60 seconds with… Jim Denier

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With the University’s Maths and Statistics Departments merging this week, we chat to the Head of the new Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Professor Jim Denier.

Work stuff
I’ve been at Macquarie for…
Almost three years, I arrived in early October 2015.

In a nutshell, my job is to…
Well, I was previously the Head of the Department of Mathematics but have now just been appointed as Head of the new Department of Mathematics and Statistics, which came into existence this week. So, in a nutshell my job is to lead the new Department into the future.

The question I hear most often in my work is…
Well this week it was probably, “What can I do if I study mathematics and statistics?”. We’ve been down at the Australian Museum this week as part of National Science Week talking to school students, parents and teachers about where mathematics and statistics can take you – that’s everywhere by the way!

Any exciting recent developments?
The fact that the Department of Mathematics and Statistics has come into existence this week is, I think, a pretty big thing!

The top three things on my to-do list today are…
1. Admin (of one sort or another)
2. Present lectures in our third-year unit on nonlinear dynamics and chaos
3. Move around 100 kilograms of cornflour from my office (if you came to Open Day you’ll know what this was about!).

If I could do any other job at Macquarie (with instant qualifications/knowledge) it would be…
I wouldn’t mind curating the University’s art collection. I’m a particular fan of our sculpture collection.

A Macquarie staff member who impressed me last week…
It was National Science Week last week and there were so many fantastic staff, academic and professional, from MQ representing at many of the activities that we had on. All of them impressed me with their passion and dedication in communicating science to the community.

I get my campus coffee fix from …
The tea room on level 6 of 12 Wally’s Walk. Come on, let’s get over this coffee fixation thing!

If you were given $50 million to create or build something at Macquarie, what would you do with it?
I’d construct a building for the new Department of Mathematics and Statistics, one which allowed us to create a rich and vibrant learning environment for students, encourage and support collaboration, and which also had a very large supercomputer in it that supported the computational needs of the University (but we would own it!). Oh, and it would also have a fully equipped mathematical laboratory in the basement (if you don’t know what this would look like, you are going to have to come and talk to me).

Personal life
My favourite subject at school was…
Seriously? I can’t remember, but it wasn’t maths!

Outside work, you’ll often find me…
Cooking, eating and drinking (sometimes in that order).

I’m really looking forward to…
Attending the European Fluid Mechanics Conference in Vienna. It’s a great conference and I’ve never been to Vienna, so I’m looking forward to that.

If I could have dinner with anyone (living or dead) it would be…
If by ‘dinner with’ you mean ‘party with’, then I’d have to go for Jimi Hendrix (big fan!).

In 10 years from now, I hope to be…
Still going.

Want to hear more from Professor Denier? Follow his twitter handle @ImpatientMaths.

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