Digital technologies

Applied research and innovations in contemporary digital technologies result in a continuous and rapid transformation of business processes and practices, an acceleration of productivity growth, and improvements in communications and global inter-connectedness. The increasing adoption of data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and next-generation wireless networking techniques create new opportunities. Besides, keeping up with cutting-edge cybersecurity advancements is vital in protecting businesses and individuals from ever-present cyber risks.

The school of digital technologies academics are highly experienced researchers and work collaboratively with industries, institutes and universities globally. Their research experience includes providing innovative solutions in medical informatics, data analytics in healthcare, cybersecurity and security governance, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), IoT applications in eHealth and disaster management networks, 5G/6G mobile networks, next-generation vehicular networks, dynamic spectrum management, software design and quality assurance, multimedia and creative outputs, and IT project management.

Researchers from the school of digital technologies regularly publish their work in international high-impact journals and conferences (IEEE, ACM, Elsevier, Springer, MDPI), supervise PhDs and Masters theses, and work in collaboration with colleagues from other universities. They are sought after for consultancy projects and frequently contribute to industry standards.

Key applied research projects and current industry standardisation activities in the school of digital technologies include:

  • Early dementia traits detection using classification techniques
  • Design and development of a technology-assisted system to support the elderly during a medical emergency
  • Developing an innovative predictive policing AI system for crime prevention in South Auckland
  • ISO Security Standards for Australia and New Zealand.

The Digital technologies team welcomes collaboration so please don't hesitate to contact their Academic Lead (Research).

Researchers and their research interests:

Dr Chris Mayhew — Researches information systems implementation, software quality assurance and testing

Dr Mayhew joined MIT in 2002, is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies and has a PhD in Chemical Engineering. Past roles include positions at BP Oil NZ Ltd and IBM New Zealand and his interest in the implementation, testing and quality assurance of information systems and software are due to his own experiences in the IT industry. Dr Mayhew has published a paper in relation to New Zealand’s Novopay project.

For more information on Chris' profile, click here.

Garry Singh — Researches software design, quality assurance, software coupling metrics, software evolution, maintenance and tool development

Garry is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies, holds a Master of software engineering and has published and presented in international conferences.

For more information on Garry's profile, click here.

Michael Andrews — Researches applications of data analytics, ICT teaching and technology issues

Michael is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies and his two most recent published papers are in relation to tools for measuring the impact of students' classroom engagement and research into the predictive capabilities of statistical methods applied to publicly available data sets. His latest paper identifies trends in blockchain proliferation rates using data analytical methods.

For more information on Michael's profile, click here.

Samah Ridha — Researches software implementation

Samah is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies and received first-class honours in her research project towards a Master of service-oriented computing. She has published in quality-assured conference proceedings.

For more information on Samah's profile, click here.

Dr Geri Harris — Researches qualitative methods of understanding the everyday social implications of digital technologies, how digital technologies enable people’s way of life in our increasingly digitized society

Dr Harris is a Lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies and holds a PhD on her ethnographic work investigating what it means to socialise in a world of social media and communications technology. Her research acclaims include being awarded the 2015 Professor M Weinstock Memorial Prize for the most innovative PhD by the University of New South Wales, Australia and receiving an honourable mention for the ACPHIS Medal for Best Australian Thesis, 2015. Dr Harris has spoken at international conferences about how digital technologies are reimagining the way human beings live their everyday lives in unpredicted ways and she is currently working on a project to understand the mental health issues (especially Alzheimer's dementia) of elderly people using technology to provide more support to them in future living in the whānau and the local community.

Dr Md Akbar Hossain — Researches wireless networks, Internet of Things, unmanned aerial vehicle, post-disaster network management, e-health, cognitive radio networks, IT project management

Dr Hossain is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies. He received his PhD from the School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences at Auckland University of Technology, his M.Sc. in telecommunication engineering from the University of Trento in Italy and his B.Sc. in electrical and electronic engineering from the Islamic University of Technology in Bangladesh. After completing his Masters, he was awarded the prestigious Marie Curie Early Stage Research fellowship to work as a researcher on European Union funded projects. He is the lead guest editor for EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking Special Issue on “Cognitive UAVs in Critical Missions: IoT-based Applications, Protocols and Deployments”. He is also an associate editor for the International Journal of Computers and Applications published by Taylor and Francis Group and an active reviewer for many reputed journals such as JNCA, Elsevier Ad-Hoc Networks and IEEE Transaction on Communication, IEEE Access, IEEE transaction on Wireless Communication.

Dr Sreenivas Tirumala — Researches cyber intelligence (ethical Hacking, malware analysis), business intelligence and data analytics through AI, real-time dashboard and analytics

Dr Tirumala is a Lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies.  He attained his PhD in 2021 in knowledge discovery through deep learning applied to benchmark datasets (including character recognition, malware analysis, computer vision, speech and speaker identification, gene expression). Dr Tirumala publishes in reputed Q1 journals and A-ranked conferences (Google Scholar) and is an active researcher with a 900+ research impact score on Research Gate.  His current research projects are on DNA sequencing-based malware analysis using deep learning on the Raspberry Pi platform, synthetic malware generation, vulnerability analysis of education platforms, probabilistic fall detection, and semantic learning.

Firas Al-Ali — Researches complex digital systems design, microprocessor design, and emerging technologies areas of reconfigurable logic

Firas is a Lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies and holds an M.Sc in computer science (microprocessor design).  He has published and presented internationally.