Author: Lucas Waddell

“What Did You Do Last Summer?” at noon on Thursday 11/1 in Olin 268

Posted on by Lucas Waddell

Student Colloquium talk presented by Bucknell Students

Moderator: Nate Mattis ’19

Presenters:

  • Hannah Bokma ’20, Teaching Experience for Undergraduates, Brown University
  • Nate Lesnevich ’19, Undergraduate Research (Pure Mathematics), Bucknell University
  • Christina Sweeney ’19, Data Analytics, Slalom Consulting
  • Xeniya Tsoktoyeva ’19, Finance, PNC Bank
  • Yili Wang ’21, Undergraduate Research (Applied Mathematics), Bucknell University

Abstract: There are many exciting summer opportunities for students in the mathematical sciences! These range from internships with financial companies to research experiences at other universities to leadership development programs. In this week’s colloquium, a panel of your peers will tell you their experiences. What did they enjoy about their experiences? When did they apply? There will also be ample time for questions and answers. These varied opportunities, as well as being terrific fun, are also immensely valuable as you begin to think about your careers after Bucknell.

Assigning Students to Schools to Minimize Socioeconomic Variation between Schools: An Introduction to Optimization Modeling at noon on Thursday 10/18 in Olin 268

Posted on by Lucas Waddell

Student Colloquium talk by Professor Dick Forrester of Dickinson College

Title: Assigning Students to Schools to Minimize Socioeconomic Variation between Schools: An Introduction to Optimization Modeling

Abstract: Numerous studies have found that a student’s academic achievement is as much determined by the socioeconomic composition of their school as their own socioeconomic status. In this talk we provide a methodology for assigning students to schools so as to balance the socioeconomic compositions of the schools while taking into consideration the total travel distance. Our technique utilizes a bi-objective general 0-1 fractional program that is linearized into a mixed 0-1 linear program which can be submitted directly to a standard optimization package. If you didn’t understand that last sentence, don’t worry, the purpose of this talk is to introduce you to optimization modeling.  As a test case for our approach we analyze data from the Greenville County School District in Greenville, South Carolina.

Listening to Orbifolds and Orbigraphs at noon on Thursday 10/4 in Olin 268

Posted on by Lucas Waddell

Student Colloquium talk by Professor Liz Stanhope of Lewis and Clark College (Visiting Professor at Bucknell University)

Title: Listening to Orbifolds and Orbigraphs

Abstract: Spectral geometry is a lively area of mathematical research motivated by the question `Can you hear the shape of a drum?’ My work in spectral geometry has been to study the spectral properties of objects called orbifolds.  Questions in spectral geometry have useful analogs in graph theory.  Because of this we’ll discuss how to make sense of the concept of orbifold in the setting of spectral graph theory.

Bioinformatics and the Challenges of Visualizing Big Data at noon on Thursday 9/20 in Olin 268

Posted on by Lucas Waddell

Student Colloquium talk by Professor Ken Field of Bucknell University

Title: Bioinformatics and the Challenges of Visualizing Big Data

Abstract: Bioinformatics and next generation sequencing have revolutionized biology and medicine. The increasing affordability of next generation sequencing has made it possible to use whole-genome and whole-transcriptome approaches to answer questions in the lab, the field, and the clinic. However, working with these large datasets presents several computational and statistical challenges. As an example, we will discuss the importance of data exploration and multiple testing corrections. In addition, visualizing complex multi-dimensional data is also difficult and we will discuss approaches using interactive data displays and virtual reality.