News Archives - 2006-07
Professor Arthur Heinricher named Associate Dean
Professor Arthur C. Heinricher has been named the new Associate Dean for the First Year Experience, following a campus-wide search process. Dean Heinricher will oversee and coordinate all first-year programs, will assist in finding support for new initiatives and will represent and promote first-year programs outside WPI.
Professor Balgobin Nandram appointed Associate Editor for JASA
The Journal of the American Statistical Association (JASA), Applications and Case Studies, the premier statistical journal in the world, has appointed Balgobin Nandram as Associate Editor. The appointment represents the well deserved recognition of Nandram's research and contributions to the statistics community.
Benoit Mandelbrot opened the second year of H. J. Gay Lectures
The Mathematical Sciences Department began its second year of the Harold J. Gay Lecture Series with a talk by Benoit Mandelbrot, the "Father of Fractals." His lecture, titled "Fractal Roughness: Beautiful, Damn Hard, and Surprisingly Useful," was held on November 10, 2006. In December the series was continued by two distinguished lecturers, Barbara Keyfitz and Cathleen Morawetz. Read more about the H. J. Gay Lecture Series...
Mathematical Sciences Department hosted the annual Math Meet for the 19th year
The 19th Annual Math Meet for high school students was held on October 18, 2006. Eighty-six teams of four students attended the competition, along with their advisors. The event included both individual and team rounds, with scholarships going to the top scorers. Read more about the Math Meet...
Mathematical Sciences Department honored with SPAIG Award
ASA's SPAIG Committee honored the WPI Mathematical Sciences Department for partnership established by Professor Balgobin Nandram with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Read more about the SPAIG Award...
Professor Paul Davis named Jefferson Science Fellow
Paul W. Davis was named one of six Jefferson Science Fellows for the 2006-07 year. The Fellowship, created by the U.S. Department of State, the Carnegie Corporation and the MacArthur Foundation, brings together scientific and engineering experts to share their knowledge in the shaping of U.S. foreign policy. Professor Davis, who is also the former dean of WPI's IGSD, is the first mathematician to be named to this important fellowship. Read more about the Fellowship...
Professor Dalin Tang to head research team funded by a $1.8 million grant from NSF
A research team headed by Professor Dalin Tang, and including Professors Joseph D. Petruccelli and Homer F. Walker, has been awarded $1.8 million from the National Science Foundation. The team will be researching the growth, progression, and rupture of human atherosclerotic plaque through a combination of computational modeling, MRI scans of volunteer patients, and histological studies of diseased arteries. Read more about this research...
Suzanne Weekes Receives Women of Strength Award
Suzanne Weekes, professor and associate department head, was one of five recipients of the 2007 WPI Women of Strength Award.
The award, co-sponsored by Pratt & Whitney, recognizes WPI women who demonstrate strength of character, community spirit, and leadership, who serve as role models, and who are committed to improving the quality of life for women at WPI.
Two Colleagues Honored
John Goulet received the Trustees' Award for Outstanding Teaching. Since 1968, the award recognizes an outstanding teacher who met above and beyond the expectations of the students. The only other time this award recognized a member of our Department, Jon Van Alstyne, was in 1970.
Jon Abraham received the Trustees' Award for Outstanding Academic Advising. Established by the WPI Board of Trustees in 2000, the award recognizes the outstanding work academic advisors play in guiding and mentoring students through stages of professional and personal development.
Dalin Tang Represents AMS on Capitol Hill
Dalin Tang, professor of mathematical sciences and biomedical engineering, represented the American Mathematical Society (AMS) at the Coalition for National Science Funding exhibition and reception on Capitol Hill on June 26. Tang presented results from multi-institution research he directs that is producing, for the first time, a comprehensive understanding of the growth, progression, and rupture of human atherosclerotic plaque
WPI Announces Launch of National Professional Science Master's Association with a Grant from Sloan Foundation
The Alfred P Sloan Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant to a group of universities led by WPI to inaugurate the National Professional Science Master's Association, which will promote and support professional master's degree programs at universities across the nation. Bogdan Vernescu, professor and head of WPI's Mathematical Sciences Department, will serve as the association's first president.
Advisory Board News
Two new members joined the Department's Advisory Board: Keith Hartt, Director of Research and Founding Partner at Bogle Investment Management, and Samuel M. Rankin III, Associate Executive Director of the American Mathematical Society and Director of the AMS Washington, D.C. office.
Terrence (Terry) P. O'Coin '83 from the Computer Science Corporation and Michele G. VanLeer from Sun Life have retired from the Board. Warm thanks to them both for their involvement in advising the Mathematical Sciences Department and WPI, and in particular to Terry, who served on the Board since its inception, nine years ago.
Industrial Microwave Modeling Group (IMMG) Seminar
The 9th International Seminar "Computer Modeling for the Microwave Power Industry" organized annually by Vadim Yakovlev was hosted by the Electromagnetic Applications Group of Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and sponsored by the UPV Telecommunication School. The event was held in Valencia in March 2007 and brought together 15 delegates representing industrial and academic institutions from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the US.
Graduate Research Achievement Day
The Graduate Research Achievement Day took place on March 28. Five of our graduate students presented posters summarizing their research work: Brian Cordes, Emily Evans, David Leray, Casey Richardson and Rebecca Wasyk. Rebecca Wasyk won first place in the Science division for "Numerical Approximation of a Transmission Problem with a Prefractal Layer," advised by Umberto Mosco. Casey L. Richardson placed 3rd in the same division for "Modeling and Analysis of Fracture Trajectories Based on Crack Fronts," advised by Christopher J. Larsen and co-authored by Michael Ortiz (Caltech).
Math Awareness Month
We continued to organize the yearly Math Awareness Month in April. As part of the month, the invited speaker was Doris Schattschneider, Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Moravian College. Her talk was entitled "Mathematics and the Art of M.C. Escher," The imagery in M.C. Escher's graphic works not only makes obvious use of geometry, but often provides visual metaphors for abstract mathematical concepts. The slide lecture examined mathematical concepts implicit in several of Escher's works, outlined the transformation geometry that governs his interlocking figures, and revealed how this "math anxious" artist actually did pioneering mathematical research in order to accomplish his artistic goals. Escher's mathematical curiosity and insight has been the inspiration for many mathematicians, scientists, and artists of today who seek solutions to problems (both mathematical and artistic) first posed by Escher himself
Student Awards Ceremony 2007
The following students were recognized for departmental and university distinctions in the 2006-2007 Mathematical Sciences Awards Ceremony, held in April:
Yang Russel Gao received the Salisbury Award from the university, following nomination by the department. This award is given annually to 14 highly meritorious WPI seniors and was established by Stephen Salisbury, a WPI founder and former president of the Board of Trustees.
The Senior Math Award, presented annually to seniors mathematical science majors who have shown outstanding performance and who has made valuable contributions to the WPI mathematical community, was given to Jessica Clark and Sanjayan Manivannan.
The Dimensions Award, presented to a highly meritorious member of the graduating class of WPI who has faithfully, industriously, and with distinguished attainment completed all requirements (and beyond) for the B.S. degree in Mathematical Science, was given to Xinjia Liu.
William Owens was the recipient of the Olson Award, which recognizes excellence in freshman and sophomore mathematics courses and outstanding overall academic achievement. This award was established to honor the memory of mathematics professor Richard V. Olson, who taught at WPI from 1963 until his death in 1983.
Eric Mbakop (top scorer), Benjamin Moody and Vasil Savov were recognized for their strong showing on the Putnam exam: the WPI team, advised by Darko Volkov and Daniel Onofrei, was ranked 71 among the 500 participating teams. Several other individual contestants, Ilan Shomorony, William Owens, Eyuel Abebe and Alexander Volfson, were also recognized for their participation in the Putnam Exam.
Project Presentation Day Awards, 2007
The annual WPI Project Presentation Day took place on April 18 in the Higgins House Great Hall. The following projects were presented:
Andrew Port, Jeremy Ristau, One-Dimensional Viscoelastic Cell Motility Model, advised by Roger Lui.
Jessica Clark, Sean Mulready, Optimal Portfolio Analysis with Turnover Constraints, advised by Arthur C. Heinricher Russell Yang Gao, Credit Default Swap and Asset Swap Pricing Models, advised by Jon Abraham and Arthur Gerstenfeld (MGE) and sponsored by the Bank of America (London Office)
Heather LaHart, Mark Melko, Optimization Methods for Project Integration, advised by Arthur C. Heinricher
Kirsten B. Murphy and Onalie L. Sotak, Alumni Data Mining, advised by Jon Abraham, Arthur C. Heinricher and Jayson Wilbur, sponsored by the WPI Office of Development and Alumni Relations
Timothy P. Connor, Xinjia Liu, Gregory E. Lynskey and Ida Rapaj, Analysis of Methods for Loss Reserving, advised by Jon Abraham and Arthur C. Heinricher, sponsored by Hanover Insurance
Joanna Kluza, Joseph Kraynak, William Treese, Jaris B. Wicklund, Risk Score Assignment for Long Term Care Underwriting, advised by Jon Abraham and Arthur C. Heinricher, sponsored by John Hancock
Alex Patkowski, Functional Identities, advised by Brigitte Servatius
Eric Griffel and Paul Sader, Verification for Role-Based Access Control, advised by Daniel Dougherty (CS) and William Martin.
In view of the high quality of the projects and presentations, two projects were singled out for the Provost's MQP award: Andrew Port and Jeremy Ristau tied with Jessica Clark and Sean Mulready. Timothy P. Connor, Xinjia Lie, Gregory E. Lynskey and Ida Rapaj received the CIMS award for the best industrial MQP.
Graduate Students Complete Industrial Research
The following students completed industrial research over the summer with our CIMS partners:
Hai Ling spent a month this past summer as an intern for Numeric Investors. His responsibilities included a variety of research projects including building datasets, and production development
Criselda Toto worked for the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in Hyattsville over the summer.
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