Applied Mathematics + Computer Engineering = 2x Experiences

Image of Drew Rosales, applied mathematics major at Michigan Tech
Drew Rosales

What to do if you’re a computer engineering major and have plenty of math credits from high school?

If you’re Drew Rosales, you add an applied mathematics major, Blue Marble Enterprise, use your love of coding to help a PhD student conduct his research, and co-op for 10 to 15 hours a week. This Husky knows all about personal and professional exponential growth!
Drew is from Ann Arbor. He chose Michigan Tech because he relished the chance to try something different, get away from his hometown with a few friends, and be more independent. Experience a different part of the world. Drew likes the personable campus and class sizes. “I love the level of bonding here,” he says. “It’s not cutthroat.”

Drew has always enjoyed the engineering process. He’s been competing in Vex Robotics
since middle school, programming and building robots to perform tasks. He’s always been interested in mathematics. Coursework in linear algebra and differential equations helped him to better understand how space and time functions worked and how they relate to the world around us. He found he could use math to describe how objects move through the air and how different variables like drag and torque impact the robots he worked with. The robot improved through increased knowledge of how to manipulate sensor data and control algorithms — a great intersection between math, computer science, and physics. Applied math seemed like a perfect addition to computer engineering. Looking at the influence of mathematical techniques on computer algorithms added excitement to Drew’s studies.

One of his favorite courses is numerical partial differential equations (NPDE). He worked with a group to make a finite element analysis (FEA) tool to create a virtual mesh around a real-world product. The mesh allows the group to use math to show how different forces might impact the product. For example, think about a bridge subject to stressors like winds, tides, and weight-bearing. The tool makes it possible to select the optimal designs and materials for essential project specifications and conditions well before production.

“In NPDE I gained insight into how to use the tool and work with group members. It really was a point at which my two worlds of coding and mathematics (came together).”

Drew Rosales, 2022, double major in applied and computational mathematics and computer engineering

“Research is fun,” says Drew, who’s grateful he’s been able to acquire valuable research experience as an undergrad. He enjoys writing code to support PhD student Praveen Hettige and Professor Ben Ong’s research to find structure in data using Geometric Multi-Resolution Analysis (GMRA). Drew reads academic papers — an art in itself — on GMRA, which is an approach for taking large amounts of high dimensional data and approximating it using affine hyperplanes (think line segments used to approximate a curve) enabling the data to be more easily stored and accessed. He grapples with challenges like creating data representations that can be easily interpreted as well as streamable and applicable to different scientific and engineering domains.

Praveen says Drew is a fast learner who’s up to the task. “In order to complete the coding parts, it’s necessary to have a basic understanding of the theoretical concepts about my research topic,” said the PhD student, who completed his master’s work in statistics at Michigan Tech. “ caught up with those concepts quickly.”

The research is aimed at taking data efficiently in smaller quantities instead of one big dump. Doing so makes it easier to process and analyze the information, reducing computation time and allowing data-based decisions to be made much faster and more efficiently.

Working on Real-World Projects with Michigan Tech Enterprise

Image of Drew Rosales working with the Blue Marble Security Enterprise team
Drew (far left) works with his Blue Marble Security project team


Drew is also a member of Michigan Tech’s Enterprise program, serving as president of Blue Marble Security, a virtual company focused on industry-sponsored R&D and commercial product development including security, the environment, and industrial process control. The team is currently involved in seven multi-disciplinary projects, from smart tow capability for the US Navy to vision sensing for General Motors. In addition to his leadership role, Drew is doing coding and engineering work for the Navy project. Drew’s presidential duties include making sure the teams are progressing in their projects and have the resources they need to be successful. He assists teams in assessing timelines and tasks, is the point person for check-ins with Glen Archer, project sponsors, and keeps the Board informed. “Blue Marble has been instrumental in building my leadership skills. I have to assess how the team is doing and determine how to respond,” Drew says.

Archer goes a bit farther in assessing Drew’s skill. “One of Drew’s strengths that I have come to really appreciate is his calm approach to events around him. He is pretty much imperturbable. Drew is also resolute in his pursuits. He has risen steadily from a project engineer to project manager to the most senior leader in the organization. “

“It’s a pleasure to work with him because I know that if I ask him to do something, he will ask the questions he needs answered in order to do a good job. Once he has the answers, he will not fail to complete the task.”

Glen Archer, Interim Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Blue Marble Security Enterprise Advisor
Image of the Blue Marble Security Enterprise team
Blue Marble Security Enterprise Team, with Drew Rosales standing next to Glen Archer in the lower left.

A Co-op with Caterpillar Builds Skills and Confidence


In addition to classes, research, and Enterprise, Drew works as a co-op student for Caterpillar for 10 to 15 hours per week, a stellar addition to his engineering portfolio. His primary role has been to develop software for engine system sensors and to integrate the sensors into existing software. Drew conducts simulation testing on software for engines, validating that an engine reaches fuel efficiency guidelines and standards. The software allows Caterpillar to validate engine functionality before producing an engine en masse.

The work he’s put into presentation skills during his co-op has built confidence as well as a vision of what a bright future looks like. “I’ve learned more about how a full-time job works, how to work with others in a corporate setting, and what is expected of me on the job,” Drew says. “In addition, I have learned how to prepare myself while in college, building the skill set I need to be successful in my future career.”

Q&A on Drew’s Past, Present, and Future


Q: What have you learned about yourself and what advice would you give your high school self now?

DR: A lot of the time I see myself working on a task that might seem irrelevant or boring and tedious at the time, but it does come together, in the end, to be important. In college, with everything I have done, I’ve gained the ability to think about how to get better. Where are the gaps in knowledge I need to fill in and how do I go about doing it? It goes back to the dualities I’ve encountered between math and engineering, industry, and research. How can I grow and find value out of present and future opportunities? How does this influence what I find interesting and learned thus far?

Before college, I was more shy. Not as well-spoken. I always felt things would come together and fall into my lap. College helped me to see that I needed to be proactive, take initiative and make things happen. That breeds confidence. You would be surprised with the opportunities that you come across through networking, being bold, and sticking to your passions.

Q: Where do you go from here?

DR: I’m switching to a research role this summer doing predictive modeling with autonomous vehicles and possibly putting my GMRA research experience into practice. I plan to continue working at the intersection of math and computer science and putting research into practice. Eventually, I hope to go to graduate school.

2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium

Join us in congratulating Drew Rosales for taking third place!

Undergraduate Research Symposium took place on Friday March 25, 2022 at the Rozsa Lobby. The undergraduate students were able to present posters describing completed or ongoing research, receive feedback from distinguished judges, and learn from the experience.

Drew is double majoring in Computer Engineering and Mathematics. He is research is under supervision of Dr. Benjamin Ong. The presented work entitled “Incremental Geometric Multi-Resolution Analysis”.

What a great experience, and once again congratulations on your hard work!

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

2021 Mathematical Sciences Christmas Cookie Decorating! Happy Holidays!

For many, the holiday season is a time of greetings and gathering with loved ones and friends. Here at MTU we encourage our students to gather together all year and make new and life long memories. Our Mathematical Science students held an event of cookie decorating for the holidays. The students have worked very hard this semester and we are ever so proud of them. We wish you all a safe Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

“Most cherished moments happen when friends and family get together.” -Unknown

Let it Shine! 3-Minute Thesis Competition

Hello everyone!

We were honored to have two of our PhD students Yasasya Batugedara Mohottalalage and Yue(Emily) Kang compete in the 3-Minute Thesis Competition on November 4, 2021. This is such awe-inspiring experience and accomplishment for our students.

Yue(Emily) Kang

PhD student majoring in Applied Math under the supervision of Dr. Yang. Yue(Emily) current research focus is on developing Bound-preserving discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods for the coupled system of compressible miscible displacement problems.

Presented research was ‘Designing Numerical Solvers for Simulating Flows in Fractured Porous Media’.

Abstract: Numerical simulation of fluid flow in fractured porous media is of great significance for improving oil recovery in naturally fractured reservoirs, contaminant transport in fractured rocks and underground radioactive waste reservoirs. One more application is carbon capture and storage. Fractures have always been regarded as potential storage space for CO2. Since fractures have low storage and high permeability values which could allow CO2 to migrate quickly through the cap rock to the surface or to neighboring aquifers. The increasing pressure can lead to hydro fracturing in the vicinity of wells. Referring to the numerical experiment results from Dr. Yang, the concentration of flows shows very good performance with some given speeds. Her further research is aimed at developing more efficient and robust numerical solvers for simulating flows in fractured porous media.

Yue(Emily) would like state her appreciation to Dr. Yang and Mr. Jacob Blazejewski for their efforts in helping her prepare the presentation.

She made it to the finals and was awarded the People’s Choice Award. Such an amazing experience and so very impressive to do this in just 3-minutes.

Yasasya Batugedara Mohottalalage

PhD student majoring in Applied Math under the supervision of Dr. Labovsky. Presented research which was published with Dr. Labovsky and Kyle Schwiebert. The topic was “Higher Temporal Accuracy for LES-C Turbulent Models”.

Abstract: Large Eddy Simulations(LES) are widely used in modeling turbulent flows. In Labovsky(2020), a method called Large Eddy Simulation with Correction (LES-C) was proposed to reduce the modeling error. However, there was a need to reduce the Time discretization error of the LES-C models. Therefore, we propose a method that uses a predictor-corrector scheme called Deferred correction to reduce the Time discretization error.

“Mathematics is an area which is hard to present to general public without any technical jargon. Therefore, it is a challenge to present any math topic to general public in three minutes. Even though I was unable to get selected to the finals, I gained a wonderful experience by participating. Therefore, I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Labovsky for constant advice and support, Mr. Jacob Blazejewski for guiding and mentoring me for the 3-Minute Thesis Competition, as well as Emily Kang and Zazil Santiso Huerta for their help.”

Yasasya Batugedara

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

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.