Week of July 21, 2008 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Are you ready for RAGBRAI?
Thousands of bike riders will roll through campus and into Ames on Tuesday, July 22 for an overnight stay on the 2008 RAGBRAI route. Plan ahead for road closures, visitors and events. Find out how this will affect you.
This summer, Iowa State University is
host to the Institute
for Mathematics
and Its Applications (IMA) 2008 Participating Institutions Summer Program for Graduate Students. Close to 40 participants, representing nearly two dozen institutions from around the world, gathered to take
part in Linear Algebra and Applications.
We listened as five of them talked about their experiences here. Photo below, from left: Violeta Kovacev-Nikolic, Yanfei Jing, Ryan Walker, Elizabeth Bodine and Raphael Del Valle-Vega.
In her research at Washington State University, graduate student Elizabeth Bodine’s work centers on spectrally arbitrary zero-nonzero patterns over finite fields. So when the University of Wyoming’s Bryan Shader opened IMA PI’s Summer Program for Graduate Students by looking at the minimum rank of skew-symmetric matrices, Bodine was thrilled.
“During our small research group time, Dr. Shader had us looking at minimum rank problems in a different context than they have been studied in the past,” Bodine said. “It was different from my own research, but close enough to be useful.”
Bodine’s experience is precisely in line with IMA’s desire to expand and strengthen the talent base engaged in mathematical research.
It was a little over a year ago that the 2008 program organizers—ISU colleagues Leslie Hogben, Wolfgang Kliemann, Yiu Tung Poon and Jason Grout—learned that their proposal for a summer program for graduate students in linear algebra had been chosen by IMA for implementation this summer.
Bodine deeply appreciates their efforts. “This has been a fantastic opportunity to work with some really talented researchers and see how they approach problems, and what they try,” she said. And, while the first week was the closest to her own research, Bodine believes it has been good to explore other areas and become more well-rounded.
First year graduate student Ryan Walker, whose advisor at the University of Kentucky nominated him to participate in the summer workshop, is also pleased by the diversity of ideas afforded in this setting. From the perspective of a member in the early graduate school experience, Walker observed, “It is a great opportunity to see how the research process works.”
In addition to allowing him to explore a number of areas within linear algebra, Walker finds it exciting and energizing to hear professors talk about areas which they are passionate about.
“I am impressed with how well organized it is,” he said. “If they were to change anything, I think it would be nice if to include a mechanism that formally allowed more advanced students an opportunity to share what they are working on with newer students.”
Raphael Del Valle-Vega, from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, agrees that there is great value in interacting with other students around their research. “Even a small detail can make a difference in your own research,” he explained.
Del Valle-Vega, who plans research looking at quantum coding theory, found Dr. Chi-Kwong Li’s (College of William and Mary) background explanation of this area particularly helpful.
“It has been well put together,” he said of his second experience in an IMA summer program. Del Valle-Vega, who attended last year’s program at Texas A&M, returned this year because the topic so closely fit his proposed research.
So far in her masters’ program, Violeta Kovacev-Nikolic of Western Michigan University has taken numerical linear algebra and matrix algebra. She thought a workshop on linear algebra would be a great fit to follow those courses.
“The lectures have been interesting,” nodded Kovacev-Nikolic. With a smile, she added, “I have learned that there is so much more out there, and am beginning to understand how much more I need to learn.”
“Dr. David Watkins’ (Washington State University) session on numerical linear algebra has been closest to my own experience so far,” Kovacev-Nikolic said. “Getting information about the other areas will be a huge help in the future.”
If anything, this experience has made Kovacev-Nikolic thirst for more. “I would like to take a whole course in each area,” she acknowledged. “While it’s great to get a taste of each area, I actually prefer a slower pace with more details.”
Yanfei Jing traveled the furthest to participate.
Last year, Jing’s advisor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China invited Dr. Leslie Hogben to Chengdu. During Hogben’s time there, Jing learned about the upcoming Linear Algebra workshop, and decided to make his first visit to the United States.
It has been a worthwhile trip. “This is a good chance to meet so many good students and elegant professors,” he shared enthusiastically. “It is a good international communications experience. And there are so many interesting topics.”
Last week’s session, presented by Dr. David Watkins was very close to Jing’s own research direction.
“I am looking at solutions of linear equations,” Jing explained. “Dr. Watkins was looking at the solutions of eigenvalues, very similar.” And, Jing continued, “When he heard about my research, he encouraged me to share it with the group.”
Jing was nervous, but Watkins encouraged him, noting that he had the ability and technique to give representations in English. “It really helped my confidence,” Jing said. “Members of the group asked so many questions that it was very interesting for me. It was good to be able to communicate on the same level. And the students asked me to share my code.”
Jing has enjoyed his stay outside the classroom as well. “The weather has been beautiful,” he said. “It has been so simple to sleep here. I knew I must change my sleep habits because the hours are different. I love the environment around Friley Hall.”
Evenings and weekends have also allowed Yangei and others from the workshop to explore the community and make new friends.
As the ISU-hosted workshop enters its final week, students will be looking at applications of linear algebra to dynamical systems with Dr. Fritz Colonius, University of Augsberg.
The Institute for Mathematics and its Applications was established in 1982 by the National Science Foundation, as a result of a national competition. The primary mission of the IMA is to increase the impact of mathematics by fostering research of a truly interdisciplinary nature, linking mathematics of the highest caliber and important scientific and technological problems from other disciplines and industry. Allied with this mission, the IMA also aims to expand and strengthen the talent base engaged in mathematical research applied to or relevant to such problems.
Hub reopens today: Enjoy $1 off espresso drinks and other re-opening specials
The remodeled Hub, featuring Caribou Coffee, the Hub Grill and Cafe and vending, opens July 21. The north addition will be completed this fall. Caribou will offer coffee and other items, such as smoothies. The cafe will offer grilled items, made-to-order sandwiches, soups and prepackaged wraps, salads and sandwiches. Summer hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for Caribou Coffee, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the Hub Grill and Cafe.
