “We develop a problem-solving ability and a general understanding of computers.” He was speaking of those who major in his department's subjects. Two other types of student takes his department’s courses. The first is one taking a course to get some knowledge of computing. There are more than a hundred of these students, and their main interests are as diverse as English, zoology, and physics. The second category' is made up of those who are doing a degree in another subject but want more computing knowledge and are taking two or three courses with the department. There are 60 to 70 of these students. Those majoring in computer science, the third group, this vear number 30. Many of the graduates who major in computer science go overseas. Typically. graduates of the department take up jobs such as systems analyst (a person who tends to discover problems and decide on solutions). systems engineer (involved with software rather than maintenance). programmers, and lecturers. Students entering the univeristy now are often familiar with computing from high school courses, and sometimes they enter straight into second-year studies. training is given with individual and group assignments using the univeristy’s large Burroughs 60-700 computer and the department’s Eclipse S/130 minicomputer. In the holidays, some students work with computer firms. About two-thirds of the university’s departments now have courses that en-

tai! some contact with computers, and many run basic courses in computing to suit their own needs. Probably about 40 people teach computer work at some level. Dr Penny, the head of the department, is young for a professor, but has grown up with the discipline of computer science. From Adelaide, he was a programmer on one of the first Australian computers, in the early 19505. “It occupied space three times the size of my

office,” he says. “Now its processing power could be accommodated in a machine that would fit in my watch.” The early processor would have cost about $150,000. The modern one could be made for about S5O and would sell for about $3OO. Professor Penny joined the university with the setting up of the computer science department in 1972. In this, its seventh year, it has six academic staff and offers papers at stage I, 11, and 111 levels and a full honours programme. Among the developments he sees coming in computer technology are an expansion into everyday products, with micro-processors in most cars to control ignition and increasing in other common products. There is a brain drain

of computer graduates overseas because salaries are much lower in New Zealand. Programmers earn twice as much in the United States. In Australia they are paid about 50 per cent more than in New Zealand. This gives rise to the possibility of New Zealand experts successfully exporting software. But Professor Penny sees some drawbacks. Much adaptation often has to be made, entailing close consultation between the client and the software supplier. “United States firms might be reluctant to buy software from a country so far away,” he said. A recent informal summary of graduates who had majored in computer science and whose employers are known showed occupations to-be: Il program-

mers, eight programmeranalysts, three systems analysts, a computer manager, two lecturers, seven systems engineers, six systems programmers, two project managers, a pro-grammer-engineer, a scientific programmer and a computer controller.

Students who major in computer science may take the typical course of computer and mathematical subjects, or they mav take a course with a substantial minor element of such subjects as chemistry, psychology, or statistics. There are special provisions for the student who wishes to mix commerce and computer studies. As well as a B.Comrn course that includes a substantial portion of computer science . work, the student can take a B.Sc. in computer science, with a substantial minor portion in accounting subjects.