April 24, 2008

Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition Results: Albion Finishes 6th, 7th, and 20th
The results of the Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition, held at Lawrence Tech on April 5, have arrived. Albion's top team of Carmen Weddell, Dennis Ross, and Jeremy Troisi finished in 6th place with a score of 41 points. Right behind them in a tie for 7th place were Chen Chen, Rachel Kamischke, and Lawrence Tech's Shaun Bentley with 40 pts. The team of Bin Cai and Qian Wang rounded out the Albion entries with 16 points, good for 20th place. Congratulations on a great showing! Calvin College took first place with a score of 65 points, followed by UM-Flint with 51 and Hope with 48. 31 teams from 12 Michigan colleges participated in the competition. The 2009 LMMC will be hosted by Albion College.

Kappa Mu Epsilon Announces Three New Members
The Albion Chapter (Michigan Alpha) of Kappa Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honor society, is pleased to announce its new members for 2008. New members are Mary Bizon, Whitney Patton, and Tim Rambo. KME members must complete at least three semesters of college and rank in the top 35% of their class; complete three college math courses, including at least one semester of calculus; and attain an average grade of 3.0 or better in all mathematics classes. Albion's chapter of KME was founded in 1937. Mark Bollman serves as corresponding secretary and advisor to the Albion chapter. Further information about the national organization is available at kappamuepsilon.org. Congratulations to the new KME members!

April 5, 2008

Seven Students Participate In Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition
The 32nd Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition was held at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield on Saturday, April 5. The LMMC is a team-oriented contest for undergraduate students from small colleges in Michigan, and consists of a three-hour exam taken by students in teams of 2 or 3. Albion is the 2007 LMMC champion, and seven students turned out early on a Saturday morning to defend our title and keep the Klein Kup in Albion. Taking the LMMC exam for Albion were (left to right) Rachel Kamischke, Dennis Ross, Carmen Weddell, Jeremy Troisi, Chen Chen, Bin Cai, and Qian Wang.

They were joined by LTU student Shaun Bentley, who filled out one of the three Albion entries to a three-person team. Mark Bollman coordinated the students' participation in this year's LMMC, which was written by Steve Maurer of Swarthmore College. Results of the competition are expected by the end of April. Albion College will host the 2009 competition.

April 4, 2008

Putnam Exam Results Released
The results of the 2007 Putnam Mathematics Competition have arrived. Albion's team successfully achieved our goal of positive scores for everyone. Carmen Weddell, Chen Chen, and Dennis Ross each scored 2, tying for 1724.5th out of 3753 participants this year. Jeremy Troisi took top honors among Albion participants with a 9, placing him in a tie for 1359th. The top score in the contest was 110. The team competition was won by Harvard.

March 26, 2008

Darren Mason's Research Published
Darren Mason's research was published in the paper "On Predicting Nucleation of Microcracks Due to Slip-Twin Interactions at Grain Boundaries in Duplex γ-TiAl" in the Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology. Darren's co-authors were T.R. Bieler, D. Kumar, and M.A. Crimp (all of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at Michigan State University), and P. Eisenlohr, F. Roters and D. Raabe (all of Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung — Düsseldorf, Germany). The official citation is J. Eng. Mater. Technol., 130 (2), 2008.

March 3, 2008

Dr. Nadiya Fink Receives Award
Visiting Assistant Professor Nadiya Fink was selected to receive the Togo Nishiura Award for outstanding achievement in the Graduate Program by the Wayne State University Department of Mathematics, where she earned her PhD in 2007. Congratulations to Dr. Fink!

February 27, 2008

David Anderson Speaks At Odd Topics Society Meeting
Professor David Anderson gave a talk "Hitting Herman on the High Seas" at the monthly meeting of the Albion College Odd Topics Society. In the talk, David gave an overview of the difficulties of accurate targeting of naval targets through WWII. Some challenges faced by fire-control systems include relative ship motion, wind velocity, the Coriolis effect, projectile drift due to rifling, and ship pitch and roll due to wave action. As continual advancements were made to control-fire systems, such as gyroscopic and gear-based computers, the firing range increased from several hundred yards to over 20 miles. The Albion College Beta chapter of the Odd Topics Society is sponsored by the Friends of the Albion College Library and meets monthly to provide a forum for individuals to share their more unusual interests with others.

February 23, 2008

Students Participate in Denison Spring Programming Contest

Rachel Spangle, Tim Rambo, and Justin Willbrandt work on solving one of six problems at the Denison Spring Programming Contest.

January 29, 2008

Lerew, '04, Featured in USA Today
Math major Annie Lerew, '04, was featured in yesterday's USA Today in an article about the country's shortage of quality math teachers. In the article, entitled "Making math pay: Good teachers appear when the price is right," Lerew explains that after graduating from Albion she had planned to be an actuary and pursue a path to wealth. She says she was not interested in teaching and the "life of poverty" it implies, but then she discovered the Math for America program, which is similar but unrelated to Teach for America. Math for America pays for participants to receive their master's degrees, and gives a $90,000 stipend over five years in addition to the public school salary. Before landing her job at the Bronx's Banana Kelly High School, Lerew earned her master's degree from Bard College, located 90 minutes north of New York City. Austin Lampros, a 2002 graduate who majored in math, also worked in the Math for America program. Lerew says this is a great program and would love to get more Albion graduates involved. A more complete story is available on the Albion College news website.

January 11, 2008

Department Purchases Calculators
The department has purchased ten new TI-84 Plus Silver Edition EZ-Spot model calculators for use by faculty and students. Six will be used by faculty in support of their courses and the remaining four will be available for student use in the library. Students will be able to check out a calculator for a two-hour block at the circulation desk, similar to the laptop checkout program. Introduced in 2004, the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition is a graphing calculator designed for use in mathematics courses such as pre-calculus and calculus. The EZ-Spot model has several features to help easily identify the calculator as an institutionally owned calculator, including a unique "school bus yellow" colored case and a faceplate inscribed with the words "School Property". This purchase was made possible by the generous financial support of alumni and other friends of the department. See our giving webpage to learn about ways you can support our departmental mission.

January 9, 2008

Welcome to Michael L. Robison
Welcome to Mr. Michael L. Robison, who is joining the department as a visiting instructor starting the Spring 2008 semester. In recent years, he has been running the Mathnasium learning center in Okemos, Michigan, a program for 2nd through 12th grade students to boost their math skills. He also has previous collegiate teaching experience at Grand Valley State University and Michigan State University. He is originally from south-central Michigan and earned his undergraduate degree in managerial and applied economics from Olivet College in 1997 (where he was a student of professor Mark Bollman). He received his master's degree in teaching mathematics from Michigan State University in 2001. Professionally he is interested in identifying alternative productive ways to serve mathematics students. He also has an interest in the connections among mathematical topics and relationships between mathematics and other academic topics.

January 8, 2008

Paul Anderson on Leave of Absence
Professor Paul Anderson is on a leave of absence for the next three semesters in the Department of Statistics and Probability at Michigan State University (MSU). He will be working on several research projects with former Albion professor Mark M. Meerschaert, who is now Professor and Chairperson of Statistics and Probability at MSU. Dr. Anderson will also develop his teaching skills by teaching several statistics courses in an environment very different from that at Albion. He will return to Albion for the Fall 2009 semester.

January 7, 2008

Paul Anderson's Research Published
Paul Anderson's research was published in the paper "Innovations algorithm asymptotics for periodically stationary time series with heavy tails" in the Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Volume 99, pages 94-116, January 2008. Paul's coauthors were Laimonis Kavalieris from the University of Otago and former Albion professor Mark M. Meerschaert now at Michigan State University.

December 1, 2007

Four Students Participate In Putnam Exam
The 68th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition was held at campus sites across North America on Saturday, December 1. Competing for Albion were seniors Dennis Ross, Jeremy Troisi, and Carmen Weddell; and freshman Chen Chen. The Putnam exam is a 12-question, 6-hour exam taken by students as individuals, and is known throughout the mathematical community as the world's most challenging math test. This year's questions may be found here. Mark Bollman organized and supervised the students' participation. Results of the exam are expected no later than the end of March 2008.

November 29, 2007

Mark Bollman Named As Consultant To MMSTLC
Mark Bollman has been named as a mathematics consultant on a team of 5 people working with the Michigan Mathematics and Science Teacher Leadership Collaborative. Mark will be working for the next two years with a team based at the Capital Area Science and Math Center in Clinton County, on projects designed to enhance middle grades mathematics and science teaching at high-need schools in mid-Michigan. He joins the team as its mathematics subject specialist; other team members are CASM director Julie Fick, Clinton County RESA mathematics consultant Denise Brady, Lansing Public Schools gifted and talented program director Mark Rudd, and Central Michigan University earth science professor Mark Francek. Twelve such teams, each based at a math/science center in Michigan, make up Cadre II of the MMSTLC program.

November 27, 2007

Students Place 9th and 15th in MATH Challenge
The results of the MATH Challenge have arrived. Albion's top team of Chen Chen and Jeremy Troisi tied for 9th place, scoring 42 pts. Dennis Ross, Elizabeth Jewell, and Carmen Weddell finished 15th, with a score of 33. Saginaw Valley State University won this year's MATH Challenge with a score of 63 on the 100-point test. 53 teams from small colleges across the greater Midwest competed in the 14th MATH Challenge.

November 11, 2007

Students compete at ACM-ICPC Regional Programming Contest
A team of three students from Albion competed with over one hundred other teams in the 2007 East Central North America Region Programming Contest. In the contest, students work in teams of three to solve eight problems in a five hour period. Teams are ranked by the number of solved problems, the time to solve problems, and the number of attempts. A solution is accepted by the judeges only if it meets strict guidelines and works on an extensive battery of unknown test data meeting the problem description. The competing teams came from 67 colleges and universities throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, eastern Ontario, and Indiana (excluding the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area). There were four contest sites: the University of Cincinnati Site in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA (30 teams from 16 schools), the University of Michigan Site in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (27 teams from 17 schools), the McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (27 teams from 14 schools), and the Youngstown University Site in Youngstown, Ohio, USA (32 teams from 20 schools). Albion's team traveled to the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan with professor David Reimann. The Albion Gold team (below) was comprised of junior computer science majors Kelly Behr and Christopher Moyle and senior mathematics major Dennis Ross. Final standings for the region are available at http://acm.ashland.edu/2007/standings.html. This contest was one of the many held as a part of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) program. Since 1970, the ICPC has provided a mechanism for students to demonstrate their skills in solving problems, programming and teamwork; In the 2006 ICPC, 6,099 teams from 1,756 universities in 82 countries competed at 205 sites worldwide.

November 3, 2007

Five Students Compete In MATH Challenge
The 14th annual Michigan Autumn Take-Home Challenge, held on Saturday, November 3, attracted a record number of entries: 62 teams from 22 colleges in 7 states. Two Albion teams participated: Chen Chen and Jeremy Troisi formed one team; the second consisted of Elizabeth Jewell, Dennis Ross, and Carmen Weddell. The MATH Challenge is a 10-question exam that students take in teams of 2 or 3 without outside assistance. This year's exam was written by Gerald Heuer of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Results of the MATH Challenge are expected by the end of the semester.

October 27, 2007

Students Take Second Place AT MUMC Math Games
During the Michigan Undergraduate Mathematics Conference held at Michigan State University on October 27, Elizabeth Jewell and Carmen Weddell represented Albion in the Math Games competition. The two students faced off against 10 other teams from Michigan colleges in a nine-problem contest, and finished tied for second place overall, trailing only a team from Michigan State. Elizabeth and Carmen received $50 gift certificates from Pearson Publishing in recognition of their excellent performance. Congratulations!

Carmen Weddell Receives Outstanding Paper Award At MUMC
Carmen Weddell presented her paper, "Group-Theoretic Implications of N-Tone Equal-Temperament Pitch Systems", at the Michigan Undergraduate Mathematics Conference on October 27 at Michigan State University. Her presentation was chosen as one of the four best student papers by faculty judges from across Michigan, and she was awarded a $25 prize from the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America. Carmen's research was sponsored by a grant from FURSCA this past summer; Mark Bollman served as her faculty advisor on this project.

October 19, 2007

Paul Anderson's Research Published
Paul Anderson's research was published in the paper Fourier-PARMA Models and Their Application to River Flows in the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, Volume 12, Issue 5, pages 462-472 (September/October 2007). Paul's coauthors were Yonas Gebeyehu Tesfaye and former Albion professor Mark M. Meerschaert.

August 31, 2007

Robert Messer Retires
Robert Messer has announced his retirement, effective August 31, 2007, and he has been granted emeritus status by the Board of Trustees. Bob joined Albion in 1981, after teaching at Vanderbilt University and Dartmouth College. Bob chaired the department for many years and was instrumental in the establishment of our Quantitative Skills Center. Bob has written a textbook on linear algebra, Linear Algebra: Gateway to Mathematics, and a book on topology, Topology Now!, recently published by the Mathematical Association of America. In the next few years, Bob plans on revising his linear algebra text, devloping a website for his topology book, and sitting in on some interesting courses offered by his colleagues at Albion. Congratulations to Bob as he enters this new phase in his life!

August 5, 2007

Cayley Pendergrass Participates in Project NExT Workshop
Cayley Pendergrass traveled to San Jose for her initial workshop as a Leitzel Fellow of Project NExt. Project NExT, developed by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), is a program intended for recent PhDs in mathematics. According to Joe Gallian, President of the MAA, it is a leadership training program for new faculty, readying fellows to play a significant role in the mathematical community. Mark Bollman was also involved in Project NExT in the years following his doctorate. The workshop was held as a part of Mathfest, the annual summer meeting of the MAA. Immediately preceding the workshop, Cayley Pendergrass traveled to San Diego to work with collaborators at the University of California, San Diego. This trip was funded by an Albion College Faculty Development Grant.

August 3, 2007

Welcome to David Anderson
Welcome to Dr. David Anderson, who is joining the deaprtment as a visiting assistant professor starting in the Fall of 2007. Last year he taught in Albion's Physics department during the 2006-07 academic year. He is originally from the upper midwest, earning his undergraduate degree in physics from Gustavus Adolphus College and his doctoral degree in physics from the College of William and Mary. His research is in the area of theoretical physics, in particular particles and fields. He also has a keen interest in military history.

July 31, 2007

Mark Bollman Reviews Math Doesn't Suck
Mark Bollman has published a review of Danica McKellar's Math Doesn't Suck on the Mathematical Association of America's MAA Reviews Web site. This book is intended to promote mathematics among middle school girls. While Mark admits that he has never been a part of that target audience, he nonetheless was impressed by the book, calling it "an imaginative look at middle school mathematics that shows every sign of success in its declared quest to help a reader 'survive middle school math without losing your mind or breaking a nail'".

July 30, 2007

Welcome to Nadiya Potsepun
Welcome to Dr. Nadiya Potsepun, who is joining Albion College as a visiting assistant professor starting in the Fall of 2007. She is originally from Ukraine, earning her bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics Dnipropetrovsk University. She recently completed her doctoral degree in mathematics from the Wayne State University. Her research is in the area of probability and stochastic processes and their applications in describing the long-run behavior of dynamical systems. In addition to her academic life, she was a competitive ballroom dancer for over ten years.

July 15, 2007

Cayley Pendergrass Researches the History of Cryptanalysis in England
Cayley Pendergrass traveled across the pond to interview Alan Turing's assistant from Bletchley Park, Jean Perrin. Bletchley Park was the first clear effort of governments to hire mathematicians to study cryptanalysis. After 50 years of secrecy, the existence of the project, its location, and its successes - including breaking the German Enigma cipher and building the world's first computer - have become declassified. This interview is part of a larger oral history video project in which Cayley would like to include student researchers (please contact her for more information). This trip was funded in part by an Albion College Faculty Development Grant.

June 20, 2007

Mark Bollman Leads At AP Calculus Reading In Kentucky
Mark Bollman served as a Table Leader at the 2007 Advanced Placement Calculus reading, held from June 12-19 in Louisville, Kentucky. As a table leader, Mark was part of a team of two who were jointly responsible for the performance of a room of 14 exam readers. His room contributed, along with 810 college and high school calculus teachers from 47 states, two U.S. territories, and several foreign countries, in scoring nearly 275,000 AB and BC Calculus exams. Mark is in his second year as a TL, following five years of service as a Reader.

June 19, 2007

Cayley Pendergrass Gives Talk at the University of New Brunswick
Cayley Pendergrass gave a talk entitled "Stably Just Infinite Rings" at the University of New Brunswick. The talk came just before a workshop on noncommutative geometry, which Cayley duly attended. The workshop brought together leading researchers in algebra, analysis, and theoretical physics to compare each discipline's own interpretation of noncommutative geometry and relevant work. This trip was sponsored by the University of New Brunswick, the Albion College Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, and an Albion College Faculty Development Grant.

June 15, 2007

Pendergrass awarded Project NExT Fellowship
Cayley Pendergrass was selected as a Project NExT Fellowship. Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a professional development program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences. It is designed to address issues of particular importance to new faculty such as: improving the teaching and learning of mathematics, engaging in research and scholarship, and participating in professional activities. It also provides the participants with a network of peers and mentors as they assume these responsibilities. She joins Mark Bollman and Troy VanAken as Albion College Project NExT fellows.

June 14, 2007

Harold Connamacher Gives Talk at CS1:Denison Workshop
Harold Connamacher gave a talk entitled "DrJava as an IDE for CS1" at the CS1 Workshop for Computer Science Faculty at Denison University. The workshop brought together faculty from several liberal arts colleges across the country to discuss best practices and new ideas for introducing computer science to majors and non-majors.

June 7, 2007

David Reimann Attends Chairs Workshop
David Reimann, chair of Albion's Mathematics and Computer Science department, attended a Workshop for Department/Division Chairs sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and held in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 5-7. The overall workshop theme was "Essential Tools for Leading the Academic Department." Specific Workshop topics included: best practices of experienced chairs, personnel issues, using data for program review, legal issues for departments, and working with the chief academic officer. The workshop provided an excellent forum for peer chairs to discuss academic leadership issues facing similar institutions across the country.

June 1, 2007

Cayley Pendergrass's Research Published
Cayley Pendergrass and co-author John Farina (University of California, San Diego) have published a paper in Communications in Algebra, titled "A Few Properties of Just Infinite Rings. " Rings are fundamental structures in algebra in which elements may be added, subtracted, multiplied, but not necessarily divided. The best example is the integers: a+b will always be an integer when a and b are integers; similarly, ab will also be an integer. However, 5/2 is not an integer. The paper examines what fundamental ring theoretic properties these structures must have if they satisfy the condition of being "just infinite." The full citation is Communications in Algebra, Volume 35, Issue 5, May 2007, pages 1703- 1707.

May 12, 2007

Congratulations to the Class of 2007
Albion College commencement was held to celebrate the graduation of the class of 2007. The following is a list of the Mathematics and Computer Science majors and minors from the class of 2007.

• Jenna E. Caponey, a Mathematics and Applied Music minor with a major in Music
• Crystal D. DeGroot, a Mathematics major
• Brian B. Dick, an Applied Mathematics minor with a Physics major
• Rachel F. Doherty, a Mathematics minor with a major in Psychology and Secondary Education certification
• Jessica L. Garrison, a Mathematics major with a Speech minor and Secondary Education certification
• Robert J. Hermanson, a dual Mathematics and Chemistry major
• Gabriel Ilko, a dual Computer Science and Economics & Management major
• AnnMarie K. Jasieniecki, a Mathematics minor with a major in Psychology and Secondary Education certification
• Andrew Lake, a dual Computer Science and Economics & Management major (December 2006)
• Sean P. Maloney, a dual Mathematics and Economics & Management major
• Lauren Paul, a daul Mathematics and Psychology major
• Daniel G. Putman, a dual Mathematics and Computer Science major
• Peter M. Shaw, a Mathematics major with Elementary Education certification
• Erica H. Stoney, a Mathematics major with Elementary Education certification
• Katherine Thomas, a Mathematics major with a Physical Education minor and Secondary Education certification
• Dustin J. Turner, a dual Mathematics and History major (December 2006)
• Shane D. Walton, an Applied Mathematics minor with a Physics major
• Mark A. Weismiller, a Mathematics minor with a dual major in Biology and Chemistry

May 8, 2007

Klein Kup Presented To Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition Champions
The Klein Kup, emblematic of success in the Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition, was presented to Albion's top-ranked team of (left to right) Carmen Weddell, Whitney Patton, and Jeremy Troisi.

May 4, 2007

Robert Messer Receives Michigan MAA Distinguished Service Award
Robert Messer received the 2007 Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). In their citation, they gratefully acknowledged Bob's long history of service and leadership to the Michigan Section and the larger mathematical community as an author and reviewer. They recognized Bob's service as director of the Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition (MMPC), Head Coach and co-founder of the Michigan All Star Mathematics Team, author of two textbooks (Linear Algebra: Gateway to Mathematics and Topology Now!), active participant in the national calculus reform project and Advanced Placement program, and consultant for the National Science Foundation. In addition to these activities, Bob served as department chair for many years and oversaw the establishment of our Quantitative Skills Center. Bob has been an active member of the MAA for 25 years.

Mark Bollman Elected Secretary/Treasurer of MAA's Michigan Section
At the annual meeting of the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America, held at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Mark Bollman was elected to a three-year term as secretary/treasurer. The MAA is the largest professional organization focused on mathematics accessible to undergraduate students. Mark has been a member of the MAA and the Michigan Section since 1989.

April 26, 2007

Students Recognized at Honors Convocation
Several mathematics and computer science students received awards at this year's honors convocation. Seniors Dustin Turner and Thomas Youle shared the E. R. Sleight Prize as the outstanding senior mathematics majors. Senior Andrew Lake was awarded the Ronald C. Fryxell Prize as the outstanding senior computer science major. Juniors Carmen Weddell and Dennis Ross shared the James R. Lancaster, Sr. Award as outstanding juniors who best exemplify the liberally educated mathematics or computer science student. The Louis R. Bragg and Mary Huemiller Bragg Scholarship recognizes students who have exhibited promise and achievement in their mathematical studies and is shared by Junior Carmen Weddell, Sophomore Jeremy Troisi, and Freshman Kathryn Wagner. The Ronald C. and Carol J. Fryxell Scholarship recognizes students who have exhibited promise and achievement in their study of computer science and is shared by sophomore Timothy Rambo and freshman Scott Keling. Congratulations to these outstanding students!

April 19, 2007

Science Complex Receives Silver Rating as a 'Green' Building
The science complex, home of Mathematics & Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and Physics, has been has been awarded Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) through their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The science complex, comprised of Kresge, Norris, Putnam, and Palenske Halls was recently renovated and expanded as part of a $41 Million project. Albion's science complex is Michigan's first large-scale science project to receive a silver or higher LEED rating, and only the third such science-related structure at a college or university in Michigan. In determining whether a building meets LEED standards, the USGBC examines performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. The USGBC is a coalition of 8,500 leaders from every sector of the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. The organization's core purpose is to "transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life," according to its web site. See http://www.albion.edu/ac_news/releases2006-07/sciencecomplexleed.asp for more details.

April 14, 2007

Dennis Ross Awarded FURSCA Summer Research Grant
Dennis Ross has been awarded a Summer Research Grant from Albion College's FURSCA. Dennis will working with faculty supervisor Harold Connamacher this summer studying the crossing number of complete bipartite graphs. The question is simple: if you have seven pins on opposite sides of a chip and you need to connect wires from each pin on one side to all the pins on the opposite side, how many times must the wires cross each other? However, the answer has eluded mathematicians for decades, and Dennis will explore whether a computer program can help model the problem and find the answer.

April 11, 2007

Albion Takes First Place In Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition
The results of the 31st Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition are in, and Albion's team of Whitney Patton, Jeremy Troisi, and Carmen Weddell took first place, which means that the Klein Kup will return to the Albion College campus. Albion's score on the 10-question exam was 72, putting them 2 points ahead of runner-up Calvin College. Kalamazoo College and Saginaw Valley State University tied for 3rd with 68 points. 35 teams from 12 Michigan colleges participated in this year's LMMC, which was hosted by Calvin College on Saturday, March 31. This is Albion's second LMMC victory; the 2004 team also took first place. Mark Bollman served as advisor to the math team this spring.

April 2007

Students Seek Internships
Do you know of any internship opportunities for students majoring in mathematics or computer science? Several of our mathematics and computer science students are seeking internships over the summer. These early career explorations can have a profound impact in their lives. If you are aware of any opportunities, please contact David Reimann (dreimann@albion.edu).