5 minutes with … Christian Probst

Christian Probst is Director of High Technology Transdisciplinary Research Network (HTTRN). We announced his appointment in August last year, and he joined Unitec in January after completing his commitments at the Technical University of Denmark.

Kia ora Christian and welcome to Unitec – and to New Zealand! As a German citizen who has lived in Denmark for the past 13 years, what are your first impressions of life in this part of the world?

When approaching Auckland by plane, the first thing we noticed was how very green and luscious the landscape is. After being confronted with subtropical storms and ex-cyclones – and the rain coming with them – we kind of understand why. But before that, we met an immigration officer who was smiling and joking. For us, who came with a work visa and 100 kg of luggage to a new country and hemisphere, that was a very nice welcome. And this experience of friendliness has continued, for example, when saying “hi” and “have a nice day” to your bus driver.

What kind of work were you were doing in Denmark?

For the past 13 years I have been living near Copenhagen, teaching at the Technical University of Denmark’s department of applied mathematics and computer science, with a focus on secure systems and insider threats to business security. In 2016 I took over the cyber security section, doing research on and working with external organisations on distributed systems and data protection.

What attracted you to Unitec?

There were a number of factors that made this role attractive. For one, I was very interested in the restructuring that Unitec went through, because I’ve been adamant for some time that silos don’t work.

I was also attracted by the opportunity to make a positive impact, not just within Unitec, but on New Zealand’s economy, by creating solutions for some of the biggest industries here – I really want to contribute to society as a whole.

Unitec is in a great position when it comes to commercialising ideas. Universities often have greater pressure to publish their research immediately. Here, we’re able to pick up ideas and rapidly commercialise them. We can always publish them later.

Last but not least, I will also lead and initiate activities in the Cyber Security research space. Obviously, I will get involved in the STRATUS project, which is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), and we are exploring other opportunities to involve stakeholders in joint activities.

What are some of the opportunities you see for the HTTRN?

A big part of the role will be finding those opportunities to connect people, and their ideas, with the right teams.

HTTRN currently is basically computing plus something else. I want to have an opening for colleagues working on a project and help to introduce a computing component to support their work.

There are huge possibilities for creating computer models to support practical work, particularly as monitoring technology becomes widespread with industries adopting the use of sensors and drones, and connecting to the Internet of Things networks.

I’m really interested in truly transdisciplinary projects. They can combine different departments within Unitec, or partner with external organisations to assist with any issues they are facing. My goal is to broaden the perception of HTTRN.

We have a lot of specialist knowledge in Unitec to share to make a big difference to New Zealand’s key sectors. For example, we could use drones to map where farmers should be using fertiliser, show how much they collect each harvest in certain areas. If you want to go a bit more urban, we can use models to predict and prevent traffic build-up which has huge flow-on effects for productivity.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I am current getting back in shape to pick up running again – I have been a long distance runner for a long time, but not so active lately due to injuries. When I moved to Denmark, I had just ran the Big Sur marathon in Monterey, CA, and then ran the Boston marathon – my goal is to get back to that level.

Besides that, my wife and I love art in all forms, so we go to museums a lot, and we enjoy (watching) ballet. We will go to some events at the Auckland Arts Festival, and recently found Gibbs farm sculpture park that we want to explore. We also love travelling, and have started to explore the greater Auckland area, and of course that will have to be extended for all of New Zealand! We are also keen explorers of Māori culture and history.

Finally, we enjoy good food and wine, and again there is much of that to explore in Auckland and New Zealand.