2013 student talk winners (from left to right): Daniel Fernandez, Shirley Wu (Harmonic Analytics), Roy Costilla, James Curran (NZSA President), Christopher Bryant
Harmonic Analytics have generously sponsored prizes for the best student talks at the 2013-2024 NZSA Conferences.
2024 Winners
| Best student presentation | Tori Diamond (University of Auckland) | Novel applications of linked administrative data – adding longitudinal capability to the Te Kupenga survey |
| Highly commended | Adam Glucksman (Victoria University of Wellington) | The subjective wellbeing of first-in-family university students: A multivariate re-evaluation of common narratives |
| Highly commended | Angeline Xiao (University of Auckland) | Evaluating the impact of timely access to concussion services on patient outcomes in Aotearoa |
| Highly commended | Bradley Drayton (University of Auckland) | Variance estimators for mixed-effects proportional hazards models fitted to complex samples |
| Highly commended | Tarin Eccleston (University of Auckland) | Variational autoencoders for stellar core-collapse gravitational waves |
2024 best student presentation winners (from left to right):
Bradley Drayton, Angeline Xiao, Matthew Stansfield (Harmonic Analytics CEO), John Haywood (NZSA President), Tori Diamond, Tarin Eccleston and Adam Glucksman.
2023 Winners
| Best student presentation | Bethany Macdonald (University of Otago) | Test of clustering for Neyman-Scott processes |
| Highly commended | Jessica Allen (University of Otago) | Revealing and characterising anomalous spatio-temporal patterns in Hikurangi Subduction Zone seismicity |
| Highly commended | Amin Boumerdassi (University of Auckland) | Using Convolutional Autoencoders for Signal Detection of Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals Detected by the LISA Mission |
2023 best student presentation winners (from left to right):
Bethany Macdonald, Mia Biggs (Data Science Team Manager, Harmonic Analytics),
Amin Boumerdassi, Jessica Allen
2022 Winners
| Best student presentation | Bradley Drayton (University of Auckland) | Mixed Proportional Hazard Model for Complex Samples |
| Highly commended | Anna Redmond (University of Otago) | Spatially smooth mixtures for modelling of muscle fibres |
| Highly commended | Adam Bartonicek (University of Auckland) | Interactive Data Visualization with Plotscape |
2022 best student presentation winners (from left to right):
Adam Bartonicek, Anna Redmond, Bradley Drayton,
Emma Doolin (Data Science Team Manager, Harmonic Analytics)
2020 Winners
| Best student talk | Jie Kang (Otago University) |
| Highly commended student talk | Agnes Yongshi Deng (University of Auckland) |
| Highly commended student talk | Amy Renelle (University of Auckland) |
2020 best student presentation award winners (from left to right):
Jie Kang and Agnes Yongshi Deng.
2019 Winners
| Best student talk | Yongshi Deng (University of Auckland) |
| Highly commended student talk | Kevin Cheng (University of Auckland) |
| Highly commended student talk | Kien Tran (Victoria University of Wellington) |
| Honorable mention student talk | David Chan (University of Auckland) |
| Honorable mention student talk | Khandoker Akib Mohammad (Victoria University of Wellington) |
| Honorable mention student talk | Olivia Angelin-Bonnet (Massey University) |
| Best student poster | Anna Redmond (University of Otago) |
| Honorable mention student poster | Sarah Croft (University of Otago) |
2019 best student presentation award winners (from left to right):
Kian, Olivia, David, Kevin, Yongshi, Vanessa Cave
(NZSA President), Glenn Thomas (Harmonic Analytics) and Anna.
2018 Winners
| 1st | Olivia Angelin-Bonnet |
| 2nd | Ling-yu Li |
| 3rd | Anjali Gupta |
| Highly Commended | Timothy Bilton |
| Highly Commended | Poppy Miller |
2018 best student presentation award winners (from left to right):
Poppy, Vanessa Cave (President NZSA), Ling-yu,
Timothy, Olivia, Lisa Chen (Harmonic Analytics),
Ian Westbrooke (outgoing President NZSA), Anjali.
2017 Winners
| Speaker | University | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st place | Timothy Bilton | Otago |
| 1st place | Tom Elliott | Auckland |
| 1st place | Andrea Havron | Auckland |
| 1st place | Sih-Jing Liao | Massey |
| Highly Commended | Losanna Vao Latu Latu | Canterbury |
| Highly Commended | Sarah Sonal | Canterbury |
| Highly Commended | Oliver Stevenson | Auckland |
2017 student talk award winners (from left to right): Andrea, Sih-Jing, Timothy, Tom,
Martin Hazelton (Awards Committee convenor), Lisa Chen (Harmonic Analytics, sponsor),
Oliver, Sarah, Losana
2016 Winners
| Talk Winner | Niffe Hermansson | User equilibria in systems of processor sharing queues |
| Highly Commended | Matt Edwards | Bayesian non-parametric spectral density estimation using B-spline priors |
| Highly Commended | Oscar Dowson | POWDER: A strategic planning tool for New Zealand dairy farmers |
| Highly Commended | Alastair Lamont | Estimation of quantitative genetics parameters in partially-genotyped populations |
2016 student talk prize winners (from left to right): Alastair Lamont (University of Otago), Matt Edwards (University of Auckland), Oscar Dowson (University of Auckland), Niffe Hermannson (University of Auckland) with Sam Caldwell (Harmonic Analytics) and Martin Hazelton (NZSA President)
2015 Winners
| Talk 1st = | Roy Costilla | A Bayesian model-based approach to cluster repeated ordinal data |
| Talk 1st = | Sarah Pirikahu | Bayesian inference for population attributable risk |
| Joint Runner Up | Maarten Kruijver | Characterising the genetic structure of a DNA database using a latent variable approach |
| Joint Runner Up | Anjali Gupta | Understanding intra-day variation in LIBS spectra |
2015 student talk winners (from left to right): Roy Costilla, Sarah Pirikahu, Shirley Wu (Harmonic Analytics), Anjali Gupta, Maarten Kruijver, Martin Hazelton (NZSA President)
2014 Winners
| Talk 1st = | Daniel Fernandez | Reversible-Jump MCMC for Likelihood-Based Finite Mixture Models for Ordinal Data |
| Talk 1st = | Alison Sefton | Diagnostics checks for anomalous small-area estimates |
| Talk Runner Up | Zoe Williams | Modelling New Zealand Guest Nights |
| Poster 1st | Roy Costilla | Cluster analysis of repeated ordinal data: a Bayesian Hierarchical approach to estimate finite mixtures |
2014 student talk winners (from left to right): Shirley Pledger (NZSA Chief Judge), Roy Costilla, Daniel Fernandez, Alison Sefton, Zoe Williams, Shirley Wu (Harmonic Analytics)
2013 Winners
| 1st “Senior” Postgraduate | Daniel Fernandez | Likelihood‐Based Finite Mixture Models for Ecological Ordinal Data |
| 1st “Junior” Postgraduate (Year 1 – 2 PhD student) | Roy Costilla | Cluster Analysis for Longitudinal Ordinal Data: A likelihood−based approach based on finite mixture models |
| 1st Undergraduate | Christopher Bryant | Outliers in Time Series – Using Aggregated Unit Record Data |
Hoare Research Software Student Prizes
For many years, Hoare Research Software (HRS) fostered a close association with the NZSA by offering prizes for the student talks at NZSA Conferences.
The list of prize-winners is given below.
| Year | Conference/Venue | Prize-winners |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | NZSA University of Otago | 1st= Darcy Webber (Victoria University) 1st= Brigid Betz-Stablein (Massey University) |
 | Brigid Betz-Stablein (Massey University) and Darcy Webber (Victoria University) pictured with the NZSA President, James Curran | |
| 2011 | NZSA University of Auckland | 1st Jing Liu (University of Auckland) 2nd Adam Smith (Massey University) 3rd= Sam McKechnie (University of Auckland) 3rd= Peter Green (Otago University) |
 Jing Liu from the University of Auckland |  |
|
| 2010 | NZSA Massey University | 1st Ting Wang (Massey University) 2nd= Sarojinie Fernando (Massey University) 2nd= Chew-Seng Chee (University of Auckland |
 | Ting Wang (Massey University), Sarojinie Fernando (Massey University) and Chew-Seng Chee (University of Auckland) | |
| 2009 | NZSA Victoria University of Wellington | 1st= Tilman Davies (Massey University) 1st= Ting Wang (Massey University) 3rd Keng-Hao Chang (University of Auckland) Best poster Lisa Woods (Victoria University of Wellington) |
 | Paul Bracewell from Offlode with student prize co-winners Ting Wang and Tilman Davies | |
| 2008 | NZSA University of Waikato | 1st= Stephen Taylor (University of Auckland) 1st= Gang (John) Xie (University of Canterbury) Best poster Kevin Chang (University of Auckland) |
 | Stephen Taylor (University of Auckland), Kevin Chang (University of Auckland), Ray Hoare (HRS) and Gang (John) Xie (University of Canterbury) | |
| 2007 | NZSA University of Canterbury | 1st= Matthew Schofield (University of Otago) 1st= Jason Bentley (University of Canterbury) |
 | HRS Prize winners Jason Bentley (left) and Matthew Schofield (right). | |
| 2006 | ASC/NZSA 2006 SkyCity, Auckland | 1st Steven Miller (University of Auckland) 2nd= Matthew Schofield (University of Otago) 2nd= Janine Wright (University of Otago) |
 | Ray Hoare from Hoare Research Software presenting the prize for the best talk by New Zealand students, won by Steven Miller | |
| 2005 | NZSA University of Otago | 1st Jonathan Godfrey (Massey University) 2nd= Carla Meurk (University of Canterbury) 2nd= Andrew Gormley (University of Otago) 2nd= Alistair Merrifield (University of Sydney) Best Poster Matt Davis (University of Otago) |
 | Pictured from left to right are Matt Davis (best poster); Ray Hoare; winner of the best student talk, Jonathan Godfrey (and Jenna); runners up: Carla Meurk and Andrew Gormley. | |
| 2004 | NZSA Victoria University of Wellington | 1st= Caroline Roughneen (Trinity College Dublin / Victoria University of Wellington) 1st= Steven Johnston (Victoria University of Wellington) |
 Ray Hoare of HRS and NZSA President Stephen Haslett present the student prize to Steven Johnston |  Ray Hoare of HRS and NZSA President Stephen Haslett present the student prize to Caroline Roughneen |
|
| 2003 | NZSA Massey University | 1st= Carole Wright (University of Waikato) 2nd Katarina Domijan (University of Waikato) 3rd Alasdair Noble (Massey University) |
 | Ray Hoare (right) presents the HRS student prizes to (left to right) Alasdair Noble, Carole Wright and Katarina Domijan |
|
| 2002 | NZSA University of Waikato | not awarded |
| 2001 | NZSA/Australiasian Region of IBS Conference Park Royal Hotel, Christchurch | 1st Jonathan Godfrey (Massey University) 2nd Natalie Thorne (Walter & Eliza Hall Institute) 3rd Jean Yang (University of California Berkeley) |
 Jonathan Godfrey receiving his cash awards from Ray Hoare |  Natalie Thorne and Jean Yang receiving their cash awards from Ray Hoare |
|
| 2000 | NZSA University of Canterbury | 1st Arier Lee (University of Auckland) |
| 1999 | NZSA Victoria University of Wellington | 1st Darren Upton (Victoria University of Wellington) 2nd Jonathan Godfrey (Massey University) 3rd Jenni Holden (University of Auckland) |
 | Sponsor Ray Hoare with Darren Upton, Jonathan Godfrey and Jenni Holden | |
| 1998 | NZSA Massey University | 1st Ken Miller (Statistics New Zealand 2nd Sharon Clark (Statistics New Zealand) 3rd Mike Eglinton (Statistics New Zealand |
 | Young Statistician Prize winners at the NZSA conference: Kenneth Miller, Sharon Clark, Len Cook (Government Statistician) and Michael Eglinton |
|
| 1998 | ASC14 (NZ Students only) | 1st Alain Vandal (University of Auckland) |
| 1997 | NZSA University of Auckland | 1st= Bonnie Law (University of Auckland) 1st= Alain Vandal (University of Auckland) 1st= Andrew Balemi (University of Auckland) 1st= Paul Murrell (University of Auckland) |
 | Some of the Student Prize contestants, left to right: Bonnie Law, Alain Vandal, Kathy Ruggiero, Kelvin Lai, Max Whitaker, Andrew Balemi and Paul Murrell | |
| 1996 | NZSA Victoria University of Wellington | 1st Philip Schluter (University of Canterbury) 2nd James O’Malley (University of Canterbury |
 | Ray Hoare, Hoare Research Software, who sponsored the SPSS Prize in Statistics for the best student paper at the conference with students Robert Ware, James O’Malley (second $300), Sashi Sharma and Philip Schluter (first $700). |
|
 | 1996 prize winner, Philip Schluter, 10 years on at ASC/NZSA2006 |
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| 1995 | NZSA/A.C.Aitken Conference University of Otago | 1st John Koolaard (Massey University) 2nd Chris Stephens (University of Canterbury) |
 | Ray Hoare with student session presenters. From left to right, back row: Ray Hoare; John Koolaard, winner of the SPSS prize for statistics donated by Hoare Research Software; Chris Stephens, highly commended; Mahammad Salehi; Sifa Mvoi; Front: James Curran and Andrew Balemi |
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| 1994 | NZSA Massey University | 1st Lovina McMurchy (University of Auckland |
 Student session presenters, left to right, Robert Lynn, Lovina McMurchy, Lyn Hunt and Suzette Lizamore |  Lovina McMurchy with Alastair Scott |
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