Category: News

Copper Country Scholars Funded by Jerry Davison ‘66 and Wife Judy

Jerry and Judy Davison
Jerry and Judy Davison

Kids across the United States dream and aspire for things bigger than them, whether that’s wanting to be an astronaut, a lawyer, a cowboy, etc… It’s no different in the small towns of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; where, thanks to the influence of Tech, many dream of being computer scientists, engineers, and scientists. Michigan Tech alumnus Jerry Davison ‘66 and his wife Judy, just made it easier for those dreams to come true by establishing the Copper Country Scholars Endowed Scholarship Fund. The scholarship is open to hard-working students in science, engineering, math, and computer science with financial needs who have graduated from Copper Country schools and are currently attending Michigan Tech with a minimum 2.75 GPA.

Growing up in the Copper Country is rigorous and difficult. Rugged terrain, Superior’s gales, bone-chilling cold, plentiful snow, and isolation- conditions that prepare students for the rigor and difficulty of Michigan Tech coursework. Jerry (and Judy, a Michigan graduate) knows it well as a Yooper from Calumet, just 13 miles from campus.

Jerry’s parents instilled their hard-working, blue-collar values from an early age. He saw those values in action in the community around him. Additionally, he also saw how the community stayed together and supported each other. His family was connected to Tech. Like his sister, he worked in the business office at Michigan Tech. Their father worked in the Maintenance Department. Jerry earned $1.25 per hour to pay his college tuition, toiling hard and persevering until his graduation with a B.S. in Mathematics.

Jerry had always been drawn to the field of computers. However, during his time at Tech, there was no Computer Science degree program available. “I started off my career interviewing with communications, steel, and aerospace companies and The National Security Agency, but my career took me all over. I worked for many companies over the course of my career, including communications laboratories, a national laboratory, investment bank, insurance companies, hospital system; you name it. I was always hoping for a challenging new opportunity, never settling for the mundane,” said Davison.

Jerry’s values of hard work and determination helped him forge his own path; values he learned from his family and community. He recognizes the power of community members coming together to support each other. It is this recognition that drove him to establish the Copper Country Scholars Endowed Scholarship Fund. Jerry is hoping to give others like him the chance to forge their own path forward, achieve success, and give back to the community.

Jerry wants to emphasize that this scholarship is open for donations and remains nameless, keeping with the community’s spirit of coming together for a shared goal, rather than recognition or glamor. “I want this scholarship to be open to donations to make sure that we give back to those who come after us,” said Davison.

The Davisons’ contribution to Michigan Tech students is appreciated and has not gone unnoticed. “I am so grateful for Jerry and Judy’s generosity, which will allow more of our own Copper Country students to afford the world-class STEM education that Michigan Tech provides, and hopefully inspire many more alumni to contribute to this scholarship,” said David Hemmer, dean of the College of Sciences and Arts.

If you would like to contribute to the Copper Country Scholars Endowed Scholarship Fund or inquire about other opportunities, please contact Karin Van Dyke, Michigan Tech University, Director of Advancement, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931. Email: kvandyke@mtu.edu. Phone: 906-487-2464

“Always dislike the mundane” – Jerry Davison 

A Super Sweet Pi Day Celebration

Pi Day was celebrated in the Department of Mathematical Sciences on Tuesday, March 14 (3/14) at 1:59pm.

Are you starting to see a slight pattern here – 3.14159? Pi Day celebrations were held throughout the world on March 14 and we thought it would be fun to join in on the festivities.

As you probably already know, the Greek letter “Pi” is a mathematical symbol used to represent a constant. One of the most well known mathematical constants is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. So, in keeping with the mathematical related theme, pie was served!

Several members of the faculty, staff and student body in the math department joined together on Pi Day to chow down on their favorite variety of that sweet, circular treat – PIE. As a matter of fact, a total of 12.14159 different selections of pie adorned a conference table in the math lounge for sampling.

Additionally, undergrad math majors were invited to participate in a very irrational game of Pi Bee. Here, students tested their memory by recording as many digits of pi they could remember – unassisted.

Many entries were submitted, but there could be only one winner. Eli DeWitt (General Mathematics major) provided a heaping total of 43 correct and consecutive digits. His sweet reward for such an outstanding memory was a gift card to the Campus Book Store.

We look forward to the infinite possibilities for future celebrations. Check out our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086619613325 to see some of the other interesting events taking place in the department.

Xiaoqing Gao 3-Minute Thesis 2022

Xiaoqing Gao
Michigan Tech PhD student Xiaoqing Gao

We are honored in the Mathematical Sciences Department to have one of our PhD students Xiaoqing Gao compete in the 2022 3-Minute Thesis Competition. This is such awe-inspiring experience and accomplishment for our students.

What is 3MT?

The 3MT is an important international competition that aims at celebrating research conducted by doctoral and masters students. According to the University of Queensland, founder of the event, the 3MT “cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills”.

Participants have three minutes and a single static slide to effectively explain their research in a language that is appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

Xiaoqing Gao Awarded 1st Place

I am a PhD student majoring in Biostatistics under the supervision of Dr. Kui Zhang. The current research is focused on ‘Using LSTM machine learning method to do HLA imputation.’

Presented research is about using viral genomic sequences to predict human-infecting viruses.

Abstract: Covid-19 pandemic results in crucial modification in our lives. To prevent outburst of a new virus, it is essential to understand if a virus is capable of infecting humans. As the technology of genomic sequence detection is getting mature, it is efficient and consequential if we could analyze the virus characteristics and perform the prediction based on the given sequences. The goal of her paper is to predict if a virus is a zoonotic virus and evaluate the extent of the zoonotic virus.

Also, I would like to appreciate my advisor Dr. Kui Zhang for the guidance of this paper and my career. It is a great pleasure to study in this department.

-Xiaoqing Gao

Xiaoqing was awarded First Place in the competition. Such an amazing experience and so very impressive to do this in just 3-minutes.

If you see Xiaoqing please join me in congratulating on such a huge accomplishment! We are so proud of you.

Michigan Tech Hosts Copper Country Workshop on Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Data Sciences

CAMS and the Department of Mathematics successfully organized the Copper Country Workshop on Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Data Sciences, July 5-7, 2022 at Michigan Technological University. The goal of the workshop is to bring leading researchers to discuss the recent developments in applied mathematics, statistics, and data science, and build collaborations among the participants from different areas.

The workshop attracted 47 participants including faculty and students. There were 30 speakers from 19 universities including:

  • Auburn University
  • Brown University
  • Columbia University
  • The George Washington University
  • Iowa State University
  • Kansas State University
  • Michigan State University
  • Michigan Technological University
  • Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • Purdue University
  • Stevens Institute of Technology
  • University of Florida
  • University of Georgia
  • University of Michigan
  • University of Minnesota
  • University of Notre Dame
  • University of South Carolina
  • The University of Texas at San Antonio
  • York University

Sessions of note included:

  • High-Performance Spectral Methods for Scalable Graph Embedding and Robust Machine Learning by Zhuo Feng of Stevens Institute of Technology
  • Coupling Learning With Classical Computational Inversion by Kui Ren of Columbia University
  • Deterministic-Statistical Approach for Moving Sources With Sparse Partial Data by Yanfang Liu of The George Washington University
  • Learning Dirichlet-to-Neumann Maps From Randomly Sampled Points: A Consistency Result by Yang Yang of Michigan Technological University
  • Bayesian Hierarchical Modelling for Process Optimization by Min Wang of the University of Texas at San Antonio
  • Visualization of Mixed-featured Datasets by Fan Dai of Michigan Technological University

Visit the workshop website to see a list of all the session titles and speakers. To learn more about the Copper Country Workshop, please contact Michigan Tech’s Mathematical Sciences department chairperson Jiguang Sun.

Applied and Computational Mathematics Major Anthony Palmer Wins Best Poster at Computing [MTU] Showcase

Michigan Tech double major in applied and computational mathematics and physics, Anthony Palmer, along with computer science PhD candidate Elijah Cobb, won the best poster recently in the Computing [MTU] Showcase for “Universal Sensor Description Schema: An extensible metalanguage to support heterogenous, evolving sensor data.”

Learn more about their accomplishment.

Image of Anthony Palmer and Elijah Cobb with their poster at Michigan Tech’s Computing Showcase
Anthony Palmer (left) and Elijah Cobb present their poster at Michigan Tech’s Computing [MTU] Showcase

2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Award (SURF)

Join me in congratulating Maxwell James on receiving the 2022 SURF Award. Maxwell is a Statistics major mentored by Dr. Qiuying Sha.

The Pavlis Honor College selects a student whom they feel is best fit. The award grants the student a fellowship during summer semester. The student conducts a research project under the guidance of a Michigan Tech faculty mentor. Per the Pavlis Honor College this was a very competitive group of applicants. The selection of Maxwell is evidence to the preparation that went into his application materials.

We wish Maxwell the very best of luck on his research and future endeavors.

Statistical Consulting Service – CAMS

Statistical Free Consulting Service – (CAMS)

Center for Applied Mathematics and Statistics (CAMS) is pleased to announce the free statistical consulting service provided to the MTU research community. The main purpose of this service is to foster collaborations between the members of CAMS and the researchers from other centers/departments/colleges at MTU.

How the service will be provided: Due to Covid-19, the consulting services will be provided through the zoom meeting: https://michigantech.zoom.us/j/82599122506. At this stage, the consulting service is on a first-come, first-served basis, so just join the meeting and talk with the consultant.

What we do:

  • Help with experimental design (including power analysis and sample size determination).
  • Help with data analysis with appropriate and clean data sets.
  • Provide guidance and suggest statistical methods for data analysis and visualization.
  • Provide guidance on appropriate statistical language for manuscript.
  • It is expected that a further collaboration will be established after the initial consultation, resulting in joint manuscripts/publications/grant collaborations.

Date and Time: 4 to 5pm on every Tuesday and Wednesday from February 8th to April 27th 2022. There will be a faculty member from CAMS who will provide the consulting service during that hour.

4:00pm-5:00pm, Feb. 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23.

4:00pm-5:00pm, Mar. 1, 3, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30.

4:00pm-5:00pm, Apr. 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27.

Zoom Link: https://michigantech.zoom.us/j/82599122506

GSG Merit Awards – Winners Announced

This years awardees for the Graduate Student Government Merit Awards have been decided. A total of 88 nominations were received from departments all across campus. The decision process was not an easy one as there was a very strong pool of nominations this year. We are very grateful to all of our nominees for all of the work they put in to improve and enrich the life of our graduate students.

Without further ado, here are the award winners:

  • Exceptional Staff Member – Claire Wiitanen, Administrative Aide from the Physics Department
  • Exceptional Graduate Mentor – Victoria Bergvall, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Humanities
  • Exceptional Student Leader – Jacob Blazejewski, a PhD student from Mathematical Sciences
  • Exceptional Student Scholar – Nancy Henaku, a PhD student from Humanities

Congratulations to our winners and all you have done for our graduate students!

Call for Applications: Songer Research Award for Human Health Research

Matthew Songer, (Biological Sciences ’79) and Laura Songer (Biological Sciences ’80) have generously donated funds to the College of Sciences and Arts (CSA) to support a research project competition for undergraduate and graduate students.

Remembering their own eagerness to engage in research during their undergraduate years, the Songers established these awards to stimulate and encourage opportunities for original research by current Michigan Tech students. The College is extremely grateful for the Songers’ continuing interest in, and support of, Michigan Tech’s programs in human health and medicine.

Any Michigan Tech student interested in exploring a medically related question under the guidance of faculty in the College of Sciences and Arts may apply. Students majoring in any degree program in the college, including both traditional (i.e., biological sciences, kinesiology, chemistry) and nontraditional (i.e., physics, psychology, social science, bioethics, computer science, mathematics) programs related to human health may propose research projects connected to human health. 

Submit applications as a single PDF file to the Office of the College of Sciences and Arts by 4 p.m. Monday, March 30. Applications may be emailed to djhemmer@mtu.edu.

Read more about the Songer Research Award here.

Copper Country Math Circle Spring Session

Little child in front of huge blackboard

The College of Sciences and Arts (CSA) Dean’s Office is once again partnering with the Copper Country Intermediate School District to host the Copper Country Math Circle.

Students in grades two through five who are excited about mathematics are invited to attend. The first meeting of the Spring semester is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30. Meetings will be held one Thursday evening per month thereafter, including Feb. 20 and March-May dates TBA.

David Hemmer, CSA dean and professor of mathematical sciences, will host the event, together with Cindy Lysne. Math Circles are informal gatherings where students work on interesting problems or topics in mathematics.

Through problem-solving and interactive exploration, students develop an excitement and appreciation of mathematics. Math Circles are not intended to accelerate the traditional school curriculum, but to explore interesting topics not normally seen in the classroom. There is no charge, but registration is required. Students already registered for the Fall session do not need to reregister. New students may sign up using this form.