REU Site: Computational and Numerical Statistics and Mathematics (CaNSaM)

Oakland University, Rochester MI

Investigators

Abstract

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Oakland University will host an eight week REU summer research program, Computational and Numerical Statistics and Mathematics, CaNSaM, for undergraduate students. The goal is to provide talented under-represented minority students with research experience and training in the computational aspects of the mathematical sciences. Ten students with majors in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics will be recruited from Michigan and other areas of the United States. Each student will work under initial close supervision with one or more of the six faculty mentors in an area of computational mathematics (medical simulations, engineering modeling, routing problems, computational algebraic geometry) or statistics (high throughput screening analysis), leading to independent work by the end of the eight week period. Weekly informal discussion sessions with all participants and mentors will provide shared experiences and exposure to a wider range of problems with a computational focus. Each student will spend a significant portion of the first four weeks of the proposed eight week session in a class on scientific visualization. Each student participant will receive student memberships in the AMS, the MAA, SIAM, and where appropriate ASA. Students will engage in their own research projects, the scientific visualization course, weekly group meetings, special guest lectures and events aimed at eventual job placement, midterm and final oral presentations, a final written presentation and weekly social events. Students will construct a web site describing their project and results. CaNSaM offers undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in active numerical and computational research. The participants will gain insights and develop skills for identifying and solving problems that are amenable to computer simulation or solution. They will also develop visual, written, and oral skills in communicating mathematics and statistics. The kinds of close contacts developed in this program will be an incentive for participants' further study and eventual employment in mathematics or statistics. Participants in the program will become role models for underrepresented minorities to help encourage mathematically talented students to pursue careers in mathematics and statistics. Students in the program will be encouraged to make themselves visible in their respective communities.