MathFest Student Activities
MAA-PME STUDENT RECEPTION
Wednesday, July 30, 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
MATH JEOPARDY
John Harris, Furman University
Mike Berry, University of Tennessee
Mike Mossinghoff, Davidson College
Wednesday, July 30, 5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Answer: A fun undergraduate mathematics contest to lead off Mathfest.
Question: What is Mathematics Jeopardy?
Four teams of students will provide the questions to go with the mathematical answers in many categories. Come cheer for your favorite team. The session will be emceed by Mike Berry.
STUDENT HOSPITALITY CENTER
Coordinated by Richard and Araceli Neal
Hosted by the MAA Committee on Undergraduate Student Activities and Chapters
Thursday, July 31, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday, August 1, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 2, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
The Student Hospitality Center (SHC) provides a place for students and other MathFest attendees to meet for informal conversation, refreshments, and mathematical diversions. Programs for the MAA and Pi Mu Epsilon student paper sessions, packets for the MAA student presenters, and information on MathFest activities of interest to students are available in the SHC.
MAA LECTURE FOR STUDENTS
SUDOKU: QUESTIONS, VARIATIONS AND RESEARCH
Laura Taalman, James Madison University
Thursday, July 31, 1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
(See the Invited Address section for details).
MAA STUDENT PAPER SESSIONS
J. Lyn Miller, Slippery Rock University
John Hamman, Montgomery College
Thursday, July 31, 8:30 a.m. -10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Friday, August 1, 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Students who wish to present at the MAA Student Paper Sessions at MathFest 2008 in Madison, Wisconsin, must be sponsored by a faculty advisor familiar with the work to be presented. Some funding to cover costs (up to $600) for student presenters is available. At most one student from each institution or REU can receive full funding; additional such students may be funded at a lower rate. All presenters are expected to take full part in the meeting and attend indicated activities sponsored for students on all three days of the conference. More detailed information for the MAA Student Paper Sessions including travel grants will be available at www.maa.org/students/undergrad/. Abstracts submitted by Friday May 16th will be given preference for funding consideration.
Deadline for submitting abstracts is Friday June 13, 2008.
For help writing a good abstract read the following from the MAA:
http://www.maa.org/students/writing%20abstracts.pdf
PI MU EPSILON STUDENT PAPER SESSIONS
Angela Spalsbury, Youngstown State University
Thursday, July 31, 2:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Friday, August 1, 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
MAA UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ACTIVITIES SESSION
WHAT IS THE COLOR OF MY HAT?
Ezra (Bud) Brown, Virginia Tech
Friday, August 1, 1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
Games involving Hats are all the rage these days. In these games, hats of specified colors are placed on players’ heads. You can see the colors of some or all of the other player’s hats, but not your own. In general, the object is to guess your own hat color. In some games, you may only mention a color. In some games you may pass. Wrong guesses may or may not be penalized. Sometimes the players are not allowed to communicate with each other during the game. In each case, players meet in advance and plan a strategy that will allow some maximal number of players to correctly guess the colors of their hats.
During this session we will describe several Hat Games and the participants will act them out. Hats will be provided!
MAA UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ACTIVITIES SESSION:
MATHEMATICS IN FORENSICS
Dan Russell, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
Friday, August 1, 1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
When people think of forensic science, most people don't immediately think of the ever increasing role that mathematics plays in solving crimes. This presentation will focus on the many ways that mathematics impacts the forensic community and its ability to aid law enforcement in determining the actual events of a suspected criminal act.
PI MU EPSILON STUDENT BANQUET AND AWARDS CEREMONY
Friday, August 1, 6:00 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.
All PME members and their supporters are welcome. See the registration form for more information on this ticketed event.
PI MU EPSILON J. SUTHERLAND FRAME LECTURE:
THE SYMMETRIES OF THINGS
John H. Conway, Princeton University
Friday, August 1, 8:00 p.m. – 8:50 p.m.
"Thurston's Commandment," namely that "Thou shalt not understand the symmetries of a geometrical object save by studying its orbifold" was first used (in fact before Thurston) by Murray MacBeath to enumerate the distinct finite symmetry groups that are possible for objects in space of a most three dimensions (which had been enumerated in another way by Fedorov in the 19th century). The first part of the lecture will describe the resulting groups in terms of a notation I devised some time ago, that also applies to the celebrated 17 crystallographic plane groups. The second part will describe their 3-dimensional analogs, the 219 crystallographic space groups, which were re-enumerated recently by a new method due to Conway, Delgado-Friedrichs, Huson and Thurston. It's all easy, and there will be lots of pictures!
MAA ICE CREAM SOCIAL
Friday, August 1, 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Besides cake and ice cream, we will recognize all students who gave talks in the MAA Student paper sessions, and award prizes for the best of them. All are invited.
MAA MATHEMATICAL CONTEST IN MODELING (MCM) WINNERS
Ben Fusaro, Florida State University
Saturday, August 2, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
About 500 teams, each consisting of three undergraduates, took part in the 2008 MCM in February. The contest consists of two real(istic) scenarios (one discrete, one continuous) that call for analysis and resolution. The teams have four days to deal with the challenge during which time they may use or consult anything inanimate -- computers, libraries, the Web, etc. MAA judges choose one continuous and one discrete winner from the top contenders. The MAA subsidizes the teams' travel to MathFest, where they will present the results of their four-day challenge.
MATH HORIZONS - MEET THE EDITORS
Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Steve Abbott, Middlebury College
Bruce Torrence, Randolph-Macon College
In this informal session the co-editors elect of Math Horizons will be on hand to answer your questions and solicit your input regarding future directions for Math Horizons.
SPECIAL STUDENT SESSION
Saturday, August 2, 2:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Tim Pennings, Hope College
Do Dogs Know Calculus? Bifurcations at the Beach.
Featuring Tim Pennings of Hope College and his dog Elvis.
STUDENT PROBLEM SOLVING COMPETITION
Richard Neal, American Society for the Communication of Mathematics
Saturday, August 2, 2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
This event is the finals of the Problem Solving Competition. Universities and colleges that participate monthly on their own campuses by holding problem solving contests are invited to send a contestant. Each contestant will be required to solve a series of mathematical problems. Based on the outcome, a champion along with 2nd through 6th place winners will be named.
Special information for students can be found at MAA Online at http://www.maa.org and http://www.pme-math.org.
