The Vertical Integration of Industrial Mathematics, the WPI Experience
Abstract
The need for modeling and simulating emerging technologies, financial products, biological, or social phenomena has dramatically increased in the recent years and thus has substantially expanded the need for mathematically trained professionals. At the same time, reports concerning 4-year college and university undergraduate mathematics programs describe a drop in the number of mathematics bachelor’s degrees in the US. Thus, the need to find new ways to attract students to mathematics is a very real challenge for educators. Several authors show how industrial problems can be used to introduce new topics in mathematics, while others motivate the need to prepare students for jobs outside academia (Benkowski 1994). The recent SIAM Report (SIAM MII 2012)gives a clear picture of the mathematics used in industry.
Keywords
Leak Detection United Technology Faculty Advisor Industrial Project Industrial ProblemReferences
- Benkowski, S. (1994). Preparing for a job outside academia. Notices AMS, 41, 917–919.Google Scholar
- Berkey, D., & Vernescu, B. (2007). A model for vertical integration of real-world problems in mathematics, Proceedings of the 2007 ASEE Annual Conference.Google Scholar
- Campbell, P. B., Jolly, E., Hoey, L., Perlman, L. K. (2002). Upping the Numbers: Using Research-Based Decision Making to Increase Diversity in the Quatitative Disciplines, GE Fund.Google Scholar
- Carbonara, J., & Vernescu, B. (2013). Creating Tomorrow’s Mathematics Professionals, In Proceedings of the NPSMA Workshop, Niagara Falls, NY, October 11-13, 2011, COMAP.Google Scholar
- Chan, T.F. (2003). The mathematics doctorate: A time for change? Notices AMS, 50(8), 896–903.Google Scholar
- Davis, P.W. (1998). WPI hosts first in series of SIAM’s regional math in industry workshops, SIAM News, http://www.siam.org/siamnews/09-98/wpi.htm.
- Davis, P.W. (1999). WPI builds on industrial ties to create REU program, SIAM News, http://www.siam.org/news/news.php?id=772.
- Ewing, J. (2002). Graduate and postdoctoral mathematics education, American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI; http://www.ams.org/ewing/GradEducation.pdf.
- Fennema, E., & Leder, G. (1990) (Eds.). Mathematics and gender. Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
- Forman, S.L., & Steen, L.A. (1995). Mathematics for work and life. In I. M. Carl (Ed.), Seventy-five years of progress: Prospects for school mathematics (pp. 219–241). Reston, VA: NCTM.Google Scholar
- Friedman, A., & Litman, W. (1994). Industrial mathematics. A course in solving real-world problems. Philadelphia: SIAM.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Heinricher, A. C., & Vernescu, B. (2002). How can mathematics help—mathematicians at work today. Pythagorean Review, Mu Alpha Theta on-line Journal.Google Scholar
- Heinricher, A. C., & Weekes, S. L. (2007). Industrial Mathematics and Statistics Research for Undergraduates at WPI. In J. Gallian (Ed.), Proceedings of the Conference on Promoting Undergraduate Research in Mathematics, American Mathematical Society, 2007, 193–197.Google Scholar
- Lutzer, D.J., Maxwell, J.W., & Bodi, S.B. (2002). Statistical abstract of undergraduate programs in mathematical sciences in the United States, Fall 2000 CBMS Survey.Google Scholar
- MacCluer, C. (2000). Industrial mathematics. Modeling in Industry, Science and Government. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
- Moses, R., & Cobb, C. (2001). Radical equations: Civil rights from Mississippi to the Algebra project. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
- Sims, L. B. (2006). Professional Master’s Education, A CGS Guide to Establishing Programs, Council of Graduate Schools, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
- The SIAM Report on Mathematics in Industry (2012). Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Philadephia, Pennsylvania, http://www.siam.org/reports/mii/2012.
- Tobias, S., MacCluer, C., & Svetic, R. (2001). The Growth of the Professional Master's in Mathematics, Notices of the American Mathematical Society, May 2001.Google Scholar
- Vernescu, B., & Heinricher, A.C. (2000). Research experience for undergraduates in industrial mathematics and statistics at WPI, Proceedings of Summer Undergraduate Research Programs, AMS Conference.Google Scholar
- Wenglinsky, H. (2000). How Teaching Matters: Bringing the Classroom Back Into Discussions of Teacher Quality, ETS, October 2000.Google Scholar