We talk to Professor Michael Sheng, Head of the School of Computing about how the school has become a powerhouse for world-leading research and where it is focusing for the rest of the year.

Tell us a bit about the School of Computing
The School of Computing is a large school that provides research and education excellence in Computing and Information Sciences. We offer practical, innovative and entrepreneurship-focused subjects across key IT fields that set our students apart as graduates. We collaborate with industry, government and research agencies for world-changing research, including intelligent and data-intensive computing, secure and reliable systems, and human-computer interactions.

What are some of the exciting research projects or themes coming out of the School?
Over the past few years, the School of Computing has gradually become a powerhouse for world-leading research at the forefront of the revolution in digital technologies. Our research secured over $10 million in 2022, including four ARC projects, two Next Generation Graduate Programs (NGGP) projects, and several very large defence and industry grants. These projects target important and exciting research challenges in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Cyber Security and Data Science.

What’s a recent achievement you’re proud of?
We have now entered the Top 200 in all major university rankings by subject (THE, QS, and Shanghai). This is a reflection of our high-quality teaching, research and academic reputation recognised at an international level. It is also a testament to the hard work and dedication of the School of Computing community towards being one of the highest-performing computing schools in Australia.

What’s your focus for the rest of 2023?
2023 is another extremely busy year for the School of Computing with the inaugural offering of new teaching programs on Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Networking, the reaccreditation of our undergraduate and postgraduate programs, and the School Retreat to discuss strategic goals for the school over the next five years.