More than 160 students, professors and professionals from universities and companies around the Southeast participated in the one-and-a-half-day Kennesaw Mountain Undergraduate Mathematics Conference Program and Abstracts over the weekend hosted in the Burruss Building.
Funded by a grant from the Mathematical Association of America, the conference helped build a stronger regional presence for the KSU mathematics program and allowed students a forum to present their research.
“Mathematics students, unlike those in the natural sciences, have not typically been encouraged to think that mathematical research is an undergraduate activity,” said KSU mathematics Professor Yuliya Babenko. “It not only puts us on the map and makes us known in the region, but really sets us as one of the leaders of undergraduate research involvement in the region.”
KSU Junior Mathematics and Statistics major Jordan Deitsch attended the conference and said it was fantastic to see math students and professors sharing ideas with each other.
“Michael Dorff, a professor from Brigham Young University, presented a lecture on Minimal Surfaces. Essentially, you can calculate and then visualize the minimal distance between points using soap bubbles,” Dietsch said.
Babenko said an important aspect of the conference was the career panel. Professionals in the fieldtook questions from students looking to enter the field of applied mathematics, statics and actuary.
“Many students have little understanding of a variety of careers open for math majors,” Babenko said. “In addition to regular talks, we had a career panel, where we had speakers from National Security Agency, CDC, Lockheed Martin and Amerigroup.”
KSU student McCade Smith said he gave a lecture on the “fundamental relationships between math and music, the appearance of Fibonacci series in various forms.” Other presenters included KSU professors Amanda Rollason and Tatiana Rudchenko, as well as KSU students Anna Reyes, Michael Thomas and Taylor Kindred.
“It was a wonderful introduction into the demystified field of mathematics and provided valuable opportunities and perspectives on future careers and pursuits in the field,” Smith said.
“I really think it’s a great opportunity for us to encourage more students to get involved,” said Babenko.
For more information visit the KSU Department of Mathematics and Statistics website at math.kennesaw.edu or visit the Mathematics and Statistics Building Room 243.
