UW-Eau Claire math students receive grants to present research in San Francisco

RELEASED: Dec. 8, 2009

      EAU CLAIRE — Four math students from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are receiving travel grants from the Mathematical Association of America to present research results at the National Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Francisco in January. The conference is the largest gathering of mathematicians in America.
      Senior Kaitlyn Hellenbrand, Waunakee, who worked with faculty mentor Dr. Colleen Duffy, assistant professor of mathematics, will present her poster, "Polynomial Equations over Matrices." Junior Mark Bauer, Marshfield, and sophomore Hong Yang, Chippewa Falls, who worked with faculty mentor Dr. Simei Tong, associate professor of mathematics, will present a joint poster, "Optimizing the Evacuation of Hospitals Phase II." Senior Daniel Wackwitz, Green Bay, who worked with faculty mentor Dr. Michael Penkava, professor of mathematics, will present his poster, "Classification of Real Z_2-Graded Associative Algebras." Wackwitz also will give a presentation titled "Moduli Spaces of Low Dimensional Associative Algebras and Their Deformations." 
      "The UW-Eau Claire mathematics department is gaining a national reputation for excellence through outstanding faculty-student research efforts and sending students to national and international conferences," said Tong, noting that in the past two years UW-Eau Claire math majors won national awards in poster sections that included schools such as Yale, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
      A recent mathematics faculty position opening drew 550 applicants, and a substantial number of recent mathematics graduates are continuing their education in respected graduate schools throughout the country, said Tong.
      "It's an exciting time for our students and faculty," she said.
      For more information, contact Dr. Simei Tong at 715-836-3172 or tongs@uwec.edu.
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