Math Dept 2013-2014 Newsletter 24
Monday, 14 April 2014
All of this yearÕs newsletters can now be reached
via the department website now.
Click on ÒNewsÓ in the sidebar. Thanks to
Richard Bayne for putting it up there.
Big thanks to Talitha Washington for initiating
this.
—Ed.
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Newsletter is sent out when there is something
new.
Please send entries by the end of the
week --Ed
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MEETINGS AND SEMINARS IN THE DEPARTMENT
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Every Monday
Geometry and Topology Seminar
ASB-B 213 3.00 to 4pm
Speaker: Professor Joseph Yeager
Topic: SYMPLECTIC AND CONTACT
GEOMETRY.
Stanley M. Einstein-Matthews
Coordinator
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Every Tuesday
The Seminar on Topological Semigroups and Ramsey
Theory
Tuesdays at 11:10 a.m in room 233 of Annex III
Amir Maleki will speak on
"amenability".
Organizer: Neil Hindman
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Friday April 11
4.10 to 5 pm, ASB-B 213
Mathematics Department Colloquium
Undergraduate Research Symposium
Details TBA.
Fluid dynamics seminar
Seminar will take place after colloquium, and at
4.30 if there is no colloquium.
Abstract: (Neil Hindman)
The "Fluid" refers to soda and
beer. The "Dynamics" refers to the topics of conversation,
which is as likely as anything to deal with RGIII and the Washington Football
Club. Pizza, including a vegetarian option, and wings are provided.
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TALKS AND EVENTS OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT
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1. (From Katie Gursky)
1st Mason Modeling Days workshop at GMU
June 9-14, 2014 here. We have invited 4 industry
participants to present applied mathematics problems which will form the basis
for a week-long brainstorming activity culminating in an oral presentation at
the end of the workshop. The 4 project areas for this year's workshop are:
biology, finance, climate science and physics. No prior research experience and
advanced math skills are required.
This is an teamwork and networking opportunity
that will expose participants to a wide array of applications and will help
them enhance their mathematical and modeling skills. Written report generated
as a result of this activity can be potentially used for further collaboration
on the subject leading to a scientific publication. Non-local participants will
receive funds to cover travel and local expenses including per-diem.
Non-math majors (preferably with a math minor)
will be considered depending on space availability. Applications received by
April 15 will receive priority in terms of funding.
For further details, including project
descriptions and application procedures, please check out the website:
https://sites.google.com/site/masonmodelingdays2014/
2. STEM Summer Professional Development
Institute
Talitha Washington is
co-organizing a conference, the STEM Summer Professional Development Institute,
that will be held June 2-3, 2014 at Winston Salem State University. This
two-day professional development institute will prepare faculty members from
historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to deliver evidence-based
instruction in STEM and STEM education courses which will increase student
engagement, performance levels, and success of students.
Registration is free and is done online
at: http://capstoneinstitutehowardu.eventbrite.com
For more information, please see: https://sites.google.com/site/capstoneinstituteathu/
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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1. (From Katie Gursky)
Howard University Research Day 2014 Awards (April
4th):
Undergraduate: Computation and Modeling
Lauren Prince, Using an SIR Model to Understand
the Conditions That Cause Staphylococcus Aureus to Develop Resistance to
Certain Treatments
Junior Faculty: Physical Science and Engineering
Roberto De Leo, Magnetoresistance in normal
metals under a strong magnetic field
Senior Faculty: Physical Science and Engineering
Katharine Gurski, The Role of Intermittent
Preventive Treatment (IPT) and the Spread of Drug Resistance to Malaria: A
Mathematical Approach
2. PhD Dissertation Defense of Teylama Herve Miabey
Monday, April 21, 2014.
Title: "Spectral Analysis for
Finite Rank Perturbations of Diagonal Operators in Non-Archimedean Hilbert
Space"
Advisor: Toka Diagana
External Examiner: Bourama Toni
(Virgina State University)
Chair of the Dissertation
Committee: Neil Hindman
Other Committee Members: Paul H.
Bezandry and Francois Ramaroson
Location: Annex III (Graduate
School) - Room 205
Time: 2:15pm
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SCHOLARSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES (from
various sources)
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1. Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013
Workshops.
Please visit the website
(http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/index-mpe.html)
for additional information.
Upcoming workshops in 2014:
Workshop on Sustainable Human
Environments
Location: Rutgers University
Dates: April 23-25
http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/HumanEnvironments/
Workshop on Global Change
Location: UC-Berkeley
Dates: May 19-21
http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/GlobalChange/
Workshop of Data-aware Energy Use
Location: UC-San Diego
Dates: September 2014
http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/EnergyUse/
We are looking to involve Early Career
Researchers, which are defined as faculty or researchers who have earned their
doctorate within the previous three years, postdocs, graduate students, and
upper-level undergraduates with research experience. Opportunities to apply for
financial support are included on the websites for each workshop.
2. Department of Energy Undergraduate Laboratory Internships
Applications to its 2014 Fall Term Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI)
program, with all required
application materials, including recommendations, due
by 5:00 PM ET on May 30, 2014. The SULI program encourages undergraduate students to pursue science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers by providing research
experiences at Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories, where selected
students participate as interns appointed at participating host labs. They
perform research, under the guidance of laboratory staff scientists or
engineers, on projects supporting the DOE mission.
Further information, including
program eligibility, requirements, host lab participation, and access to the
online application system are found at:
http://science.energy.gov/wdts/
http://science.energy.gov/wdts/suli/
with inquiries or questions made
using:
http://science.energy.gov/wdts/suli/contact/
3. The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) SunShot Postdoctoral Research Awards
The SunShot Postdoctoral Research Awards support
innovative solar research by offering recent Ph.D. recipients the opportunity
to conduct applied R&D at universities, national laboratories, and other
research facilities.
Application Deadline: April 30, 2014
For more information and to apply, visit: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/education/postdoctoral
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INTERESTING ARTICLES AND WEBSITES
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1. (From Aziz Yakubu) New (and
free) handbook - Math Modeling: Getting Started and Getting Solutions
Over the past nine years of working with
teams participating in SIAMÕs MoodyÕs Mega Math Challenge, we have found that
many participating students (rising seniors and college freshman) do not know
how to start working on or get to a solution for the open-ended realistic
problems posed. What started as a pamphlet with some step-by-step guidance grew
into a handbook with a companion document to make connections to the Common
Core State Standards and some easy-to-use reference cards for the lower energy
teams that want to get straight to the point. This work also dovetailed nicely
with two SIAM-initiated workshops with the National Science Foundation (NSF) on
Modeling across the Curriculum, one held in August 2012 and one in January
2014.
The content of the handbook is suitable for both
high school and undergraduate students interested in learning how to do math
modeling.
Authors Karen Bliss, Katie Fowler, and Ben
Galluzzo wrote the handbook, responded to reviewer comments, and delivered a
final manuscript late in 2013. SIAM has edited and produced the material, with
funding from The MoodyÕs Foundation in conjunction with MoodyÕs Mega Math
Challenge, and from the NSF.
You are invited to view (and share) online the
full color versions or print the less ink saturated version at http://m3challenge.siam.org/about/mm/
(received from Michelle Montgomery, Director
of Marketing and Outreach, SIAM
--Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics)
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