School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences - University of Waikato

20/09/2026

Why do some robots feel creepy? Our senior software engineering lecturers Jessica Turner, Jemma König and Nic Vanderschantz deliberately designed a creepy robot to explore why some machines unsettle us, revealing how appearance and behaviour shape our comfort and interactions with robots. 🤖 Read the full story 👇
https://www.waikato.ac.nz/news-events/news/why-do-some-robots-feel-creepy-we-deliberately-built-one-to-find-out/

18/09/2026

Welcome to the final day of our Te Wiki o te reo Māori Challenge, where we've been exploring some of the Māori words used in our world of computing, mathematics, data, and technology.

The answer to yesterday's challenge: He aha te kupu Māori mō te "internet"? was Ipurangi. Congratulations if you got it right!

Our last challenge for the week: He aha te kupu Māori mō te "algorithm"?

👇 Share your answer in the comments below!

17/09/2026

The answer to our last challenge He aha te kupu Māori mō te "data"? was Raraunga. Congratulations if you got that right!

Our Te Wiki o te reo Māori challenge for today: He aha te kupu Māori mō te "internet"?

👇 Share your answer in the comments below!

17/09/2026

A big congratulations to one of our students, Dr Christopher Mayo who is heading to the University of Cambridge in the UK to take up a prestigious Woolf Fisher Scholarship.

Dr Mayo will be starting a three-to-four year PhD in Cambridge's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics where he will use artificial intelligence to uncover hidden patterns in routine blood tests that could help identify disease earlier.💉🔬

Dr Mayo grew up in Hamilton and began medical school at the University of Auckland, graduating as a doctor in 2022. He has since completed a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence here at Waikato and will graduate at the end of this year.

Congratulations Dr Mayo! We wish you all the best for your PhD. Link to the full story in Comments 👇

16/09/2026

The answer to our last Te Wiki o te reo Māori challenge was Atamai hangahanga. That's the kupu Māori for "Artificial Intelligence." How did you get on?

Today's challenge: He aha te kupu Māori mō te "data"?

Have a go, test your knowledge, learn a few new kupu, and join us in celebrating te reo Māori.

15/09/2026

Kia ora e te whānau - thanks to those of you who responded to yesterday's question: He aha te kupu Māori mō te "computer"?💻

The answer was of course, Rorohiko. Did you get that right?🏆👏✅

So, Day 2 of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori where, throughout the week, we'll be asking: He aha te kupu Māori mō...? (What is the Māori word for...?)

Have a go, test your knowledge, learn a few new kupu, and join us in celebrating te reo Māori.🎉

💥Today's challenge:⚡
He aha te kupu Māori mō te "Artificial Intelligence"?

👇 Share your answer in the comments below!

CS³ - Computer Science Student Society MC² - Maths and Co Club The University of Waikato

14/09/2026

Kia ora e te whānau! Learn a few new kupu with the challenge below!

This week marks Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, an annual celebration of te reo Māori that encourages all New Zealanders to learn, use, and share the language in everyday life.

Under the theme, Ake, Ake, Ake - A Forever Language, the 2026 focus is Te Reo Towns, celebrating the communities that have helped keep te reo Māori strong and recognises the role we all play in ensuring it continues to thrive for generations to come.

To celebrate, we will be exploring some of the Māori words used in our world of computing, mathematics, data, and technology.

Throughout the week, we'll be asking:
He aha te kupu Māori mō...? (What is the Māori word for...?)

From computers and artificial intelligence to data, networks, and algorithms, we'll share a daily challenge, then reveal the answer the following day as we introduce a new word to learn.

Have a go, test your knowledge, learn a few new kupu, and join us in celebrating te reo Māori!

Today's challenge:
He aha te kupu Māori mō te "computer"?

👇 Share your answer in the comments below!

The University of Waikato CS³ - Computer Science Student Society MC² - Maths and Co Club

19/08/2026

Registrations of interest for the New Zealand Cyber Security Challenge 2026 are now open. ⚡💥 Put your skills to the test - entry is free and there are great prizes to be won! 🏆💰

The online qualifying round runs from 21 - 30 August, and you can compete from anywhere in New Zealand. Top performers will be invited to the National Finals on the University of Waikato campus 9-10 October.

Whether you are a student, an emerging technologist or an industry professional, register now and see how far your skills can take you. 🔓🛡

https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.nz/ #

Cyber Security Researchers of Waikato - CROW The University of Waikato

The CTF will consist of multiple challenges. Participants will compete to find hidden "flags" embedded within each challenge. The topics that the challenges cover include, but are not limited to:

18/08/2026

This year we celebrate 30 years of WEKA! 🎉🎈🥳🎂💾

WEKA (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis) is one of the world's best-known open-source machine learning and data mining software systems. It was originally developed at the University of Waikato and has been continuously maintained here for around 30 years. The first public release was made in 1996, making 2026 the 30th anniversary of WEKA releases.

Over the past three decades, WEKA has been used by researchers, students, educators, and industry practitioners around the world. It is particularly well known as a teaching and research platform because it provides access to a wide range of machine learning algorithms through an easy-to-use interface. Many people have encountered machine learning for the first time through WEKA.

The software has also helped raise the international profile of the University of Waikato. WEKA formed the basis of the widely used textbook Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques. Originally authored by Waikato researchers and now involving additional international collaborators, the book has become one of the most widely used textbooks in the field and has been cited tens of thousands of times. The fifth edition was published in 2025.

What makes this anniversary noteworthy is not only the longevity of the project, but also the fact that it remains actively developed and supported by Waikato researchers. The recent release demonstrates that WEKA continues to evolve alongside advances in computing platforms and software technologies while remaining freely available to users worldwide.

Few academic software projects achieve this level of international adoption and sustained development over such a long period. This makes 30 years of WEKA releases a significant milestone for both the School and the University.

Congratulations Team WEKA, on 30 years of impact! 💾🎉🦤(yes that's a dodo - they don't have a weka emoji for some reason!)

https://weka.ai/

CS³ - Computer Science Student Society The University of Waikato

18/08/2026

We were pleased to host the Waikato site of the New Zealand Programming Contest in early August. This is an annual event open to school, tertiary and open competitors across New Zealand. The teams get a pile of programming problems, ranging from easy to very difficult, and five hours to solve as many as they can on a single computer (suitably fuelled by copious snacks, going by the photos!)🥤🍟

The top Hamilton team 🏆 in each category are:

* High School category -- team "Silly Goobers" (Logan Bentley and Nattapong Arun) of Cambridge High School, 72 points, 10th place nationally in the High School category.🏅

* Tertiary Intermediate category (2nd year) -- team "Pork Buns" (Jerzy Sosnowski and Timithia Midnight) of UoW, 52 points, 2nd place nationally in their category.🥈🎉👏

* Tertiary Open category (3rd+ year / postgrad) -- team "dasNZstar" (Bowen Luo) of UoW, 212 points, 3rd place nationally in his category, and 5th highest score across all categories!🏅

* Open category -- team "networkprotection" (Jasper Zhang, recent UoW MInfoTech graduate), 6th place nationally in his category.

Congratulations to the top teams and to everyone who participated! 🎉👏🎈

Some statistics about the Hamilton site:
We had 17 teams of 1-3 people (35 people in total).
Of these, there were 6 high school teams (4 Hillcrest High, 1 St John's, 1 Cambridge High; in total 13 students).

A big "thanks" to Phil for the photos, Leah and Rachel for helping to organise and to Eibe for helping to run things on the day.🙏

CS³ - Computer Science Student Society