Kan Wang

Master of Computer and Information Sciences student
Graduate Diploma in Computer and Information Sciences

He was attracted to AUT because of the excellent reputation of its computer science programmes, says Kan Wang who came to AUT as an international student from Xi’an in China.

“AUT’s computer and information sciences programmes have a good reputation, and the academic staff are professional and kind. Moreover, each student can improve themselves at AUT; whatever their background is. If you don’t have previous knowledge in a class, then you will learn fast. There are also no limits to your learning if you’re already strong in a particular subject – the lecturers will cover the topic from different viewpoints and cover cutting-edge knowledge in the field.”

Kan initially joined AUT to study a Graduate Diploma in Computer and Information Sciences and then decided to continue into a Master of Computer and Information Sciences.

“Students learn about a field of knowledge in undergraduate study, including in the graduate diploma I did. Postgraduate study then allows them to research an unknown area of their interest. I decided to do postgraduate study because I wanted to research cutting-edge knowledge in my field, and maybe even exceed the current results.”

Exploring industry solutions
For his master’s degree research, Kan is focusing on serverless computing. His postgraduate studies are supported by an AUT Pro Vice-Chancellor International's Excellence Scholarship.

“My Master of Computer and Information Sciences research is about serverless computing, which is one of the cloud computing fields.

“I decided to research this area to optimise or solve the problems that hinder the serverless computing development such as the optimisation problem of cold start latency in a distributed cloud environment. I believe my research can help others in the industry.”

Kan’s research is being supervised by Professor Edmund Lai and Dr Jing Ma from AUT’s School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences.

The right study environment
After being based at the AUT City Campus for two years, Kan has now returned home to China where he is working on his master’s degree research through online study.

“Because my research and my experiments mainly rely on the computer, it’s not an obstacle to complete my thesis from overseas. When I was still studying in Auckland and we had to move to online learning due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, I frequently contacted my supervisors online. So now that I’m based in China, it’s easy for my supervisors to guide me online as well.”

He wouldn’t hesitate to recommend AUT’s computer and information sciences programmes to others.

“Through these programmes, you can learn cutting-edge computing knowledge, covering both relevant theories and applications. Whatever your previous experience is, you can improve yourself a lot when you study at AUT.”