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Department Notes
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
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Algebraic Equations, Evariste Galois, and Hector Berlioz... On Tuesday, November 10th at 4:30pm the Mathematics and Computer Science Department presents Dr. Jeff Johannes of SUNY Geneseo, who will give a talk on algebraic equations, Evariste Galois, and Hector Berlioz. This talk will unfold in three distinct sections. We will begin with a light overview of the history of solving polynomial equations before the 18th century. In the middle part, we will consider the intuitive ideas of Galois and his consideration of the solvability of polynomial equations. The talk will conclude with an extended comparison of the lives of Galois and contemporary composer Hector Berlioz. It will be a wild ride through history, mathematics, and music, assuming almost no prior knowledge. Please join us. The talk will take place in Napier 201. Refreshments will be served at 4:15 in Napier 218.
What Classes Should I Take Next Semester?... Are you wondering what mathematics or computer science courses you should take next semester? Come hear all the interesting possibilities as the professors of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department introduce the courses they will be teaching! The presentations will be on Thursday, November 5 at 7:00pm in Napier 101. (Refreshments will be served starting at 6:45pm.)
Doing the Math (or CS) to Find the Good Jobs... Here's a link to a Wallstreet Journal article on job rankings which may be of interest to math and computer science students. The study, by CareerCast.com evaluated 200 professions to determine the best and worst according to five criteria inherent to every job: environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress.
HWS Students Compete in ACM Programming Contest... Two HWS team traveled to SUNY Fredonia on Saturday October 17th to compete in the Association for Computing Machinery computer programming contest. The team of Josh Davis, Rob Hendry, and Alex Kridler took home fourth place in the contest while the team of Nate Davidoff, Marcela Melara, and Franz Hahn tied for seventh place. The annual ACM contest required student teams to design and write computer programs to solve nine problems in five hours. The regional programming competition leads to the world finals held in Harbin, China in the spring. The teams are advised by Professors John Vaughn and Marc Corliss.
Naval Undersea Warfare Center... One of our former students, Colin Merrick, participated in the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Student Internship Program during the summer of 2008. He writes: "The link NUWC Student Internship Program is through URI since they have the government contract to hire students from colleges and universities. It is not just open to URI students. I did this internship last summer and it has now turned into a full time position. If students have any questions please feel free to pass along my email address. Also I am not sure what intern support could be used at our Sonar test range on Seneca Lake but if I hear of any thing I will past it along. This would be more for Physics students or Math students interested in signal processing." If you would like Colin's email address, contact Professor Mitchell.
News From Recent Grads... We've heard from a number of recent graduates from the Mathematics and Computer Science Department about their careers and continuing education:
- Carla Delucia '05 (Math) was awarded the Charles Jones Achievement Award, which is an award given to a financial aid professional who has been in the field for less than 3 years and has showed outstanding leadership to their school and to the profession. She also accepted a new job as an Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Babson College in Wellesley, MA.
- Jenn Zaleski '07 (Math) completed a Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Biostatistics at the University of Washington. She now works as a statistician for the USDA-NASS at the New England field office in Concord, NH. You can see one of her first reports on line .
- Colin Merrick '00 (Math) led the NY Yacht Club Team Silver Panda to a U.S. Team Champoinship in October, 2007. Merrick was a former assistant sailing coach for HWS and a three-time All-American ICYRA while a student.
- David Sugar '02 (CS) is now in his second year in the position of Helpdesk/Database Manager at The Boys' Latin School of Maryland (where he also attended high school).
- Brooke Atwood '07 (Math) has accepted a postion with ACE USA iInsurance Underwriter in Atlanta, GA. She worked for the summer at the Cornell-New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva assisting one of the researchers with data mining.
- Rick Beyer '07 (CS) has accepted a postion with Meditech in Framingham, MA. He starts the new position - programmer development - on September 17.
- Chris Hagar '07 (Math) is employed at a small niche company that does search engine optimization and analyzes Web services, with clients like Yahoo and AOL.
- Liane Gray '07 (CS) is now working as a programmer for SYSTRA in Lebanon, NH.
- Lindsay Brown '06 (Math) is teaching middle school mathematics in Mammoth Lakes, CA (beginning in August).
- Leya Tesmenitsky '04 (Math/Biochemistry) is finishing her masters in mathematics at Clarkson and will be going to the University of Buffalo for her PhD.
- Phil Fiero '06 (Math) has been hired as a Client Analyst at Health Dialog. He uses statisitics to analyze claim data and delivers the results to client healthcare companies. He works in Boston and Portland (ME).
- Pamaela Kirby '06 (Math and Chem) is working at Cato-Meridian High School (less than an hour from Geneva). Pamela teaches two sections of Regents chemistry with all of the labs that go with it as well as two classes of Chemistry in the Community.
- Amanda Allen '06 (Math) who was teaching 7th graders Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School in Maryland just had her first child in September.
- Mike Tien '06 has entered a Masters of Public Health program at the University of Southern California.
- Brian Lenihan '03 (CS) is currently working for the Florida Panthers (NHL) as a Video Editor and Music Director.
- Derrick Moore '05 (Math/Physics) is in his second year of Law School at Cornell University after working for a year at HWS as the Math Intern.
- Karl Brautigam '04 (CS) writes: "Back in April '07, I left NBC Universal to take an interactive marketing post at Warner Bros. Entertainment (part of Time Warner – they own everything from TMZ.com, Time Magazine, AOL, Sports Illustrated, Warner Bros., DC Comics/Mad Magazine, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, and many other media properties). In my new role (as an interactive marketing analyst), I handle all of the web site tracking/analytics for WB Pictures’ domestic theatrical films as well as overall digital research for the interactive marketing division."
- Dana Olanoff '99 (Math/Classics) who taught here from 2003 to 2005 is completing her Ph.D. in mathematics education at Syracuse University.
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