Because we've chosen to
distribute this update by e-mail, several computer science
and math alumni may not receive it due to out-of-date e-mail
addresses. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone
who might be interested!
Sunday, May 6th marked the end of yet
another successful year at Coe College. The Department
of Mathematical Sciences is proud to have six Math majors
and four minors complete their courses of study, along with
one Computer Science major. Aside
from our new alumni, we've had many noteworthy changes
in the department recently.
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Stuart Hall |
Stuart Hall
In the fall of 2006, the Mathematical Sciences Department left
Hickok Hall, its home of almost forty years, and moved to
the third floor of a newly renovated Stuart Hall. Built
with the math faculty's suggestions in mind, the change
renewed the department's sense of community and improved
communication among faculty and students.
The Perks of Stuart
Two mathematically equipped computer labs serve as student
resources, offering specialty software including Maple, Mathematica,
Minitab, MathType, and Geometry Explorer. Each classroom
is equipped with white boards, chalk boards (we rescued Stuart's
old original slate boards), electronic projectors, and computers.
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| SCRiMP 2007 students working in the Lindsay Lounge. |
The department's most valuable improvement,
fondly titled "The
Lindsay Lounge," is located in the new Mathematical Sciences
suite. Named in honor of beloved longtime Coe math professor
Charles Lindsay and his wife Phyllis, this area (equipped with
couches, chairs, tables, and computers) offers an inviting
environment for math and computer science students to work
and converse. Faculty offices surround the lounge so
as to promote student/faculty interaction, and a kitchenette
offers much-needed caffeinated beverages. Stuart is a
great new home.
The Lindsay Seminar
The Lindsay Seminar is a new program at Coe, instituted in
the fall of 2005. The seminar gives some of the most
promising entering potential math majors a chance to experience
mathematics as a creative endeavor, where conjectures and
verifications take the place of routine computations. The
work is collaborative and discovery-based - rather
than being shown how to work things out, the students figure
it out for themselves and explain their thinking to each
other. The program has already been extremely successful
in attracting outstanding students to Coe and to the math
major, and we look forward to its growth in the future.
Math Enrollment Explosion
We don't know if it's the deluxe new accommodations
in Stuart, the brilliant students Coe has been attracting over
the last few years, or some other lurking variable, but enrollments
in math classes have been swelling. This spring our
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics course (a new mid-level
transition-to-proofs course added to the curriculum in 2005)
overflowed its enrollment cap of 21, registering a total of
32 students. We divided the class into two sections to
provide the sort of individual attention that characterizes
upper-division classes at Coe, and we're back to the
drawing board trying to plan what to do with all these great
students in the future.
Foundations isn't the only class seeing record enrollment. Real
Analysis last fall had 20 students, Complex Analysis this spring
had 17, and the upper-division Probability & Statistics
class has 21 registered for next fall.
SCRiMP
SCRiMP (or Summer Coe Research in Mathematics Project) is a
new summer research opportunity for students interested in
experiencing mathematical research firsthand. The research
focuses on topics in combinatorial game theory, which is
ideal for undergraduate research because of its elementary
foundations and engaging questions. SCRiMP debuted
in the summer of 2006 and involved half a dozen math and
CS students.
This summer, eight students will continue
the old and begin new research. SCRiMP 2007 will focus
on the game of Cram, where two players take turns placing
dominos on an n by m grid
until no room is left, and several variations. We'll
let you know what we find out in a future newsletter!
Undergrad Achievements
- Jill Steffen ('08) is participating
in the Mathematics Summer Employment Program in Washington
D.C. where she will be working at the National Security
Agency on crypto-mathematical assignments of national
importance.
- Greg Ongie ('08) will be
at the University of Iowa participating in their new
summer math Research Experiences for Undergraduates program,
funded by the National Science Foundation.
- Thomas Britton ('09) is
participating in the National Institute of Standards
and Technology Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
- For the first time since 1989,
Coe sent two students to present at the annual meeting
of the Iowa section of the Mathematical Association of
America. On April
14th, Evan Jones presented his research titled "Hex
Play: Do Board Modifications Make a Difference in Game
Outcome?" and Thomas Britton presented work on the
Dots and Lines game. Both presentations grew out
of the SCRiMP 2006 effort. No other institution in
the state had as many undergraduate presentations, and
we look forward to continuing that pattern in the future.
Faculty Notes
- Professor Kent Herron made
it back from his sabbatical trip just in time for
commencement this spring. He
traveled to Australia and New Zealand to develop additional
materials related to the development and use of the
first atomic bombs, one of the key features of his
first-year seminar.
- Professor Terry Hostetler
will be supervising Andre Mitchell ('09) in CS research
this summer on "Automated
Movement of Pedestrians", funded by a Pochobradsky
grant from Coe.
- Professor Cal Van Niewaal
will be on sabbatical next fall, with several projects
to occupy his time. Among
other things, he plans to develop a Robotics course
as an upper-level CS elective, and to teach Linear
Algebra at Cornell - we'll wait eagerly
to hear how the students there compare to ours!
-
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| Professor White with his new daughter Anika. |
Assistant Professor Jon White is splitting his time
this summer between supervising SCRiMP and playing
with his baby daughter Anika, born March 23rd.
- Associate Professor Gavin Cross
is planning for a sabbatical in the spring of 2008,
with his main efforts devoted to updating the electronic
components of the Basic Stats course.
The Department of Mathematical Sciences Alumni
Survey
So, what have you been up to since
leaving Coe? The
truth is, we haven't been keeping up with all of our
alumni nearly as well as we should. One effort we plan
to make toward remedying that is an online alumni survey
- look for the invitation to participate in your inbox within
the next week. Your participation is very important,
because some other Iowa colleges have been making extravagant
claims about the success of their graduates, and we expect
the actual evidence to show that Coe grads do extremely well
against all competition. It's only a small step
toward staying in touch, but we really look forward to hearing
from you!
This Newsletter
Obviously
the most recent news in the department is this newsletter
itself. We think it's a good idea,
but we don't know if you do –  get
in touch if you like it, hate it, or have ideas. We
expect to produce at least one or two issues each year, but
that depends partly on response. This first issue leaned
a bit toward the math side of the department, so we'll
try to give computer science and statistics their due in
the near future too. Let
us know what you think!
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