Applied Mathematics News

The Department of Math and Physics held the 17th Initiation of the Maryland Epsilon Chapter of Kappa Mu Epsilon (KME) National Mathematics Honors Society. KME was founded in 1931 to promote the interest of mathematics among undergraduate students. Qualifications for KME are based on a student’s ranking in their class, their performance in math classes, and the number of math classes they have taken. This year, 6 students and 1 faculty member were initiated into KME bringing the total number of KME members in our chapter to 190. Congratulations to the new members!

The Department of Math and Physics observed Pi Day (a little early since March 14 is during Spring Break) with pies (both pizza and dessert) and a rousing game of Pi Day Jeo-PI-rdy! Categories for this year’s game included “Pi Facts”, “Other Famous Numbers”, “Rhymes with Pi”, “Happy Pi Day”, and “Pi Incorporated”.

The SU Student Chapter of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) held an informational meeting to introduce the organization and its purpose to potential new members.  We discussed our activities for the semester and took nominations for all officer positions.  We had a large group that gathered to discuss math and what our group would like to do going forward and will plan on holding more events in the Fall. The officers include:

President: Becky Go

Vice President: Elin Lindstrom

Secretary: Amy Agreda

Treasurer: Sarah Blankenship

Applied Math major Jay Whitmon presented his S3RP Summer Research (conducted with faculty member Dr. Ben Wilson), “Information Theory Through Games: Optimizing Shut the Box” at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Francisco, CA. The JMM is touted as the “largest math meeting in the world” and brings mathmaticitians at all levels together to discuss math. Dr. Mark Branson also attended and presented “Math for the People: A Collaborative Quantitative Justice Textbook for Non-STEM Students” during a Special Session on Quantitative Justice.

We were also happy to see SU alum Luna Huynh in attendance to discuss research and her experience in grad school at San Diego State University.

The Department of Mathematics and Physics proudly hosted the much-anticipated Escape Room 2023. This was the fifth Escape Room created and run by faculty in the department and the second room designed by Professors Amy Tucker and Ben Wilson.

Open to all Stevenson students, faculty, and staff, the Escape Room provided an exciting opportunity for the community to partake in a thrilling game in which participants found themselves “locked” in a room, challenged to unravel a series of puzzles and riddles using elements within the space to make their “escape” within a designated time limit.

This year’s theme transported participants to the undersea lab of Dr. Gustav Fechner. A total of 85 participants on 20 teams attempted the room. This included 58 students on 13 teams and 27 faculty/staff on 7 teams. The winning student team, comprised of Alyssa O’Kelley, D’annccie Thurston, Cedar Brown, Miriam Walton, and Clare Oshman (pictured above from left to right) will have their names added to the Escape Room Champions plaque which hangs outside of MAC S150.