Mathematical Sciences Blog

Let it Shine! 3-Minute Thesis Competition

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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.

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GSG Merit Awards – Winners Announced

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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!

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Call for Applications: Songer Research Award for Human Health Research

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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.

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Copper Country Math Circle Spring Session

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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.

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Copper Country Math Circle

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Little child in front of huge blackboardThe College of Sciences and Arts Dean’s Office is partnering with the Copper Country Intermediate School District to launch the Copper Country Math Circle.

Students in grades 2-5 who are excited about mathematics are invited to attend. The first meeting is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in Room 243 of the Opie Library. Meetings will be held one Thursday evening per month thereafter.

David Hemmer, CSA dean and professor of mathematical sciences, will host the event, assisted by Michigan Tech graduate student Rachel Ledebuhr.

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. More information including registration is available online.

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CTL Instructional Presentation Series: Cécile Piret, 2018 Innovative and Out of Class Teaching Award Recipient

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Cecile PiretIn the second presentation of our fall award series, Cécile Piret (Math), will discuss her use of 3-D printing techniques to visualize multivariable functions in teaching Calculus 3, titled “3-D Printing for Mathematics Education.” Her innovative approach has illustrated mathematical concepts that can be studied in unique and practical ways and was recognized as part of the Dean’s Teaching Showcase. Piret will present from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11.

Formal recognition of this award for Innovative and Out of Class Teaching will follow her presentation. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how you might innovate your own teaching and recognize Cécile’s success. Coffee and light refreshments will be provided to those who register by Monday, Oct 8.

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Trefethen to Deliver Kliakhandler Lectures

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Nick Trefethen
Photo by Sara Kerens

Nick Trefethen, professor of numerical analysis at Oxford University and Global Distinguished Professor at New York University, will deliver the fourth-annual Kliakhandler Public Lecture at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, in Dow 641. The title of his lecture is “The Mathematics of the Faraday Cage.”

Trefethen has received many honors for his research in Numerical Analysis: Fellow of the Royal Society, Member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Gold Medal from the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (UK), the Naylor Prize from the London Mathematical Society, etc. He is also past-president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. His previous lecture at Michigan Tech, “Discrete or Continuous”, has the distinction of being perhaps the only standing-room-only mathematics lecture ever given at the University.

Trefethen describes his talk as follows: “Everybody has heard of the Faraday cage effect, in which a wire mesh does a good job of blocking electric fields and electromagnetic waves. Surely the mathematics of such a famous and useful phenomenon has been long ago worked out and written up in the textbooks? It seems to be not so, and indeed, one of the few treatments to be found in the textbooks, by Feynman, is incorrect. The shielding effect turns out to be not as simple as one might expect: it depends on the wires having finite radius. Nor is it as strong as one might imagine: it improves only linearly as the wire spacing decreases. This talk will explain how the Faraday cage works and tell the story of the surprises Jon Chapman, Dave Hewett and I encountered along the way.”

Everyone is invited.

Trefethen will also deliver a research colloquium to the Department of Mathematical Sciences at 4:05 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, in Fisher 138. The presentation is titled “Random functions, random ODEs, and Chebfun.”

What is a random function? What is noise? The standard answers are nonsmooth, defined pointwise via the Wiener process and Brownian motion. In the Chebfun project, we have found it more natural to work with smooth random functions defined by finite Fourier series with random coefficients. There are plenty of conceptual challenges in this subject, starting with the fact that white noise has infinite amplitude and infinite energy, a paradox that goes back in two different ways to Einstein in 1905.

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