Math Adventures in Budapest!

Posted on by Sara Stoudt

Thinking about studying abroad? Sam Berry (Applied Mathematics major, ’27), Skyler Le (Mathematics major, ’27), and Dante Mancino (Mathematics major, ’27) spent last fall semester, and Celine Chang (Applied Mathematics major, ’27) spent last spring semester learning math in Budapest, Hungary. They had a blast; see for yourself…

They saw the sights, tasted the food, heard the music!

overlook of the paradise-like suburbs surrounding lake Balaton, the largest lake in Hungary
Overlooking Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Hungary
Sam's first meal in Hungary, the national dish called Goulash; very yummy!
Sam trying the national dish, Goulash
Celine watching the Swan Lake in the Hungarian State Opera
Celine seeing Swan Lake in the Hungarian State Opera

Interested in studying math abroad in Budapest?

Find out more here.

They made some new friends!

Sam, Skyler, and Sam's friends Benjamin and Nathan playing a board game called Root in Sam's apartment.
Skyler and Sam play board games with new friends.
Celine and three new friends.
Celine and some new friends.

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They learned some cool math! Check out this lecture hall where students gathered together for info sessions, colloquia, and research presentations.

Dante and Skyler at the airport after just landing in Budapest.
Dante and Skyler after just landing in Budapest
Skyler in a big lecture hall for orientation. Behind him are three teachers/administrators and soon-to-be classmates.
Skyler during orientation on the first day of class

They experienced new traditions!

Hungarian National Founding Day celebration with fireworks.
Hungarian National Founding Day celebration
Sam and fellow BSM student Desmond outside of Matthias Church in the Palace district of Buda.
Sam and a classmate outside of Matthias Church
View from the steps of Saint Stephen's Basilica overlooking the popular Budapest Christmas Fair.
steps of Saint Stephen’s Basilica overlooking the Budapest Christmas Fair

Connect to Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Bucknell University on LinkedIn.

If all of these photos make you excited about studying abroad, but you aren’t quite sure about this particular program, learn more from the Bucknell Global Education team here.

Want a chance to be featured in a future blog post? Respond to our question of the week here, and your answer may be chosen for a future post.

Last year’s department highlights

Posted on by Sara Stoudt

Welcome back! We hope your summers were restful, and you feel recharged for another fun semester ahead.

This year we’re going to have more action on this blog, so stay tuned weekly for the latest update on what is going on in the Mathematics and Statistics Department. Want a chance to be featured in a future post? Respond to our question of the week here, and your answer may be chosen for a future post.

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But before we kick off the Fall 2026 semester, let’s throwback to Fall 2025 and Spring 2026.

Before we know it, there will be a chill in the air, and we’ll be sipping on fall-themed, cozy drinks. Last fall the MAA students hosted a pumpkin painting and carving night and Prof. Bickel’s MATH 208 hosted a math-art show.

MAA student club pumpkin painting and carving event
Keep an eye out for future MAA nights!
MATH 208 art show where students and faculty are checking out everyone's math-related art projects
See what MATH 208 students come up with this semester!

In the spring we had four students complete honors theses!

Celebration for Eve Johansson and Cole Kratz for completing their honors thesis presentations. They are side-by-side with their thesis advisors Prof. Hamlet and Prof. Langford.
Congrats to Eve
Johansson
(advised by Prof. Hamlet) and
Cole Kratz (advised by Prof. Langford)
Celebration for Phuong Cao and Hung Pham for completing their honors thesis presentations. They are side-by-side with their thesis advisors Prof. Berg and Prof. Ryan and Prof. Brooksbank and Prof. Schmid.
Congrats to Phuong Cao (advised by Prof. Berg and Prof. Ryan) and Hung Pham (advised by Prof. Brooksbank and Prof. Schmid)

Faculty and staff hit milestones last year too!

Prof. Flynt wins the James P. Crawford Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Congrats to Prof. Flynt for her well-deserved teaching award!
Bonnie and her husband Paul at her retirement part.
Best wishes for Bonnie in her well-deserved retirement!

Connect to Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Bucknell University on LinkedIn.

And now we’re ready to do it all again!

Mathematics and Statistics department faculty stand outside of Olin Science Building for a group photo.
Thanks for being a part of our community!
Some members of the Mathematics and Statistics department in their regalia at graduation last year.
It’ll be graduation time before you know it…

Save the date for our first student colloquium with our very own Prof. Mair, and check out the new chalkboard by the student lounge in Olin to vote on a very important question… 😀

Student colloquium series poster for Prof. Adam Mair's upcoming talk on Thursday, September 3rd at noon in Olin 268. Pizza is provided, but please bring your own drink.

“I spy with my untrained eye” – Prof. Sara Stoudt; Thursday Mar. 21 at Noon in Olin 268

Posted on by Jennifer Berg

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Thurs. Mar. 21, 2024 | Noon-12:50PM  | Olin 268

I Spy with my Untrained Eye
Presented by Sara Stoudt, Assistant Professor of Statistics, Bucknell University

ABSTRACT: Many ecological questions require hard-won data, but thanks to participation from community members on a variety of nature apps, there is more and more data available for a variety of species, across longer time scales and broader spatial extents. However, this data is collected in a less systematic way, so there are limitations for its use for statistical modeling. I’ll talk about finding creative ways to make this data usable for scientific research and what we learn about both the animals and the data collectors themselves through this process. I’ll share case studies on bird and butterfly data and talk about where we are headed next with this work.

Poster for Prof. Sara Stoudt's talk. Contained title, abstract, day and time information along with a picture of Prof. Stoudt.

“Perfectly Imperfect: Music, Math, and the Keyboard” – Prof. Gloria Cheng; Monday Mar. 4 from 4-5 PM in Olin 268

Posted on by Jennifer Berg

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Monday, Mar. 4, 2024 | 4-5 PM | Olin 268

Perfectly Imperfect: Music, Math, and the Keybord
Presented by Gloria Cheng, Grammy and Emmy award winning pianist
Adjunct Professor, UCLA Herb Albert School of Music

Sponsored by the Departments of Music and Mathematics, with funding provided by the Kushell Music Endowment and the University Leadership Committee.

Poster for the talk by Prof. Gloria Cheng. Contains a picture of her along with the title of the talk and day/time information.

“An introduction to aperiodic tilings” – Colloquium by Prof. Scott Schmieding; Thursday Feb 1. at Noon in Olin 268

Posted on by Jennifer Berg

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 | Noon-12:50PM | Olin 268

An introduction to aperiodic tilings
Presented by Scott Schmieding, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Penn State University

ABSTRACT: An aperiodic tiling is a pattern that, despite looking like it may repeat, never actually does. They have been a subject of considerable interest, especially in connection with materials called quasicrystals discovered in the 1980’s. In this talk we’ll give a light introduction to their mathematical structure, including how to construct some.

Poster for "an introduction to aperiodic tilings" talk. Contains day/time information as well as a picture of Scott Schmieding and the abstract for the talk.

“What I did last summer” student internship and research panel; Thursday Nov. 9 at Noon in Olin 268

Posted on by Jennifer Berg

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Thursday, Nov. 9 2023 | Noon-12:50PM | Olin 268

What I did last summer: student internship and research panel

A panel discussion featuring five current Bucknell Mathematics students sharing highlights and insights from their recent internship and research experiences.

Panelists:
Georgia Corbett
Brooke Exelbert
Changkun Guan
Jonathan Seitz
Kerong Wang

Poster for the What I did last summer panel. Contains day/time information as well as the list of panelists.

“Manipulation of thin flexible objects” – Colloquium by Prof. Andy Borum; Thursday Oct. 26 at noon in Olin 268

Posted on by Jennifer Berg

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Thurs, Oct. 26 2023 | Noon-12:50PM | Olin 268

Manipulation of thin flexible objects
Presented by Andy Borum, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Vassar College

ABSTRACT: The next time you tie your shoes, unravel a charging cable, or twirl a noodle around a fork, think about how this problem could be described mathematically. Here is one possible description (continuing with the noodle example)—given two shapes of a three-dimensional curve, one representing the noodle’s starting shape and one representing the goal shape, how should the curve’s endpoints be moved so that the curve deforms from the starting shape into the goal shape? During this process, we should avoid self-intersections of the curve, since the noodle can’t pass through itself, and ensure that the curve remains in stable equilibrium so that the noodle doesn’t slide off of the fork. These two constraints—avoiding self-intersections and remaining stable—make this problem seem particularly challenging. In this talk, I will describe an example of this problem from robotics—manipulation of a thin flexible cable—and I will show how a careful analysis of the equations describing the cable’s shape leads to a closed-form solution of this problem.

Arrive early for Free Pizza!

Poster for Andy Borum talk. Contains picture of Prof. Borum along with the title, abstract, and date/time information for his talk.

Math Alumni Panel: Career Paths and Insights; Thursday Oct. 12 at Noon in Olin 268

Posted on by Jennifer Berg

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Thurs, Oct. 12 2023 | Noon-12:50PM | Olin 268

Math Alumni Panel: Career Paths and Insights

Featuring Bucknell Mathematics Alumni sharing their career paths, insights, and advice on post-Bucknell career planning.

Panelists:
Elise Covert – IQVIA Biotech
Hannah Jarosinski – Axtria
Spandan Marasini – Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
Nate Mattis – Bermudian Springs High School
Robert Rhoades – Susquehanna International Group

Arrive early for Free Pizza!

poster for the Math Alumni panel in Fall 2023. Contains date, time and names of panelists.

“That’s So Random!” – Colloquium by Prof. Keegan Kang; Thursday Aug. 31 at Noon in Olin 268

Posted on by Owais Gilani

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Thurs, Aug. 31 | Noon-12:50PM  | Olin 268

That’s So Random!
Presented by Keegan Kang, Assistant Professor of Statistics, Bucknell University

ABSTRACT: Think of a large number N. Now imagine you and your friends each picking a random number between 0 and N. Can these random numbers be used meaningfully? Surprisingly, yes! 
We will discuss how we can use statistics to get an approximation to computationally difficult problems, and show how such randomness can be used in web search and plagiarism detection.

Arrive early for Free Pizza!

poster containing an picture of professor kang along with the title and abstract of the talk

“The AfterMath of an Extreme Natural Event” – Colloquium by Prof. Linda Smolka, Thurs, April 6 at noon in Olin 268

Posted on by Keegan Kang

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Thursday, April 6 | Noon-12:50PM  | Olin 268

The AfterMath of an Extreme Natural Event
presented by Linda Smolka, Professor of Mathematics, Bucknell University

ABSTRACT: An astonishing thing happened on January 15, 2022. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai submarine volcano located in the South Pacific Ocean erupted, becoming the largest volcanic eruption in the modern satellite era on a scale not observed since Krakatoa erupted in 1883. The eruption was so powerful that among the shock waves it generated, the largest traversed the globe multiple times over several days. We’ll focus on the mathematics to model and understand this shock wave and also recount other extraordinary phenomena in the eruption’s aftermath. Curious where calculus is used in the real-world? Come see.

Arrive early for free pizza!