Bucknell Mathematics & Statistics Department Blog

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!

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!

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!

BUCKNELL MATHEMATICS STUDENT COLLOQUIUM SERIES
Thurs, October 27 | Noon-12:50PM | Olin 268
What did you do last summer?

• Moderated by Kelly Karpovich (2 internships: Complete Actuarial Solutions Company and The Talent Studios)
  with panelists
• Lizzi Bianchine (internship @ Johnson and Johnson)
• Georgia Corbett (research @Bucknell w/ Professor Bickel)
• Jack Joseph (internship @ Pepsi)
• Michael Perez Palapa (REU)

ABSTRACT: There are many exciting summer opportunities for students in the mathematical sciences! These range from internships in 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.

Arrive early for free pizza! (BYO beverage)

Andy Lee, Bucknell ’99, will speak on his path from a degree in Physics to a career in Finance and how his undergraduate training influences his current work, including: the analysis that he works on and how it relates to physics/math (the system and the methods like Monte Carlo simulations); and how he gets from the analytics to financial decisions (fairly high level).

Open to all students and faculty; pizza will be provided…please bring your own water.

Bucknell Mathematics Student Colloquium Series

Thurs, Sept. 15 | Noon-12:50PM  | Olin 268

Using Maths to Save The World
presented by Helen Greatrex, Professor of Geography and Statistics, Penn State University

ABSTRACT: Droughts kill thousands of people each year, especially in countries like Somalia where there is conflict and very little water to start off with.  Humanitarian experts often have to decide which places need the most help and alongside working with local communities, they also have to know how much rain has fallen. But how do you map rainfall in places where it’s too dangerous to gather data from weather-stations? Or in the vast spaces where we don’t have any weather stations at all?  
We turn to satellites! In this colloquium, we will chat about how simple mathematics can turn “space-photos” into useful weather information, and what happens when different satellites disagree…
Arrive early for free pizza!

The Bucknell MLA will hold its first meeting on Monday 9/5 at at 5.45pm in the Traditional Reading Room (BERT 213), for members to get to know each other and share their passion for machine learning. Prof. Keegan Kang will give an introductory talk on LSH Schemes.

ABSTRACT: There are some challenges with traditional machine learning in a Big Data world. Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH) schemes are able to mitigate some of these challenges. The idea of LSH schemes will be briefly introduced in this talk by looking at an example of them: sign random projections. This will be followed briefly by an illustration of how LSH schemes can be improved, before concluding with several fun research areas using these schemes.

Bagels, Coffee, & Data Science! (Event with Axtria)

Interested in a career in data science? Come network with Bucknell alumni who work for one of the biggest players in the industry and learn about all things data science!

Thursday, September 8th
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
MacDonald Commons 104
Feel free to come and go as you please

Bucknell Alumni:
Erin Ditmar ’18 (Chemical Engineering) Erin.Ditmar@axtria.com
Caroline Edelman ’18 (Applied Mathematics) Caroline.Edelman@axtria.com
Hannah Jarosinski ’21 (Mathematics) Hannah.Jaroskinski@axtria.com
Brendan Lowery ’22 (Business Analytics) Brendan.Lowery@axtria.com

Mathematics Department Student Colloquium Series

Thursday September 1 at noon in Olin 268.

Pizza will be served before the talk!

You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat (or: How math & computation are changing professional game playing)
presented by Peter Brooksbank, Professor of Mathematics, Bucknell University

ABSTRACT: Those of a mathematical bent have always been drawn to games in which their natural predilections give them an edge over their opponents. Pioneers of computation, such as Alan Turing and John von Neumann, pondered whether machines could compete with, or even outperform humans in games such as Chess, Go, and Poker… even before the first computer was built! In the present day, where almost everyone has hand-held access to more powerful computers than Turing and von Neumann could have possibly imagined, their questions have largely been answered.

In this talk I will give a brief history of the interplay between mathematics, computation, and games. Along the way, some cool math tools will be provided to use in games of chance! I will talk about the state of the art in computer-assisted Chess, Go, and Poker, and sketch the mathematical ideas upon which these programs are founded. Mostly what I want to do in this talk is convince you that blending mathematical reasoning with tools from modern computing makes a powerful cocktail. From playing games with your friends to looking for a job, you’ll be sailing in a bigger boat!
Arrive early for free pizza!