During the month of May, the Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics (SIAM) will be spotlighting Asian American and Pacific Islander mathematicians within our community for their contributions to applied mathematics and computational and data science! Learn more about Chao Chen, Edmond Chow, Mary Ann Leung, and Sherry Li, including their career paths and research!
The event will start at 3 PM at the Physics/Astronomy Auditorium (PAA) A110.
– Event is open to all!
Plenary talk followed by advice for early career mathematicians (3:30 – 4:30 PM):
Bianca Viray: The Interplay Between Geometry and Arithmetic
5-min lightning talks (3 – 3:30 PM, 4:30 – 5 PM):
Suh Young Choi: A Brief Life of Hypatia
Julie Curtis: The Integer Decomposition Property in Smooth Lattice Polytopes
Sara Ford: Locally Gentle Algebras
Be’eri Greenfeld: Noetherian Rings, Lie Algebras and Noncommutative Geometry: The Sierra-Walton Theorem
Kaitlynn Lilly: Numerical Riemann-Hilbert Approach to the Computation of Transform Pairs
Grace O’Brien: Graph Theory
Xiaowen Zhu: Mathematical Aspects of Topological Insulators and Moire Materials
Free food (After 5 PM)
This might happen inside or out at the Fritz Hedges Waterway Park depending on the weather. 
Curious about a career outside of academia? Have questions about how to prepare yourself for the future? Join the Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Industry Committee for this interactive small-group discussion. Find out whether a career in industry is right for you and get tips on how to set yourself up for success. Panelists will include members of the SIAM Industry Committee.
– REGISTER here to attend!
Are you feeling overwhelmed by how to network? Are you unsure how networking relates to career development in industry? SEBA’s upcoming panel discussion is designed to help you succeed in networking.
The meeting will feature a career development panel discussion with experts Bill (William) Mahoney (UW Graduate School and UW School of Medicine), Carlos Garcia Jurado Suarez (UW eScience Institute), Cheryl Ferguson (Recruiter/Career Coach), and Jessica Boze (Boeing). This panel discussion is designed to shed light on the importance of networking for considering a career in the industry, specifically Research & Development (R&D). Attendees will gain valuable insights and tips about networking and career development. 
Got career questions? Alumni have career answers! Whether you’re looking for inside info on a field you’re curious about or want the real story on what it’s like to live somewhere new, the UW Alumni Association can help you get connected to alumni who can help.
Students and alumni connecting over careers. Huskies@Work is a UWAA program that matches current UW students with alumni to discuss career journeys and job experiences in one-time, low-commitment online talks. Students receive insights and advice; alumni enjoy a chance to inspire the next generation of Huskies. Conversations happen twice each year, in May and November. Once alumni and students are matched, they arrange a time and format (in-person, video chat, phone) that works best for them.
– Frequently Asked Questions about Huskies@Work
– There is no limit to the number of times you can participate
– This program is free and open to all UW students & alumni
Co-hosted by the East Asia Center, the Taiwan Studies Program, the Center for Southeast Asia its Diasporas, and the Taiwan Graduate Student Association (TGSA), this public panel will feature different queer social movements, communities, and media representations in Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
Afterwards, from 5-6 pm in HUB 214, there will be an informal community dinner for graduate and undergraduate students who identify as queer and questioning international students. This community dinner will include the panelists from the earlier event and is co-hosted by the Center for International Relations & Cultural Leadership Exchange (CIRCLE), International Pride, and the Taiwan Graduate Student Association (TGSA).
There is a maximum capacity for this event, so RSVP by March 12!
UW Computational Neuroscience Center invites you to a public discussion and reading by Jared Moore and Anton Arkhipov of their recently published novels, which both explore ideas about AI.
– Discussion will be followed by a reception and book signing!
The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute invites you to a free film screening
of “Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience”, a film by George Csicsery. Hosted by the UW Departments of Applied Mathematics, Mathematics & Statistics.
RSVP Today!
6:00-7:00pm – Film Screening
7:00-7:30pm – Director Q&A with George Csicsery
7:30-8:30pm – Reception (Walker-Ames Room)
Join us live on Zoom to hear what research projects are being conducted in the Applied Math Department, in various research groups of Applied Mathematics (AMATH) and Computational Finance and Risk Management (CFRM). Four different speakers will be featured. Please bring your curiosity and questions!
Heather Wilber
Fields of Interest: Approximation Theory, Direct Solvers and Higher Order Methods for PDEs, Nonlinear Approximation Methods, Numerical Analysis, Numerical Linear Algebra, Scientific Computing
Bamdad Hosseini
-Fields of Interest: Applied Mathematics, Computational Methods, Data Science, Inverse Problems, Machine Learning, Numerical Analysis, Probability, Statistics
Megan Ebers
Fields of Interest: Dynamical Systems, Machine Learning, Reduced-Order Models
Aleksandr Aravkin
Fields of Interest:
– Convex and Variational Analysis, Algorithm Design and Implementation
– Robust Statistics, Machine learning, Data Science, Inverse Problems, Uncertainty Quantification
– Health Metrics, Tracking and Navigation, Seismic Imaging, Computational Finance, Neuroscience, Computational Medicine
the tech industry, how CSSS prepared him to work in data science and machine learning, and to lead Indeed’s Responsible AI team. Trey will discuss navigating non-academic careers in both boom times and lean times and also dive into some of the methodological specifics of what working in responsible AI entails.
– Zoom link –
Trey Causey completed his concentration in social statistics at CSSS while a PhD student in Sociology at UW. He currently is the Head of Responsible AI and Senior Director of Data Science at Indeed, the world’s #1 job site in the world and has worked at the intersection of statistics, data science, and machine learning in sports, at startups, and at large social media platforms.
The Industry Connection Series features interactive panels with mathematical scientists working in business, industry. The goal is to connect mathematical sciences students directly with industry members who can answer student-generated questions. Students at all levels are welcome and encouraged to attend and ask questions. Attend at this link!
Mathematicians working in the legislative branch of government:
Dr. Karen Saxe, Senior Vice President of the American Mathematical Society leading the Office of Government Relations
Dr. Courtney Gibbons, AAAS Science and Technology Fellow for the NSF and AAAS STP Fellow with the majority staff of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee of the United States Senate
Dr. AJ Stewart, policy advisor for the Office of Investment Security at the Department of Treasury.
Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Opportunities at UW in January 2024
Attendees do not have to identify as women to attend, but events will center the experiences of women in professional settings.
Upcoming WE Lead Events: Students should register to reserve a spot.
1/17/24: WE Lead Workshop: 7 Forms of Respect (HUB 332 1:30-3:30pm)
Those seeking to level up their communications skills in the new year should join WE Lead for an interactive, fast-paced, in-person workshop to help better understand, connect with, and improve communications with others in professional settings and beyond.
– Workshop hosted by Dr. Julie Pham and based on Dr. Pham’s Amazon best seller, 7 Forms of Respect: A Guide to Transforming Your Communication and Relationships at Work. Students must commit to attending the full workshop.
1/24/24: Entrepreneurial Women Athletes (Conibear Shellhouse, Rose Auditorium, 5-7pm)
Panel event featuring 4 panelists who were collegiate athletes and have since gone on to entre/intrapreneurial careers. Guest speakers will share the highs and lows of their careers, share advice, and more. Dinner will be served.
– Panelists: Laura Clise | Founder & CEO, Intentionalist (Carleton College Women’s Soccer & Tennis); Bailey Gordon | Photographer; Strength & Softball Coach (UW Softball); Sara Mosiman | Partner, Global Sports & Events (UW Women’s Basketball); Ingrid Russell-Narcisse | Senior Director, Partnership Strategy & Activation, Seattle Mariners (UW Women’s Basketball). Moderator: Falesha Johnson | Senior Director of Development, University of Washington; Founder, Felite Performance (UW Women’s Track & Field)
UW Career & Internship Center is launching a new program! Husky Lunch Network
Join UW alumni for free lunch and conversation on the Seattle campus. Explore how embracing your personal identities influences and informs your professional journey. The FREE themed lunches will be held each Thursday in February 2024 from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at a variety of locations on campus. Food will be provided. Topics are:
Feb. 1: Women of Color in STEM
Feb. 8: Men of Color in Entrepreneurship
Feb. 15: Navigating Life as Student Parent
Feb. 22: Trans and Out at Work
Feb. 29: First-Generation in Corporate America
– See speaker info, locations of lunches on campus, and REGISTER now!
The Industry Connection Series features interactive panels with mathematical scientists working in business, industry. The goal is to connect mathematical sciences students directly with industry members who can answer student-generated questions. Students at all levels are welcome and encouraged to attend and ask questions. Attend via this link!
Paul Romanelli, Managing Director and head of the Market and Counterparty Risk Analytics (MCRA) team at Wells Fargo
Tracey Tullie, head of the Model Performance Analytics and Monitoring team (MPAM) at Wells Fargo
Danielle Brager, a Business Intelligence Analyst at Nasdaq
The Q Center is looking to recruit mentors, mentees, and peer participants who are affiliated with UW as students, staff, faculty, and alumni for the Queer Mentorship and Peer Program (QMPP). QMPP is an evolving program that actively seeks to queer the idea of mentorship. Within QMPP, we aim to address the perception of power differences within traditional mentorship programs and create an affirming space for shared learning and respect. All mentorship and peer groups directly inform the shape and structure of their group. This program upholds the statement, “conversations over contracts.” Through this program, you can expect to:
• Get matched one-on-one with someone based on your shared identities and interests.
• Connect with your mentee on topics important to both of you, including but not limited to queer identity, intersecting identities, academics, and post-graduation life.
• Attend campus and community events and help to build your queer community.
Join us live on Zoom for a Q&A with our Applied Mathematics (AMATH) and Computational Finance and Risk Management (CFRM) graduate program advisors (and current grad students!) to learn about our different grad programs, the admissions process, degree requirements, and various perspectives on grad school life. Bring your curiosity and questions!
HELPFUL RESOURCES
– UW AMath/CFRM Master’s Programs
– Graduate Admissions
– FAQs
– Undergrad Majors Blog Post: “Considering Grad School? Where to Start?”
Application Deadlines for Autumn 2024 Start
– MS in Applied Mathematics (Campus): early Jan 2024
– MS in Applied & Computational Mathematics (Online): early July 2024
– MS in Applied & Computational Mathematics (Campus): early Jan 2024
– MS in Computational Finance (Campus): early Feb 2024
– MS in Computational Finance (Online): early May 2024
– PhD in Applied Mathematics (Campus): early Dec 2023 (priority) or early Jan 2024 (all applicants)
The Career & Internship Center and the UW Alumni Association are co-hosting a series of Alumni Panels throughout the 2023-24 academic year. Each panel discussion will start as a moderated panel, and then move into an open Q&A with the audience. Most of our sessions throughout the year will not be recorded, so we look forward to “seeing” our participants virtually, in real-time.
Seattle’s tech scene is home to many organizations that require a broad range of skill sets and roles to operate. If you’re interested in working within the technical industry, but you’re not in a technical major, join us as we hear and learn from University of Washington alums currently working in the tech industry.
Moderator: Sam Ridout ’14, Chief of Staff at Amazon
Panelists:
Julie Fergus ’22, Associate Finance Analyst at Google
Ryan Leung ’20, former Global Operations Manager at Microsoft
Roedah Mansour ’17, DEI Operations Program Manager at Meta
~ A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ~
– Explore opportunities in a similar field as your major, or other fields! Conducting research outside your major can allow you to think creatively and in new ways, both critical skills for scientific researchers.
– Ways to get involved in research:
1) Love your class? Talk to the professor about how to get involved in their research.
2) Explore the AMath Department faculty website to identify research happening in our department. When you contact faculty member, be sure to let them know what aspects of their research you find interesting, plus provide information about which class you took from them (if any) and other relevant coursework, as well as your skill set and any projects you’ve completed in the past.
3) Search current research projects listed in the UW Office of Undergraduate Research database. Be sure to attend an info session and/or schedule an appointment with an advisor.
4) Explore other UW departmental faculty lists and past Research Symposia presenters to identify potential mentors and topics you are interested in.
5) Students from any major can apply for a research project with a faculty mentor in the Washington eXperimental Mathematics Lab (WXML). Or apply for a project in the Washington Directed Reading Program (WDRP). Projects run every Autumn/ Winter/Spring quarters, and deadlines are usually before each quarter starts.
6) Apply for our Women in Applied Mathematics Mentorship Program (WAMM), where undergrads are matched with AMath graduate students on a research project held in Spring quarter.
7) Explore Summer Research Programs at UW and beyond UW.
8) Government agencies, like United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offer research opportunities.
9) Review the NSF–REU website, as well as Pathways to Science.
10) Check out the Math Alliance Mentored Reading Projects.
11) Check out the Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics (SIAM) list or the American Mathematical Society list of Research Experiences for Undergrads (REUs).
12) Reach out to experienced undergrad students to see what they’ve done and where they’ve worked or who they’ve worked with.
13) Email a professor from another university if you’re interested in their research. Projects and mentoring can be done remotely or through a temporary move.
– Consider timing of your project: Working on a project during the academic year may be difficult, due to coursework and other commitments. Summer research may be less stressful. But academic-year research does give you the opportunity to learn how to balance responsibilities!
– Sponsored Summer research programs can provide benefits like a community of scholars, workshops, stipends, and free housing.
– Consider your expectations for the project and your advisor/mentor: Computational projects may require more independence, whereas fieldwork or lab work may require more teamwork or supervision.
– Form a community with your research project peers: Discussing problems you face can be a good way to brainstorm solutions and receive support. It can also help you gain a broader perspective about what it’s like to work in that field.
– Be a strong advocate for yourself: Negotiate authorship on scientific publications, or be sure you’re recognized in paper acknowledgments or accredited in presentations. Your contributions are important and deserve to be acknowledged!
– Figure out how to talk about your research: Having an elevator pitch is a simple way to quickly communicate to people what work you’ve done.
– Was it not what you expected? Undergrad research experiences may be helpful in determining what fields of science you don’t want to pursue further.
– Transferable skills you gain through your research can help you market yourself for a new position. These can be tangible skills, but could also be “developing a strong work ethic” and “ability to adapt to new environments”.
~ THERE IS NO WRONG PATHWAY FOR AN ACADEMIC CAREER ~
AY 2022-2023: A total of 47 Applied Math graduates and 22 CFRM graduates
* Summer 2023: 1 AMATH graduate
* Spring 2023: 32 AMATH graduates and 13 CFRM graduates
* Winter 2023: 7 AMATH graduates and 7 CFRM graduates
* Autumn 2022: 7 AMATH graduates and 2 CFRM graduates
GOOD TO KNOW:
1) Please consider donating your gently used cap and/or gown to the AMath Department for loan to future graduates
– Academic attire for UW Commencement and typically worn to our Department event is pricey! We would like to loan it to future graduates for their special day. Contact Becky at amathadv(at)uw.edu, or just drop yours off in the Lewis Hall front office.
2) UW graduates can join Husky Landing, a powerful professional networking tool for the UW community (Students can join too!)
– Expand your network, participate in discussions, find a mentor, seek professional advice, and explore professional development resources.
3) Join the UW Alumni Association for FREE with a 1-year digital membership
– UW Libraries borrowing privileges and EBSCO online journals
– Discounts to UW facilities and services, plus benefits with PNW businesses
– Invitations to members-only and select UW public events
– UWAA member communications
– Check out upcoming events from the UW Alumni Association
4) Check out the UW Career & Internship Center
– Workshops, resources, and 1-on-1 appointments with career advisers. They are happy to work with recent graduates!
5) Your UW email address
– You’ll still be able to forward emails from your to your personal email, but be sure to follow instructions provided by UW Technology a few weeks before your student services expire (about two quarters after you graduate).
6) Your diploma
– The Registrar’s Office will send you an email one month after graduation with the link to a form where you can enter your diploma name and mailing address. Your diploma name does not need to match your UW record name.
– A certified Electronic Diploma will be available to download for free once your paper diploma has been issued.
7) UW surveys after graduation
– A survey from the College of Arts and Sciences will be sent about 6 months after you graduate. As an AMATH/CFRM major, you know how important data is — help us out!
– The Career & Internship Center Next Destination survey: questions only take a few minutes, you can skip questions you’re unsure about, and data will be visualized in aggregate only. Complete the survey before July 1 and be entered to win one of ten $50 Amazon gift cards.
The UW College of Arts & Sciences Web Team is working on a redesigned theme for departmental websites. As part of this project, they want to hear thoughts from UW students on the current theme and overall usability of department websites.
COMPLETE THE SURVEY: forms.office.com/r/pVh1swH0Tp.
The survey will take about 5-10 minutes. Upon completion, you will be entered into a drawing for a UW College of Arts & Sciences swag.
The Q Center wants to hear from Queer and Trans students at UW Seattle. This survey will likely taken average of 25-45 minutes. There are 10 sections, but the sections can be as short or long as you want them to be (you can skip any section except the first part).
TAKE THE SURVEY: forms.gle/bmQ9gvcTvhokxk3YA
Elham E. Khoda, Postdoctoral Scholar with the UW Department of Physics, will present “Fast Machine Learning on FPGAs for particle physics applications.”
There is a very high raw data rate in particle physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where the protons collide at a 40 MHZ rate. It is impossible to read out and store all the data at this high rate, so the particle detectors around the LHC ring use an electronic hardware “trigger” system to select potentially interesting particle collisions for further analysis. Currently, one out of 400 proton-proton collision events pass the hardware trigger. As the collision rate will increase by 5-7 times in the future alternative algorithms, such as ML, can be used for fast and accurate decisions. Dr. Khoda will highlight the potential applications of ML for hardware (ASIC or FPGA) triggers and discuss a method to implement the ML algorithms on an FPGA using the hls4ml software package. hls4ml is a user-friendly software based on High-Level Synthesis (HLS) designed to deploy neural network architectures on FPGAs. Dr. Khoda will highlight recent work on recursive neural networks (RNN)-based and Transformer-based algorithms for trigger applications.
The UW Data Science Seminar is an annual lecture series at the University of Washington that hosts scholars working across applied areas of data science, such as the sciences, engineering, humanities and arts along with methodological areas in data science, such as computer science, applied math and statistics. Presenters come from all domain fields and include occasional external speakers from regional partners, governmental agencies and industry.
– This remote event is free and open to the public: Register via Zoom.
– See archived recordings of past speakers on the UW eScience Institute website.
If you’re planning to apply to graduate school in Computational Neuroscience or are interested in learning more about the process, join this in-person session to learn about the basics of grad school applications, and hear from current grad students and recent Computational Neuroscience Center (CNC) alumni. ~ RSVP today!
The CNC will also be running a hands-on writing workshop focused on NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) fellowships starting in late June 2023, with weekly sessions focused on developing and writing a strong research plan. This will be open to anyone eligible to submit a GRFP application, that is undergrads planning to attend grad school in 2024 and 1st/2nd year grad students. Stay tuned for more info!
The book Data Feminism (2020) by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, published by MIT Press, is available for free! (made possible by funding from the MIT Libraries)
“Data science is a form of power that has been used to expose injustice, improve health outcomes, and topple governments, but it has also been used to discriminate, police, and surveil. This potential for good, on the one hand, and harm, on the other, makes it essential to ask: Data science by whom? Data science for whom? Data science with whose interests in mind? Illustrating data feminism in action, D’Ignazio and Klein show how challenges to the male/female binary can help challenge other hierarchical (and empirically wrong) classification systems. They show why the data never, ever “speak for themselves. Data Feminism is about much more than gender. It is about power, about who has it and who doesn’t, and about how those differentials of power can be challenged and changed.”
Abraham D. Flaxman, Associate Professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the UW Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), will present “Introducing pseudopeople: Census-scale simulated data for entity resolution”.
Dr. Flaxman will introduce and demo pseudopeople, our new, publicly available Python package that we hope you will use in entity resolution research and development. pseudopeople generates census-scale, simulated population data with adjustable parameters, to replicate key complexities from real challenges in record linkage work. Typical applications of entity resolution and record linkage rely on sensitive and confidential data, and this can be a barrier to reproducible computational research and sometimes even to open communication about innovations and challenges. The value hypothesis of this work is that creating realistic, simulated data (that includes non-confidential simulated versions of sensitive fields, like name, address, and date of birth) will enable more research in census-scale entity resolution and guide the research towards challenges that Census Bureau faces in practice.
The UW Data Science Seminar is an annual lecture series at the University of Washington that hosts scholars working across applied areas of data science, such as the sciences, engineering, humanities and arts along with methodological areas in data science, such as computer science, applied math and statistics. Presenters come from all domain fields and include occasional external speakers from regional partners, governmental agencies and industry.
– This remote event is free and open to the public: Register via Zoom.
– See archived recordings of past speakers on the UW eScience Institute website.
Are you interested in learning about what’s currently happening in prisons and how you can get involved? Huskies for Opportunities in Prison Education (HOPE) will be holding a speaker event and FREE DINNER will be provided.
– The event will feature a speaker panel covering the intersecting topics of prisoner-initiated cultural groups and current prison education opportunities. Students, faculty, and community are all encouraged to attend and learn more directly from prison voices.
– RSVP to add this event to your calendar and submit your questions for the speakers!
hopeuw.weebly.com
Contact: hopeuwseattle@gmail.com
Insta: @hope.uw
Cathi Greenwood, Open Data Project Manager for the State of Washington, will present “Government Open Data for Data Scientists”. Learn how to find government data, what you can do with it, and best practices for data scientists and researchers. Public services require data to operate. In the course of doing business, government agencies create data about the people they serve and the services they deliver. They collect data to evaluate how well they deliver services and to identify needed services. Agencies have data on the environment, people, business, the economy, education, art, health, and more. This data belongs to the people and to you.
The UW Data Science Seminar is an annual lecture series at the University of Washington that hosts scholars working across applied areas of data science, such as the sciences, engineering, humanities and arts along with methodological areas in data science, such as computer science, applied math and statistics. Presenters come from all domain fields and include occasional external speakers from regional partners, governmental agencies and industry.
– This remote event is free and open to the public: Register via Zoom.
– See archived recordings of past speakers on the UW eScience Institute website.
UW Earth & Space Sciences Assistant Professor Marine Denolle will present research on “Data Mining the Earth’s Vibrations”.
The UW Data Science Seminar is an annual lecture series at the University of Washington that hosts scholars working across applied areas of data science, such as the sciences, engineering, humanities and arts along with methodological areas in data science, such as computer science, applied math and statistics. Presenters come from all domain fields and include occasional external speakers from regional partners, governmental agencies and industry.
– This remote event is free and open to the public: Register via Zoom.
– See archived recordings of past speakers on the UW eScience Institute website.
François Ribalet, principal research scientist at the UW School of Oceanography, will present his research: “Ocean Warming Threatens the Survival of Key Microbes.”
– This remote event is free and open to the public: Register via Zoom.
– See archived recordings of past speakers on the UW eScience Institute website.
This series of talks feature UW graduate students from a variety of STEM fields, who will be sharing their dissertation research at Town Hall Seattle in April and May 2023. These students have all completed training in science communication through Engage, so their talks are sure to be exciting and geared toward a broad audience!
– Find more info about each night’s speakers and topics, and purchase tickets HERE.
– UW students may contact negreg(at)uw.edu for a discount code.
NeuroTEC’s open house will showcase neuroengineering research happening at UW and affiliated organizations. RSVP HERE.
– Goal is to increase student engagement in this field of research and to build connections between students, personal investigators, and industry representatives.
– Food and raffle included!
RSVP for Tim Jacobs, Ph.D., P.E., an expert in logistics and transportation, and Director of Research Science and Middle Mile Planning Research and Optimization Science for Amazon.
Abstract: Amazon’s middle mile ground and air transportation network represents one of the fastest growing logistics areas within Amazon. The unprecedented scale of the delivery operation challenges Amazon to design, build and operate a robust transportation network that minimizes the overall operational cost while meeting customer promises and providing a positive experience for Amazon employees. In his lecture, “Operational Research & Analytics at Amazon,” Jacobs will provide an overview of the innovative and integrated approaches that enable Amazon to design and optimize the global middle mile transportation network at scale while efficiently aligning capacity and demand.
– Space is limited. Please RSVP!
Through this survey, SARVA is calling for UW students of all backgrounds to provide their perspectives on the reporting processes offered at UW for those who have experienced sexual or relationship violence, the gaps in those processes, and how they envision those gaps being addressed.
“High school students may just have discovered an impossible proof to the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean theorem” writes Sascha Pare in Live Science on Saturday, April 1, 2023.
Two high school students say they’ve proved the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry — a feat mathematicians thought was impossible. While the proof still needs to be scrutinized by mathematicians, it would constitute an impressive finding if true. Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson, who are seniors at St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans, presented their findings March 18 at the American Mathematical Society’s (AMS) Spring Southeastern Sectional Meeting.
In their abstract, Johnson and Jackson say they can prove the theorem by using trigonometry, without circular reasoning or using the theorem itself. The AMS has encouraged the high schoolers to submit their findings to a scientific journal.
Location TBD, but lunch will be provided. ~ RSVP to attend!
Are you an aspiring entrepreneur or looking to explore the world of venture capital? Come talk with Ken Horenstein from Pack Ventures! He can tell you that starting a company as a student is a completely viable path. He has a startup background and is investing in UW companies with Pack, so he can speak to both sides of the picture!
Ken has his MBA from the UW Foster School of Business, with a bachelors in Finance. His previous experience includes Senior Associate at Seattle Angel Fund, market and business development M12 – Microsoft’s Venture Fund, and serving as a Mentor for UW CoMotion.
Have you felt different from other people your entire life? Did learning about autism seem to explain a lot about you?
Watch a 20-minute prerecorded video then join for a live discussion. Led by two autistic professionals, the UW Autism Center’s Dr. Lucas Harrington and the Arc of King County’s Zack Siddeek, this webinar will help you consider the pros and cons of seeking a formal autism evaluation and then provide strategies and resources you can use without an official diagnosis.
Target Audience: Teenagers or adults who have self-identified as autistic or wonder if they are autistic. – REGISTER TODAY!
Navigating Identity and Career as a BIPOC Professional
This three-session event is focused on empowering Black, Indigenous & People of Color (BIPOC) alumni in their career journeys. Each interactive session features a different BIPOC expert in their field who will touch on topics affecting people of color as they navigate the realities of the modern workforce. Workshops will not be recorded, in order to encourage candid discussions.
$15 series pass for general public.
Free for UWAA members. (Not a member? Join today!)
Choose individual sessions, or join us for all three; a flat fee of $15 applies.
March 28 at 5:30pm PT: YEJIN LEE
Practices of Self-Care & Community Care When Advocating for Institutional Transformation
March 29 at 5:30pm PT: CIERA GRAHAM
Leveling Up: How to Advocate for Yourself as a Person of Color in the Workplace
March 30 at 5:30pm PT: ANDREA RAMIREZ
Not Just Another DEI Course: Navigating Workplace DEI for BIPOC
Join us live on Zoom to hear what research projects are being conducted in the Applied Math Department, in various research groups of Applied Mathematics (AMATH) and Computational Finance and Risk Management (CFRM). Four different speakers will be featured. Please bring your curiosity and questions!
Anastassiya Semenova
– Fields of Interest: Formation of Rogue Waves, Free Surface Dynamics, Numerical Methods, Properties of Stokes and Traveling-Standing Waves, Scientific Computing
Konstantinos Mamis
– Fields of Interest: Cancer Modeling, Correlated Noise, Stochastic Modeling, Uncertainty Quantification
Ryan Creedon
– Fields of Interest: Asymptotic Analysis, Complex Analysis, Dynamical Systems, Fluid Mechanics, Mathematical Methods, Mathematical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Nonlinear Waves and Coherent Structures, Partial Differential Equations, Perturbation Methods
Sam Van Fleet
– Fields of Interest: Applied Mathematics, Numerical Methods, Partial Differential Equations
The January 26 article, “5 Takeaways from the massive layoffs hitting Big Tech right now” by Bobby Allyn on NPR discusses how despite the extent of the recent job cuts in Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, the tech industry has been scaling up in growth for the past decade, and has always been resilient industry, riding out economic challenges. The takeaway message of the article is the Big Tech is not in trouble. They’re still recording massive profits, but are scaling back in an anticipation of a decline in customer spending. They’re basically trying to get back on a strategic growth plan.
Early studies, including this survey from ZipRecruiter, are finding that laid-off tech workers are quickly finding new tech jobs within 1-3 months of starting their search. Plus, demand for these skills helps workers move to new opportunities. “Every company is in some sense a technology company right now,” said Carolina Milanesi, a consumer tech analyst for the research firm Creative Strategies. “And for coders, engineers and AI experts and data experts, these people can find a place in so many other industries.”
Drop by the Research Cafe on the first Friday of every month from 9:30-11am in MGH 171 to make new connections, chat about research, and enjoy free coffee and donuts!
Research Café is a place for anyone interested in research to come and build community at UW. All are welcome, including students involved in research, students interested in research, research mentors, and research support staff. UW is a very large research institution and many of us would benefit from having a regular opportunity to build a smaller community on campus.
~ A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ~
– Explore opportunities in a similar field as your major, or other fields! Conducting research outside your major can allow you to think creatively and in new ways, both critical skills for scientific researchers.
– Ways to get involved in research:
1) Love your class? Talk to the professor about how to get involved in their research.
2) Review the URP database.
3) Government agencies, like United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offer research opportunities.
4) Review the NSF–REU website, as well as Pathways to Science.
5) Reach out to experienced undergrad students to see what they’ve done and where they’ve worked.
6) Email a professor from another university if you’re interested in their research. Projects and mentoring can be done at a distance!
7) Check out the Math Alliance Mentored Reading Projects
– Timing of your project: Working on a project during the academic year may be difficult, due to coursework and other commitments. Summer research may be less stressful. But academic-year research does give you the opportunity to learn how to balance responsibilities!
– Sponsored Summer research programs can provide benefits like a community of scholars, workshops, stipends, and free housing.
– Consider your expectations for the project and your advisor/mentor: computational projects may require more independence, whereas fieldwork or lab work may require more teamwork or supervision.
– Form a community with your research project peers: Discussing problems you face can be a good way to brainstorm solutions and receive support. It can also help you gain a broader perspective about what it’s like to work in that field.
– Be a strong advocate for yourself: Negotiate authorship on scientific publications, or be sure you’re recognized in paper acknowledgments or accredited in presentations. Your contributions are important and deserve to be acknowledged!
– Figure out how to talk about your research: Having an elevator pitch is a simple way to quickly communicate to people what work you’ve done.
– Was it not what you expected? Undergrad research experiences may be helpful in determining what fields of science you don’t want to pursue further.
– Transferable skills you gain through your research can help you market yourself for a new position. These can be tangible skills, but could also be “developing a strong work ethic” and “ability to adapt to new environments”.
~ THERE IS NO WRONG PATHWAY FOR AN ACADEMIC CAREER ~
The UW Office of Educational Assessment is currently conducting their Autumn 2022 university-wide student survey: Husky Check-in. This round focuses on your experiences this past quarter. We want to better understand how connected you feel to UW and learn about ways we can support you. Results from the first survey can be found here!
– Should take no more than 3-5 minutes to complete
– Is open to all students across all UW campuses
– Closes on Sunday, December 11, 2022
This event is targeted towards undergraduate students, who are thinking about graduate school, to learn what it takes to become strong and competitive grad school applicants. A panel of UW biology and engineering PhD students will overview the application process including: choosing the right graduate program, assembling application components, handling recruitment weekends, and debunking myths about grad school. The event will be Q&A focused, so come in with questions! Food will be provided.
~ SIGN UP FOR THE EVENT
Source: High-profile layoffs at Amazon, Twitter and Meta are masking a silver lining — for now in Puget Sound Business Journal, November 15, 2022 by Andy Medici.
You likely read that Meta, Amazon, and Twitter recently announced a wave of staff layoffs, but despite the attention-grabbing headlines, tech job postings have increased in October and overall tech unemployment remains low, according to a new Tech Jobs Report from industry nonprofit CompTIA. Its analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics latest jobs report shows tech companies added 20,700 workers in October, the 23rd straight month of job growth in that industry.
Overall the bulk of tech industry hiring in October occurred in three categories, including IT services and custom software development, other information services such as search engines, and computer and electronic products manufacturing. Overall tech manufacturing employment is up 43% compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, remote work hiring trends show no signs of slowing down, according to CompTIA, with job postings for tech positions that specify remote work or work-from-home options increasing to a rate of about 34% during 2022 compared to 27% over 2021 and 22% over 2020.
Bledi Taska, chief economist at workforce data research firm Lightcast, said, “There are 159 million people employed in the U.S., and in the past month there were 1.3 million layoffs. This is an historically low layoff rate of 0.9%. Layoffs in the professional and business sector, where most of the tech companies belong, also dropped in September. And startup layoffs dropped in the past couple of months. This means that the high-profile tech layoffs we see in the news are not indicative of the overall trends in the labor market, or even in the tech sector.”
“Enterprise IT spending is recession-proof as CEOs and CFOs, rather than cutting IT budgets, are increasing spending on digital business initiatives,” said John-David Lovelock, distinguished vice president analyst at Gartner, in a press release. Lovelock stressed inflation has cut into consumer spending and has driven down demand for devices, which will post just a 0.6% growth in 2023. That’s why Gartner predicts the biggest growth in 2023 to be in software.
– Create a Handshake profile
– Search for jobs or internships on Handshake using filters for your interests/skills
– Create notifications so that new postings will be sent to your email
– Apply with intention (not in bulk). Tailor your resume and application to that particular job/internship: use the UW Career & Internship Center’s Resume Review!
– Put Career & Internship Center workshops and events on your calendar. These can be SO HELPFUL.
– Take advantage of Career & Internship Center advisor knowledge through drop-in coaching or schedule a career coaching appointment
– Attend a UW career fair to meet with employers virtually or in person. NETWORKING is so important.
Submit a quick nomination for the 2023 UW Teaching Awards! Nominations for all three awards close on Nov. 11. This is a great opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing work of UW instructors.
** Nominate an outstanding faculty member, graduate student, or instructional team today!
This Buerk Center Women’s Breakfast and Panel Discussion will celebrate female founders, venture capitalists, and leaders around the world for Women’s Entrepreneurship Day [womenseday.org]. Entrepreneurship is a mindset, a way of looking at problems and developing unique solutions. Through entrepreneurship, women across the Pacific Northwest are creating impact and change in their communities. Together, we work to lift up the next generation of women leaders to make us all stronger—“a rising tide lifts all boats.”
PANEL SPEAKERS:
– Keisha Credit, 5x CEO, speaker, and coach
Jones + Foster Accelerator 2016, Master of Science in Entrepreneurship 2016
– Jilyne Jarvis, Co-Founder & Executive Director, ZGiRLS
2nd Place, 2013 Dempsey Startup Competition
– Volha Hrechka, Founder & CEO of PolyDrop, Founder & CEO Somne
3rd Place 2013 Dempsey Startup Competition, UW BSChE 2013
– Rosalinda Mendoza, Co-Founder & CEO at Mocel Mezcal
2015 Dempsey Startup Co-Chair, UW MBA 2015
– Rochelle Whelan, Partner at Keeler Investments Group
UW MBA 1998
MODERATOR: Sara Weaver, Owner, IAGL
UW BA 2001, UW MBA, Entrepreneurship 2008
Chair, Buerk Center Advisory Board
Attendance Commitment: Your RSVP means you are committing to attend.
Cancellations: If you are unable to attend after registering, contact Sarah Carr at sarahcee(at)uw.edu as far in advance as possible so people from the wait list may be included.
Industry Mentorship Programs are a great way for students to learn about an industry and explore professional development topics through small group mentoring (4-6 students per mentor). Through experiences both in the classroom and with a mentor, participants will gain insight and guidance about a particular industry, explore topics related to professional preparation, networking and feedback, and reflect on how their experiences and interests can translate to a career in the field.
– Students will be enrolled in a 1 credit (CR/NC) GenSt course in W22:
Week 1 (in-person): Preparatory session to learn what to expect at your mentor meetings, and meet with group to plan topics and questions for your mentor
Weeks 2-9 (virtual): Mentor meetings & reflection assignments
Week 10 (virtual): Wrap-Up networking event with all mentors and students
– Mentor meetings will take place virtually
Application Criteria: (APPLY HERE!)
– Undergraduate student at UW Seattle
– Must have completed 3 quarters at UW or transferred in with equivalent credits
– Must be available during the designated quarter on Tue or Wed from 4-7pm
Check out the UW Study Abroad Events Calendar and join in the HUB, rooms 332 and 334, to learn about study abroad opportunities and hear from other students who have gone abroad. Feel free to come and go throughout the afternoons.
Tues, Nov 1:
1-1:45 pm Information Sessions:
– Scholarships & Funding Opportunities (HUB 332)
– Partner Programs Overview (HUB 334)
2-2:45 pm Information Sessions:
– Scholarships & Funding Opportunities (HUB 332)
– Exchange Programs Overview (HUB 334)
3-4:00 pm Mingle with study abroad returnees from different program types
Wed, Nov 2:
1-1:45 pm Information Sessions:
– Scholarships & Funding Opportunities (HUB 332)
– Faculty-led Programs Overview (HUB 334)
2-2:45 pm Information Sessions:
– Scholarships & Funding Opportunities (HUB 332)
– Rome in Residence (HUB 334)
3-4:00 pm Mingle with study abroad returnees from different program types
Undergraduate seniors are encouraged join this upcoming fellow panel on the Ford Foundation PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowships. Unfortunately Ford will be discontinuing the fellowship after this year, so students should apply now if they are interested!
REGISTER in advance for this session!
The Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s university faculties by awarding predoctoral, dissertation, and postdoctoral fellowships [sites.nationalacademies.org]. This session will cover strategies for successful applications, and current and former Ford fellows will share their application advice and experiences as Ford fellows.
Panelists include:
– Tess Abrahamson-Richards, 2022 Ford Predoctoral Fellow, Ph.D. Student, Social Welfare
– Dr. Ralina Joseph, 2009 Ford Postdoctoral Fellow, Professor of Communication, Associate Dean for Equity and Justice in Graduate Programs, The Graduate School
– Olivia Orosco, 2021 Ford Predoctoral Fellow, Ph.D. Student, Geography
– Dr. Lil Pabon [linkedin.com] Ford Fellowship Regional Liaison, 1993 Ford Predoctoral Fellow, Head of Research Operations in Cell Therapy at Sana Biotechnology Inc.
– Dr. Joshua Reid, 2005 Ford Predoctoral Fellow. 2008 Ford Dissertation Fellow, 2010 Ford Postdoctoral Fellow, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, John Calhoun Smith Memorial Endowed Associate Professor of History
~ REGISTER TO ATTEND [washington.startuptree.co]
In this lunch-and-learn session, students will talk with the founder of Coinstar, Jens Molbak, about his non-profit NewImpact and its approach to Tri-Sector Innovation. If you’re interested in creating impact, discovering innovative business models, or gaining tools to help unite profit and purpose, this is the workshop for you. Speakers will show students a sneak peek at their Tri-Sector Innovation Canvas, a free innovation tool launching this fall.
Jens Molbak: Jens is the founder of NewImpact, a humanity benefit nonprofit based in Seattle, WA. Jens first realized the potential for tri-sector innovation when he founded Coinstar in 1990. After the success of Coinstar, Jens realized tri-sector business models could be applied to many types of organizations, with the potential to help transform society. Jens has been invited to present tri-sector methodologies at numerous keynotes, business schools, before the United Nations, and at other gatherings. Jens is always seeking opportunities to share his vision for a world where social and economic progress are available to all. Jens holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. from Yale University.
Kim Davies Lohman: Kim is the Impact Innovation Strategist and Chief of Staff for NewImpact. Kim brings a decade of experience identifying market-based solutions for social and environmental challenges. Before NewImpact, Kim was a sustainability consultant with Resonance and Accenture Strategy. Kim began her career in international development with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Grameen Foundation. She earned her MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and BA from the University of California, Davis.
Beth Roberts: Beth leads the development of NewImpact’s free suite of tools, including the new Tri-Sector Innovation Canvas launching this fall. Beth brings experience leading ‘tech for good’ projects in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Previous to joining NewImpact, she led design and development of scientific data visualization tools at the institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and software/digital transformation projects for PATH, a global innovator in health equity. Beth began her tech career as a Program Manager at Microsoft, launching and growing MSNBC.
The Garden of Ideas Interdisciplinary Philosophy Journal Calls for Submissions for Fall 2022 Issue: Academic and Creative Work Welcome!
The Garden of Ideas interdisciplinary philosophy journal at UW is open to both philosophy and non-philosophy majors in an effort to publish work from students with ideas on a broad range of topics. Editors adopt a highly inclusive definition of philosophy that welcomes endless ways of portraying philosophical ideas.
Help create a comprehensive journal designed to showcase the best thinkers and artists on campus! Examples of possible work styles to submit include:
— Academic essays
— Creative writing (e.g., short stories and poetry)
— Visual art (eg., drawings and photography)
— Class work you’re proud of
~ Submissions can be submitted via email to gardenofideas(at)uw.edu.
Be sure to include your name and contact information, as well as anything else you’d like them to know about your work. When your submission is selected to be published in the upcoming issue, you will be contacted. Soon after, you will begin to work in collaboration with an editor to polish your piece into its highest form over the course of a two week period.
– Keep an eye out for paper copies of the Spring 2022 issue that you can find around UW Seattle campus and on The Ave. It’s an insightful collection of art pieces, essays, and interviews!
– Visit The Garden of Ideas website [gardenofideasuw.com] for semi-regular philosophical discourse in the form of upcoming article reviews and more.
Henrick Kalisch from the Mathematics Department at the University of Bergen in Norway will give a talk at Seattle University especially aimed at undergraduate students on Thurs, October 13, 2022 at 3:45pm:
Title: Ocean Waves in a Changing Climate
Abstract: Understanding the global climate system is one of the great scientific challenges of our time, and the oceans are at the center of the problem. In this lecture, we will consider various types of wave motion occurring in the world’s oceans. We will examine the importance of internal waves, wave breaking and ice formation on the global ocean circulation, and we will show how mathematical modeling, scientific computing and laboratory experiments combine to improve our understanding of ocean waves.
Location: Wyckoff Auditorium (Second floor, Engineering Wing of Bannan Building), Seattle University
The Career & Internship Center and the UW Alumni Association are co-hosting a series of Alumni Panels throughout the 2022-23 academic year. Each quarter, we will engage UW alumni to speak on their expertise in the following broad themes: Careers with Impact, Identity in the Workplace, & Innovation in Action. Each panel discussion will start as a moderated panel, and then move into an open Q&A with the audience. Most of our sessions throughout the year will not be recorded.
AUTUMN 2022 PANEL EVENTS:
1) Oct 12 from 4-5pm: Government & Policy: As a partner event to our Government & Non-Profit Job & Internship Fair on October 26, this panel will allow students to learn about the varied opportunities and career pathways for government and policy work. Join to hear from UW alum working in at the local, state, and federal levels.
Moderator: Chris Olsen Phillips, Associate Director, UW Impact
Panelists:
Courtney Acoff, ’10, Pierce County District Representative (WA-06)
Becka Poppe, ’12, Budget & Policy Manager, King County Executive Office
Margaret (Hilly) Walrod, ’17, Foreign Service Office, US Department of State
2) Nov 9 from 4-5pm: Non-Tech in Tech: The tech industry is booming and Seattle is home to many rapidly growing tech organizations that require a broad range of skill sets and roles to operate. If you’re interested in working within the technical industry, but you’re not in a technical major, join us as we hear and learn from UW alums currently working in the tech industry.
Got career questions? Alumni have career answers! Whether you’re looking for inside info on a field you’re curious about or want the real story on what it’s like to live somewhere new, the UW Alumni Association can help you get connected to alumni who can help.
Connect with alumni for a one-time career conversation. Find knowledge and inspiration, learn how Huskies landed where they are, and see what it takes to get where you want to go with Huskies@Work! Students will be matched with alumni volunteers based on their fields, interests and experience. Connect online, in person or by phone — whatever works.
– Frequently Asked Questions about Huskies@Work
– Resources & Tips for Creating a Successful Virtual Connection
Already participated? Sign up again and explore different career paths! There is no limit to the number of times you can participate.
This program is free and open to UW students from all UW campuses and all UW alumni.
Mary Ann Leung of the Sustainable Horizons Institute presented on June 15, 2022. A recording (YouTube) is available, along with slides (PDF) and a Chat Transcript (TXT).
Description: Computational science and engineering (CSE) is an inter- and multidisciplinary field. Given the technical breadth of CSE, one might expect CSE communities to include a broad range of demographics, creating an ideal ecosystem for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, while research indicates that social diversity results in greater innovation, the CSE workforce remains largely homogeneous. This webinar explores what it takes to achieve DEI, how DEI could increase innovation and developer productivity, and how cultivating respect and embracing difference could help to make inclusion the norm. The session includes important activities for applying the concepts discussed, deepening understanding, and increasing potential impact.
The HPC Best Practices for Software Developers webinars address issues faced by developers of computational science and engineering (CSE) software on high-performance computers (HPC). Participation is free and open to the public, however registration is required for each event. The webinars will occur approximately monthly and last about one hour each. If you’d like to receive announcements of upcoming webinars and other IDEAS organized events, and follow ups when recordings become available, please subscribe to the mailing list.
This webinar was co-organized with the ECP’s newly established HPC Workforce Development and Retention Action Group, which organizes a webinar series on topics related to developing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work culture in the computing sciences.
** The Best Practices for HPC Software Developers webinar series is presented by the IDEAS Productivity project, in partnership with the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF), and the DOE Exascale Computing Project (ECP).
* In Autumn 2021, we had 2 Applied Math graduates
* In Winter 2022, we had 6 Applied Math graduates
* In Spring 2022, we had 19 Applied Math graduates and 15 CFRM graduates
– Academic attire for UW Commencement and typically worn to our Department event is pricey! We would like to offer it to future graduates to borrow for their special day. Thanks so much for considering this request.
– Expand your network, participate in discussions, find a mentor, seek professional advice, and explore professional development resources.
– UW Libraries borrowing privileges and EBSCO online journals
– Discounts to UW facilities and services, plus benefits with alumni-owned & PNW businesses
– Invitations to members-only and select UW public events
– UWAA member communications
The UW Office of Educational Assessment is currently conducting their final university-wide survey of the year: Husky Check-in. This round focuses on your experiences this past quarter. Results from the first survey can be found here, and administrators have already responded to information gathered from it.
– Should take no more than 3-5 minutes to complete
– Is open to all students across all UW campuses
– Closes on Wednesday, June 15, 2022
What are YOUR reasons for pursuing graduate school? This article brings up some questions about what your motivation might be, and might help you think about your plans after graduation in a different way.
“When considering whether to attend graduate school, it’s wise to reflect on your reasons for continuing your education and to think critically about whether they justify pursuing an advanced degree. Unlike college students, who focus primarily on absorbing information that is already available, grad students typically conduct research and contribute to knowledge within their field, says Joy Williamson-Lott, dean of the University of Washington Graduate School.”
Worst reasons:
– a desire to continue the college experience
– school is where you’re most comfortable
– dissatisfaction with your job prospects
– a guarantee you’ll advance at work
Best reasons:
– commitment to a field where a grad degree is useful
– an interest in scholarly innovation or service
– marketability in your field
First Flight Into Finance is a virtual, 3-week introduction to financial services, engaging with professionals from financial services companies. The program is open to any current college student (including May ‘22 graduates) who have not yet had the opportunity to complete a full-time internship in finance. Each week, participants will hear from senior executives at financial services firms. See the program schedule and list of participating companies.
The program will run July 19 – August 4 from 6:00–7:30 pm ET on Tues/Wed/Thurs. Participants are encouraged to participate 3 nights/week, and are required to participate for 2 nights/week.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Interested students and recent graduates must complete a HIVE Diversity resume. This is accomplished by completing the HIVE5 Process, through which in Level 1, Be Yourself, you’ll create a one page resume. Completing this process demonstrates commitment to our partners and ensures that you’re able to communicate who you are in all applications going forward.
BENEFITS
– enhanced knowledge about the financial services industry
– network of professionals as mentors and advisors
– lateral network of peers from over 1400 colleges who are part of HIVE Diversity
– prioritized consideration for future opportunities at the 27 Equity Collective firms
Huskies for Life! This virtual panel is a great opportunity to gain insight into how the current medical students navigated their transitions, their pre-med journeys at UW, and their experiences in med school now. Prospective med students come from a wide range of educational backgrounds — all majors are welcome!
– RSVP here to save your spot!
– Join by Zoom here (Meeting ID: 985 0741 8752)
EverybodyHacks is UW’s newest interdisciplinary hackathon, organized and hosted by GeoDat, the Society for Geography & Data Science at UW. Our hackathon was created for students of all majors. We welcome projects ranging from app design, creative writing, policy assessments, data visualizations, map atlases, historical reviews, blueprints, visual art—you name it!
Geography & Data Science Panel: Friday, April 29, 12:00 – 1:00pm
Zoom Link: https://tinyurl.com/eh-panels
RSVP here: https://tinyurl.com/eh-pan4-rsvp
– Phil M. Hurvitz (he/him) CSDE Research Scientist
– Kam Wing Chan (he/him) UW Department of Geography Professor
– Monika Khandelwal (she/her) Entrepreneurial Data Scientist
– Josh Popelka (he/him) GIS Specialist
The next event in the series involves interactive panels with mathematical scientists working in industry. By participating, students will get the opportunity for a one-on-one with a panelist.
– Industry panelists from UnitedHealth Group will be Natalie Sheils, Director of Healthcare Economics and Product Analytics, and Irfan Bulu, Distinguished Scientist in AI. ~ REGISTER to attend the event! ~
** Natalie Sheils is an alum of the UW Applied Mathematics Dept. and was a recent panelist on our Career Connections Panel in early April!
EverybodyHacks is UW’s newest interdisciplinary hackathon, organized and hosted by GeoDat, the Society for Geography & Data Science at UW. Our hackathon was created for students of all majors. We welcome projects ranging from app design, creative writing, policy assessments, data visualizations, map atlases, historical reviews, blueprints, visual art—you name it!
Interdisciplinary Panel: Wednesday, April 20, 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Zoom Link: https://tinyurl.com/eh-panels
RSVP here: https://tinyurl.com/eh-pan2-rsvp
– Sarah Pierre-Louis (she/her) Career and Life Coaching in the Tech Industry
– Courtney Smyth (she/her) Prosthetics & Orthotics in Health Care
– Becky Beard (she/her) Environmental Management and Conservation & Academic Advising
– Kathryn Cornforth (she/her) Director of Community Engagement at UW
– Karen Levi (she/her) Data Science & Cyber Security
Young Professionals Special: Friday, April 22, 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Zoom Link: https://tinyurl.com/eh-panels
RSVP here: https://tinyurl.com/eh-pan3-rsvp
– Nanditha Shivakumar (she/her) Biochemistry & Clinical Research
– Luciano de la Iglesia (he/him) Data Science, Social Entrepreneurship & Maritime Software
– Sydney Vahl (she/they) Early Childhood and Family Studies
– Arghya Kannadaguli (she/her) Geographic Information Studies & Environmental Health
The 2022 UW Commencement Speaker has been announced, and he already offers great advice to graduating students: Tony Award-winning producer and actor Ron Simons to deliver 2022 Commencement address by Jackson Holz
Simons said his career path should serve as an example to graduates that they’re just embarking on a long journey, and that they shouldn’t feel chained to decisions they make today. “Don’t fear, never fear,” he said. “Because don’t think that your first job is going to be your last job, don’t think that your first career is going to be your last career. Don’t talk yourself out of why you shouldn’t change. Rather, lean into why you should change, why you should pursue your passions, why you should work to make your dreams come true, and know that there are many different ways that you can get to that dream.”
** PLUS, for 2020 and 2021 Graduates:
The Return To Husky Stadium Graduation Celebration will be held on Sunday, June 12, at 12:30 pm PDT in Husky Stadium.
Donna Strickland is a professor in the Dept of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Waterloo and is one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 for developing chirped pulse amplification with Gérard Mourou. Together they paved the way toward the most intense laser pulses ever created. The research has several applications in industry and medicine, including the cutting of a patient’s cornea in laser eye surgery, and the machining of small glass parts for use in cell phones. Other Physics lectures can be found on the Dept of Physics website.
The campaign asks any able-bodied member of the UW community to use only accessible pathways in solidarity with wheelchair users and other people with mobility impairments for the duration of this campaign. This challenge demonstrates just how unwelcoming and inaccessible physical spaces continue to be, even 31 years after the signing of the ADA.
Please take time to think about access barriers for those with physical and mobility disabilities, as well as all other barriers impacting those with disabilities. You can also review UW’S mobility route maps and access guide.
Separate is Never Equal. F*** Stairs.
Positions available:
prose editing, poetry editing, project management/public relations, and graphic design
Capillaries Journal of Medical Humanities is a student-run project with the mission of providing students of all majors and backgrounds the opportunity to write and create works of art about their experiences with health and healing, and to reflect on community/national/global health issues. In past publications, they shared stories of love and loss, of mental health and disordered eating, of coming to terms with one’s identity, and of understanding what it means to be a global citizen in the 21st century. If there is anything this past year has shown us, it is that there needs to be a platform for such stories to be shared. Past issues of the journal can be viewed on their website.
They highly encourage anyone who is interested in diverse perspectives and stories that can expose the resilience, strength, and compassion in our society along with its flaws, (e.g. discrimination/microaggressions, profiteering, inequities in access to healthcare resources and educational resources, etc) to apply!
SEBA’s First Tuesday Meeting will feature a panel of two scientists, who will share their journeys in starting a startup company based on the technologies developed during their PhDs. RSVP HERE. Packaged food provided.
The UW Seattle Spring Job & Internship Fair will give students an exciting opportunity to network with dozens of employer representatives (via video/chat 1:1 and group sessions), who are all looking to recruit UW Seattle students and alumni for full-time, part-time, and internship opportunities within their organization.
– Preview the list of over 70 employers! All majors are welcome to attend.
* SPRING ALUMNI PANEL DISCUSSIONS *
Sustainability: Tues, April 5 from 4:00 – 5:00pm
Interested in a career within the sustainability industry? REGISTER to hear from UW alumni and learn more about their impact on sustainability within their organizational roles.
Huskies in Population Health: Thurs, April 28 from 4:00 – 5:00pm
Effectively addressing the factors that impact how long and how well we live requires a concerted, collaborative effort across a range of disciplines and sectors. This panel will explore the career pathways taken by several UW alumni as they seek to improve health and well-being in the broad field of population health. REGISTER to hear from UW alumni and learn more about their path and impact within the population health industry.
SPEAKERS from the Energy Industry: (see their bios here)
Anusha Sekar, Research Geophysicist at Chevron (and UW alum!)
Amr El-Bakry, Computational and Data Sciences Advisor at ExxonMobil
The BIG Math Network Industry Connection Series provides opportunity to participate in virtual, interactive panels with mathematical scientists working in industry. The goal is to connect mathematical sciences students directly with industry members who can answer student-generated questions. Students at all levels are welcome and encouraged to attend and ask questions.
Working in Public Health at a County Health Department
Tues, April 5, 2022 from 5:30-6:45pm
ZOOM Register in advance for this meeting!
Hear from representatives from Public Health-Seattle & King County, Snohomish Health District, and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department as they discuss their roles, the ways their departments are addressing public health in their communities, the organization of their health departments, what you can do to prepare for work there, and how you might find a role there after graduation or gain experience while a student.
Pamela Aguilar, SHRM-CP (She/Her), Interim Deputy Administrative Officer, Administration, Snohomish Health District
Naomi Wilson, MPH (She/Her), Community Assessment Manager, Office of Assessment, Planning & Development, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
Sarah Fish, Employment & Leaves Manager with Public Health – Seattle & King County
Finding a Job in Public Health
Thurs, April 7, 2022 from 5:30-6:45pm
ZOOM Register in advance for this meeting!
Representatives of several local health organizations will provide an overview of their organizations, the hiring process there and provide needed advice and field questions from students about the job search process in public health after graduation. Topics include finding opportunities in their organization, how to apply, how to best prepare for an interview, and what you might do to stand out and get that job offer.
Yvette Hererra-Greer, SHRM-CP, (She/Her), Senior Global Recruiter, Global Health Programs, Data and Digital, PATH
Memo Madera Perez, (He/Him), AmeriCorps Program Manager, Sea Mar Community Health Centers
Monica Pecha, MPH, Senior Epidemiologist, Tuberculosis Program Manager, Office of Communicable Disease Epidemiology, WA State Department of Health
Riki (Ulrike) Peters, PhD, Associate Director for Public Health Sciences, Professor Cancer Prevention, Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutch
Join this virtual panel discussion focused on Women in Foreign Policy at the U.S. Department of State, both domestically and abroad. Learn about the panelists’ paths and their experiences, as well as the career opportunities offered by the Department of State. REGISTER HERE! Zoom link will be sent to registered attendees.
Join us live on Zoom to meet professionals currently working in fields of applied mathematics or computational finance. Learn about the wide array of career paths available to you, and take advantage of this networking opportunity with industry contacts. All featured speakers are alumni of UW AMath or CFRM programs!
* In addition, Dan Poux, Career Coach from the UW Career & Internship Center, will join us to identify helpful resources available to you on campus and virtually.
Bring your curiosity and questions!
PANEL SPEAKERS (not in order)
Ryan Johnson, Associate Data Scientist at Chewy
Ben Lansdell, Data Scientist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
David Leen, Senior Software Engineer at Netflix
Aaron Payne, Investment Engineer at Parametric
Natalie Sheils, Director of Healthcare Economics at Optum
Niket Thakkar, Research Scientist at the Institute for Disease Modeling
Ryan Johnson (he/him) graduated from Santa Clara University in 2018 with a dual major in Mathematics and Computer Science (with an emphasis in Data Science). After that, he moved back home to Seattle and completed his master’s degree in CFRM at UW. The summer before he graduated, Ryan worked as an Analytics Intern in Bellevue at The Energy Authority doing electrical demand forecasting. After graduation, he was offered a full-time role as Data Scientist, continuing his work on both short- and long-term load forecasting. In early 2022, he accepted an offer as Data Scientist within Chewy’s supply chain division doing demand planning and proprietary brand forecasting. He and his fiancé look forward to hiking in the Seattle area this summer.
Ben Lansdell (he/him) works as a data scientist in the department of Developmental Neurobiology at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He works on a range of computer vision and machine learning problems in collaboration with the research labs at St Jude. Previously he was a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania, studying intersections of biological and artificial learning in neural networks, and before then completed his doctoral studies in Applied Mathematics at UW, focused on computational neuroscience and brain-computer interfaces.
David Leen (he/him) is a Senior Software Engineer at Netflix, working on the data platform and building tools for data scientists. Previously David was a Senior Software Engineer at Amazon (when it was still known as an online bookstore and AWS (Amazon Web Services) was the sound you made when you saw cute pictures of puppies). At AWS he led the development and launch of the SageMaker machine learning platform and the Comprehend natural language processing service. David was in the Applied Math PhD program at UW but dropped out to join Amazon.
Aaron Payne (he/him) is an Investment Engineer in the Equity Investment Strategy department at Parametric. He is responsible for designing custom client investment mandates, creating quantitative tools, and producing analysis for Parametric investment strategies. Aaron joined Parametric in 2018 and has held roles in Investment Research and Strategy. He earned a BA in mathematics from the University of Colorado, a MS in CFRM from UW, and is pursuing his CFA charter as a Level III candidate.
Natalie Sheils (she/her) is currently a director of healthcare economics and product analytics at Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group and spent the last few years at Optum Labs as a research scientist focused on AI and computational tools for healthcare. Prior to beginning a career in healthcare research, Natalie earned her PhD in Applied Mathematics from UW and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota School of Mathematics. Natalie has always maintained interest in policy, especially as it relates to science and served as an early career fellow for the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Committee on Science Policy in 2018 and 2019. Currently, she is serving a three-year term as a voting member on the American Mathematics Society (AMS) Committee on Science Policy.
Niket Thakkar (he/him) is a research scientist at the Institute for Disease Modeling, working with a variety of partners in support of measles eradication and Washington state’s COVID-19 situational awareness. Niket uses mathematical and statistical modeling techniques to understand where better disease surveillance is needed, how best to structure immunization campaigns, and other epidemiology questions. Niket is interested in mathematical modeling and statistics applied to all kinds of problems.
Connect with alumni for a one-time career conversation. Find knowledge and inspiration, learn how Huskies landed where they are, and see what it takes to get where you want to go with Huskies@Work! Students will be matched with alumni volunteers based on their fields, interests and experience. Connect online, in person or by phone — whatever works.
– Frequently Asked Questions about Huskies@Work
– Resources & Tips for Creating a Successful Virtual Connection
Already participated? Sign up again and explore different career paths! There is no limit to the number of times you can participate.
Searching for a job on campus? How about an internship? A scholarship or research opportunity? Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA) has identified helpful resources for UW undergraduate students, all in one place! Check out your options here!
– Descriptions are provided for each on-campus opportunity, along with first-hand accounts of what the experience was like, from current UW students.
– These opportunities are available to students from all majors.
– Through these on-campus roles, find and learn about: professional mentorship, civic responsibility, leadership development, independence, problem-solving skills, flexibility, communication and equity training.
– Build your professional network through participation in these experiences.
– Handshake and the Career & Internship Center are other great places to search for on-campus positions.
– Work on updating your resume and preparing for an upcoming interview with these checklists and webinars from the Career & Internship Center. 
Helena Liu, a PhD student in the Applied Math Department has been working with colleagues in AMath and the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Uygar Sümbül, Stephen Smith, Stefan Mihalas, and Eric Shea-Brown, on understanding the wiring process of our brains’ neural networks, and how the process can be mimicked for artificial brains in artificial intelligence (AI). The wiring of neural networks requires the assignment of the correct values to individual connections, so that the network as a whole produces the desired behavior. To change individual connections so that the network’s behavior improves, Liu and colleagues have combined mathematics and molecular biology to this credit-assignment problem.
Conventional artificial neural networks consist of neurons connected by synapses whose strengths determine the network output. But the team realized that the brain has an additional signaling network that consists of neuromodulators, and charted the interactions among hundreds of types of modulatory molecules, finding that they follow systematic pathways connecting different types of cells. The brain has not just one wiring diagram but hundreds, all superposed into what they call a “multidigraph.”
The team’s findings, presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in December 2021, may provide an important clue for the improvement of AI.
** Read the entire article from the College of Arts & Sciences, the AMath Dept., or the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
The UW Office of Educational Assessment is currently conducting their third university-wide survey: Husky Check-in. This round focuses on how students are connecting to the UW community, their experience with student support services, and challenges they are facing so far this year. Results from the first survey can be found here, and administrators have already responded to information gathered from it.
– Should take no more than 3-5 minutes to complete
– Is open to all students across all UW campuses
– Closes on Wednesday, March 23, 2022
FIUTS, which seeks to build community and connections between students of all backgrounds at UW, is hosting a panel of accomplished leaders in the STEM world to discuss topics in leadership.
Location: Alder Hall 107
Discussion will include: how to become a good leader, finding leadership career opportunities, and personal and career challenges. Snacks will be provided! Due to limited space, we would like everyone to RSVP. Please send questions for the panel or individual speakers in the RSVP.
PANELISTS:
– Shari Kaiser, PhD Director, Immuno Oncology and Cellular Therapy Translational Research at Bristol-Myers Squibb
– Yasemin Sancak, PhD Assistant Professor, UW Department of Pharmacology
– Sneha Rajana, MS Machine Learning Scientist, Amazon
– Andres Barria, PhD Professor, UW Department of Physiology and Biophysics
– Zhe Wu, MBA MPA Business Development, Strategy, & Venture, Microsoft
Behavior and cognition are driven by the coordinated activity of populations of neurons in the brain. A major challenge in systems neuroscience is to infer the computational principles underlying the activity of the neural populations. What are the algorithms implemented by these neural populations? How can we design experiments and analyses with hypotheses about computation in mind? My research group will develop the theory, modeling, and machine learning techniques needed to realize this vision of “reverse engineering” computation in the brain. Progress in this research could lead to new insights into treating neurological injuries and disorders, new paradigms for optimizing our behavior and cognition, and new approaches to generating artificial intelligence.
In this talk, I will present lines of previous, ongoing, and proposed research that highlight the potential of this vision. First, I will present a line of brain-computer interface experiments and modeling that revealed principles guiding neural populations as they reorganize during learning. Here, dimensionality reduction and convex optimization provided insight into the constraints faced by neural populations. Second, I will present a framework of network modeling for identifying the computations performed by a population of recorded neurons. Here, we trained sequential variational autoencoders to learn nonlinear dynamical systems (NLDS) capable of generating observed single-trial neural population activity. We then developed techniques for identifying the computations performed through the dynamics of the NLDS. Finally, I will propose future directions for leveraging these tools and identified principles of neural computation toward i) accelerating the brain’s ability to learn, ii) optimizing optogenetic control of neural population dynamics, and iii) understanding the interplay between attention and decision making in the brain.
* View Biography & Other Research Interests on Matthew’s website.
Watch the recording and then review the Resources for Aspiring Allies of the Deaf/Disability Communities: Suggested UW classes, UW organizations, checklists, events, TED Talks, How To guides, resources for students and teaching staff.
It is the policy of the University to provide reasonable academic accommodations to students with disabilities. Please see the Disability Resources for Students (DRS) website for more information.
** Accommodation request deadline for Spring 2022: February 14 by 5pm PST
What career pathways can you explore with degrees in Applied Mathematics or Computational Finance & Risk Management? What decisions will influence your path towards a fulfilling career? This UW Statistics major went on to earn an MS in CFRM at UW, and launched her own business after two career changes, using her skillset in a creative way.
Danni Lin is founder and CEO of Great Wine Inc, which produces seven wine varietals under the label Percipio. And she is managing partner of myVinotype, a platform that guides novice wine drinkers to potential wine preferences.
“While in grad school, Lin also worked full time as a statistical analyst at Symetra, a financial services company. Next came a two-year stint at Microsoft, where she maintained and expanded a forecasting program for the Bing search engine advertising team. When Lin felt she’d mastered that role, she explored other career options — including starting her own business. She realized that her connection with China could be a huge advantage.”
This CFRM MS alumnus saw an opportunity to establish a business linking the US and China after speaking with peers in China about how wine drinking was trending there. Though Lin had little knowledge of the wine industry, she prepared by completing a wine education and certification program, simultaneously making connections within the industry which led to business partnerships like the platform myVinotype, an online survey of taste preferences to help predict wine preferences of individuals.
“After the improved myVinotype platform was shared worldwide in seven languages, Lin wanted to do more. In 2015, she founded Great Wine Inc. to produce wines based on drinkers’ wine personalities or vinotypes. A winery in California produces the wines under the label Percipio; Lin handles promotion and distribution in the US and China.”
Danni Lin is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Read the full article by Adrian Cho in Science: Former Google CEO invests in computing help for university scientists.
“Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt, will invest $40 million over the next 5 years to establish a Virtual Institute for Scientific Software. The institute will help scientists obtain more robust, flexible, and scalable “open-source” software that can be easily shared.”
“The institute will include centers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Johns Hopkins University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Washington (UW). Each university will hire software engineers who will help meet the needs of scientists.”
“These days, researchers depend on computers for everything from running their equipment to collecting and analyzing their data. As computing power continues to grow, scientists face new challenges. They have to make sure their software can scale up to handle the massive data sets much research now produces. Compared with government and private labs, universities often struggle to hire these professionals, who often receive high salaries and other compensation in the private sector. With $2 million per year, each center in the new virtual institute will hire a team of professional software engineers who will provide their services to the entire university.”
** All content from Adrian Cho’s article “Former Google CEO invests in computing help for university scientists: Schmidt Futures philanthropy launches Virtual Institute for Scientific Software” in Science. January 18, 2022.
Wed, January 25: Huskies in Population Health (4-5pm PT)
Join to hear from UW Alumni about opportunities and career pathways in population health.
Moderator: Arti Shah, Assistant Director of Strategic Engagement, Population Health Initiative at the UW
Panelists:
Yasmin Barrios, Epidemiologist, Yakima Health District
Peder Digre, Program Officer, Malaria & NTDs at PATH
Julia Guerette, Manager, Data Analytics at VillageReach
Wed, February 22: All Paths Lead to UX (4-5pm PT)
Join to hear from UW Alumni and learn more about their diverse UX/UI roles and their paths to those roles.
Moderator: Anders Herberg, current grad student in UW’s HCDE program
Panelists:
Kendall Avery, UX Researcher at Uber
Bridget Schiffler, Senior Narrative Designer, Amazon Explore
Neha Kunwar, UX Designer, Motionstrand
– Tell a story of overcoming obstacles: Describe a time when your performance didn’t match your desired outcome, followed by how you were able to work hard to overcome the perceived “failure.” This grit and determination will help you persevere through challenges in grad school.
– Describe your motivation: Share a story of when your curiosity motivated you to seek information and learn more about a topic. This skill will drive your engagement in grad school.
– Highlight research experience: Emphasize aspects of past projects that were engaging and led you to pursue your chosen field for grad school. If you don’t have formal research experience, explain what you’ve learned from jobs, lab-based projects, and volunteering.
– Give context to grades: Highlight overcoming a difficult topic that you worked hard to understand, acknowledge consistently high performance in coursework, or show increasing aptitude over time.
– Be authentic: Write genuinely and with authenticity. Present your approach to work and challenges that may arise in a truthful way.
** In this sense, “advisors” refers to faculty advisors/mentors/supervisors.
– Most faculty want to see: Students who demonstrate determination and ability to take on challenges in (or outside) the field of study; ability to write well and assemble ideas into coherent thoughts.
– Some faculty place importance on: Strong grades in relevant coursework; student’s work style demonstrated by undergrad research experience or job/life experiences.
– Mention specific faculty/mentors in your personal statement: After reaching out to and getting responses from potential mentors, ask what traits, abilities, or background they are specifically looking for in their grad students.
– Undergrad research: Reach out to faculty to inquire about research opportunities while you’re still an undergrad. Any exposure to the field of study (internships, fieldwork) is beneficial, and it helps if you’re able to work with the mentor before applying to grad school!
– Letters of reference: Strong letters of reference with clear examples of your work or how you overcame a challenge could push your application over the edge into acceptance.
– Reach out: to previous mentors, potential mentors, current & past grad students, and grad program advisors. Get different perspectives on grad programs, research, and the application process.
– Highlight non-academic experiences: As well as education and research experience. Non-traditional pathways are great too!
– Values and contributions: Describe how your research interests can contribute to the grad program and how the program’s values align with yours. Grad programs are NOT only looking for one kind of person, and everyone in the program is NOT exactly the same, but explain how this program will help you accomplish your goals and how your contributions will help solve big picture questions.
– Prepare early! Late spring or early summer. Write up a draft personal statement and get others to look over it as soon as possible.
Join us live on Zoom to hear what research projects are being conducted in the Applied Math Department, in various research groups of Applied Mathematics and Computational Finance and Risk Management (CFRM). Four different speakers will be featured.
Bring your curiosity and questions!
Kevin Lu
– Fields of Interest: Financial Mathematics, Probability, Statistics, Stochastic Modeling
Zach Nicolaou
– Fields of Interest: Dynamical Systems, Fluid Mechanics, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Nonlinear Waves and Coherent Structures, Numerical Analysis, Scientific Computing
Amin Rahman
– Fields of Interest: Cancer Modeling, Dynamical Systems, Mathematical Biology, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Physical Applied Mathematics
Jeremy Upsal
– Fields of Interest: Applied Mathematics, Complex Analysis, Dynamical Systems, Fluid Mechanics, Mathematical Physics, Nonlinear Waves and Coherent Structures, Partial Differential Equations, Perturbation Methods
Let’s recognize that disabilities are different ways of seeing the world. Today is International Disability Day. Check out these rad scientists.
John F. Nash Jr. made important contributions to game theory, differential geometry, and Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). He obtained a B.S. and M.S. in mathematics from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) and a Ph.D. from Princeton University, with a 28 page dissertation on noncooperative games. Nash is the only person that has been awarded both the Nobel Prize in Economics and the Abel Prize.
Solomon Lefschetz was injured during an industrial accident and lost both hands. The accident pushed him towards mathematics and he went on make contributions to algebraic geometry, topology, and nonlinear differential equations. The Picard-Lefschetz formula and the Lefschetz fixed-point theorem are named after him, and his work in nonlinear differential equations helped interest in the field to grow. He earned a Ph.D. in algebraic geometry from Clark University, and took positions at the University of Nebraska and University of Kansas, before accepting a permanent position at Princeton University.
Lev Pontryagin was blind as a result of a stove explosion, though he learned mathematics because his mother read math papers and books to him, and he went on to contribute to algebraic topology, differential topology, and optimal control in significant ways. Several results now bear his name, including Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle in optimal control, which was a landmark theoretical development in the field.
“Celebrating mathematicians with disabilities” from the Center for Disability Services, University of Utah.
“12 Disabled scientists who made the world a better place” in Mental Floss.
“Disabilities don’t stop these experts in science and tech: From blowing things up to listening to bugs, there’s a STEM career for everyone” in Science News for Students.
The Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers (EACE) offers Road Trips to the Real World (Goes Virtual)! In these one-day virtual site visits, employer host companies will talk about their organization, industry, internships, and job opportunities. This is an exclusive chance for students to get the inside scoop and virtually get their foot in the door at more than a dozen participating employers!
A variety of employers are represented, including Finance and Technology & Information Services. Check out employer information, dates & times from the table here. Some specify what internships they have available, if they’re recruiting for particular jobs, or have interest in students from certain majors.
The UW Office of Educational Assessment is currently conducting their second university-wide survey: Husky Check-in. This round focuses on how students are connecting to the UW community, their experience with student support services, and challenges they are facing so far this year. Results from the first survey can be found here, and administrators have already responded to information gathered from it.
– Should take no more than 3-5 minutes to complete
– Is open to all students across all UW campuses
– Closes at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, December 8
Do you know a faculty member or graduate student TA/instructor who goes above and beyond to help students learn and succeed? The Center for Teaching and Learning invites you to recognize outstanding teaching by nominating a faculty member for the Distinguished Teaching Award or a graduate student instructor/TA for the Excellence in Teaching Award.
Anyone interested should attend: The class is open to all undergraduate and graduate students. You do not need to be an Engineering major! You just need an interest in the subject. If you have had a Math education up to, but not including, calculus you meet the technical qualifications. Engineering Rome is a UW Exploration Seminar that covers Roman and Italian engineering over a range of 3,000 years from Ancient Rome to the present day.
– CEE 409/509 Engineering Rome (5 cr) in Rome, Italy at the UW Rome Center for 3 weeks during the 2022 Summer-Fall quarter break.
– Once-per-week orientation session meets in Spring 2022 to provide background info and program orientation.
We are proceeding forward with Engineering Rome 2022 for an on-time start in Rome, Italy on 26 August 2022. Things could change, and if they do, we will change too.
Are you a current UW undergrad? Join grad advisors Sarah Riley (CFRM) and Lauren Lederer (Amath) to watch a brief presentation regarding applying to our UW graduate programs. We will talk a little about the programs, the admissions process, and take questions.** Recommended preparation:
Amath Grad Programs | Admissions
CFRM Grad Programs | Admissions
FAQs
Are you interested in graduate school in applied mathematics? The Applied Math Diversity Committee is hosting a graduate school panel, an informal Q&A session where you can ask questions or just listen to a discussion about the graduate school experience. The panel will focus on strategies for building a strong application as an undergraduate, the types of research an applied mathematician works on, and what to expect during graduate school.
Who: UW Department of Applied Mathematics
What: Graduate school panel for students interested in pursuing a Master’s degree or Ph.D in the mathematical sciences.
When: Thursday, November 4th, from 4-5 pm
Where: Smith 205
While you might be applying for jobs and internships right now, it’s really never too early or late to think about graduate school! A panel of scientists from Alexandra Venture Investments, Synthego Corporation, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center will provide perspectives on how to best maximize the graduate school training period.
*** 50 attendees will be selected for a voucher to get FREE PROFESSIONAL HEADSHOTS!
The UW Career & Internship Center offers individual student stories & advice on their website, plus alumni profiles on HuskyLanding. Select a profile based on someone’s job title or work experience, or even by the communities they identify with (e.g. Tech/Data/Gaming, Students with Disabilities, Transfer Students, Students of Color, First Generation, LGBTQ+). Plus, you can even connect with them on LinkedIn!
Graduate students in the MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program explore the process of searching for an advisor and applying to grad school, as well as the brand new experience of 1st year grad school in a STEM field, in the latest issue of Through the Porthole newsletter.
– Check out their template that you can use for an email to potential faculty advisors
– Tips: Be concise. Check spelling & grammar. Include your full name, undergrad degree, and institution. Be polite. Prove that you understand their research focus and state a particular project you’re interested in. Include a CV or resume & copy of your transcript. Ask if they are taking new students. Request a virtual meeting. Be confident!
– What to do if you don’t get a reply: follow up in 2-3 weeks with a short, polite email reiterating your interest in their research. Leave out attachments and offer to provide your CV/resume and transcript if they are interested.
– What to do if you do get a reply: set up a phone/Zoom conversation (remember time zone differences!). Make notes on why you’re interested in their research, why you’re interested in grad school, and questions. Read their recent papers if possible.
– Before selecting an advisor, consider how you work best, and ask current student what the expectations for first years are. Communicate your research and job interests with a potential advisor ahead of time. Advisor/research is more important than the name of the school!
– Think of your faculty advisor as your manager: maintain the same healthy, open dynamic as you would at a regular job.
– Be prepared to learn for a purpose that isn’t a test!
– Time management is key. The open-ended nature of grad programs means that students must effectively structure their time and determine their own schedule. Make to-do lists; diagram plans towards concrete goals; and be flexible when things change!
– Build a strong network of peers with supportive relationships.
– Some graduate programs may foster competitive environments between students due to competition for funding. Other programs may guarantee funding for all, therefore reducing the level of competition in the lab. You may work better in one environment or the other!
– Manage your expectations. Every student’s experience is unique, so try not to compare yourself to others.
“The UW-led AI Institute for Dynamic Systems will focus on fundamental AI and machine learning theory, algorithms and applications for real-time learning and control of complex dynamic systems, which describe chaotic situations where conditions are constantly shifting and hard to predict.”
“Researchers know the basic physics principles behind dynamic systems, which include situations such as turbulence or how the body recovers from an injury. But these scenarios are often happening on multiple timescales at once and can be a combination of many types of physics, making it hard for researchers to understand exactly what’s going on. The overall goal of this institute is to integrate physics-based models with AI and machine learning approaches to develop data-enabled efficient and explainable solutions for challenges across science and engineering.”
“Additional UW researchers who are part of this institute are lead researcher Krithika Manohar, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Maryam Fazel, professor of electrical and computer engineering; Daniela Witten, professor of biostatistics; and David Beck, a research associate professor of chemical engineering.”
Geekwire also highlights the new institute: Washington state universities will lead AI research institutes funded by National Science Foundation
Fun story about a mathematician winning the Women’s Road Race in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics!
Anna Kiesenhofer is a postdoctoral fellow at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and is part of a group researching nonlinear partial differential equations which arise in mathematical physics. Kiesenhofer is also an Olympic gold medalist in an exciting and unexpected victory of road cycling!
“After escaping in a five-rider break right early in the 137 km route, Kiesenhofer went solo for the last 40 km in baking sunshine and held on for an audacious victory. So unexpected was her gold medal that when Dutch three-times world champion Annemiek Van Vleuten crossed the line one minute and 15 seconds later, Van Vleuten assumed she was the winner. The Dutch riders later claimed they had a lack of information on how far Kiesenhofer was ahead and Van Vleuten celebrated like a victory as she crossed the line, only to realize she had been beaten by a rider who gave a masterclass in race management.”
Make Your Own Calculations & Predictions:
“There was a board showing the time gaps but I never knew if I could trust it,” Kiesenhofer said.
“Before the race, Kiesenhofer had also been using her studies to prepare for the Games: earlier this month, she Tweeted a graph demonstrating her meticulous heat acclimation process in preparation for the temperatures in Tokyo.”
“Kiesenhofer’s entirely self-coached and that her game-plan for Tokyo – from nutrition and equipment to training and tactics – was entirely self-authored.”
Question What is Accepted as Unquestionable:
“Now I‘m old, I’m 30, and I started to realize that all those people who say they know, they actually don’t know. Many of them don’t know, and especially those who say that they know, don’t know, because those who do know say that they don’t know,” Kiesenhofer said.
Applied Mathematics is Extremely Useful (and Cool):
“I don’t need high level math for for this kind of calculations, but it’s kind of my mindset. I planned the race, I looked at the time, at the time where I might pass at some kilometers, how much food I have to take in and so on. I planned to attack at kilometer zero and I was happy I could get in front,” Kiesenhofer said.
Articles referenced:
Jones, A. (2021, July 26). Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion. Cycling News. https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/anna-kiesenhofer-mathematician-amateur-cyclist-olympic-champion/
Fletcher, P. (2021, July 26). Anna Kiesenhofer the anti-authoritarian ‘mastermind’ of her own Olympic glory. Cycling News. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/anna-kiesenhofer-the-anti-authoritarian-mastermind-of-her-own-olympic-glory/
Herman, M. (2021, July 25). Maths teacher Kiesenhofer schools Dutch masters. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/maths-teacher-kiesenhofer-schools-dutch-masters-2021-07-25/
The UW Career & Internship Center provides excellent ideas for students in search of an internship. Here are my favorites:
~ Create (and update!) your Handshake and LinkedIn accounts. Accounts cannot be linked, but it’s important to have both. Employers will absolutely review your LinkedIn account, and Handshake is the best way for them to recruit college-level students and recent graduates.
~ Complete your profile and career interests! Include examples in Work & Volunteer Experience, Organizations, Courses, and Projects. Specify your intentions in Job Interests, Cities, Roles, and Industries. 80% of employers will contact students with these sections completed. Employers may use keyword searches, so be sure to include words in your profile that match those roles you’re interested in. Only 23% of employers screen applicants by GPA –> experience matters more!
~ Use filters when searching! You could scroll through the thousands of available positions, with 25 new postings each day on average, or add filters to find roles that fit your interests and your preferred work location (plus lots of remote opportunities).
~ Look beyond brand names. Google and Amazon are great, but consider that about 50% of all postings receive 3 or less applications from students! Your chances to get an amazing internship could be dramatically increased if you apply to employers you haven’t heard of before.
~ Complete courses via LinkedIn Learning, and showcase courses on your LinkedIn profile. This shows employers that you’ve actively tried to develop your skills and improve yourself.
~ Search for Autumn/Winter/Spring internships in September or search for Summer internships in January/February. Employers post the most in Sept, Jan, Feb! In the 2019-20 academic year, over 9,300 internships were posted on Handshake: 81% were paid; 67% were for Summer; they lasted an average of 1-2 quarters long.
~ Network on Handshake. Attend employer events and organized career fairs (many will continue to be virtual). Read student reviews of employers, and ask those students questions. Post reviews yourself, even if you just interviewed with the employer.
~ 1st and 2nd year students can make resumes more attractive through undergraduate research, service learning, participation in student organizations, and experience from on-campus or off-campus jobs.
– Internships integrate academic learning with hands-on experience, allow students to develop new skills, and to explore different careers/sectors/work environments.
– Internships focus on student learning and center around defined projects, with defined start and end dates.
Doctoral student Michael Pearce and professor Adrian Raftery of the UW Department of Statistics, use statistical modeling to examine the extremes of human life. The study was funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development. “They asked what the longest individual human lifespan could be anywhere in the world by the year 2100. Using Bayesian statistics, the researchers estimated that the world record of 122 years almost certainly will be broken, with a strong likelihood of at least one person living to anywhere between 125 and 132 years.”
“To calculate the probability of living past 110, Raftery and Pearce turned to the most recent iteration of the International Database on Longevity, created by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. That database tracks supercentenarians from 10 European countries, plus Canada, Japan and the United States.”
“Using a Bayesian approach to estimate probability, the UW team created projections for the maximum reported age at death in all 13 countries from 2020 through 2100. Among their findings:
– Researchers estimated near 100% probability that the current record of maximum reported age at death — Calment’s 122 years, 164 days — will be broken;
– The probability remains strong of a person living longer, to 124 years old (99% probability) and even to 127 years old (68% probability);
– An even longer lifespan is possible but much less likely, with a 13% probability of someone living to age 130;
– It is “extremely unlikely” that someone would live to 135 in this century.”
Graph from PEW Research Center’s World’s centenarian population projected to grow eightfold by 2050, by Renee Stepler.
Yes, this is a blog for our undergrad majors, but we want you to have those grad school resources in your back pocket if/when you decide to pursue graduate school!
Odegaard Writing & Research Center have teamed up with UW grad students to produce a podcast on graduate writing, featuring conversations about interdisciplinary writing from writers across programs and stages of writing. Two grad writers in each episode of the 5-part series share their experiences, strategies, and encouragement. Listen in as UW writers talk about what works for them and how to work around some of the pitfalls they have encountered. Check out both seasons to find strategies that are “write for you”!
Ivana Bozic, a professor in our UW Department of Applied Mathematics, applies mathematical approaches to understand how cancer evolves and how more effective treatments can be designed by optimizing the timing of targeted therapies and immunotherapy.
Professor Bozic was also selected as the 2021 Mathematics recipient in the Johnson & Johnson Scholars Award Program.
– Expand your network, participate in discussions, find a mentor, seek professional advice, and explore professional development resources.
– UW Libraries borrowing privileges and EBSCO online journals
– Discounts to UW facilities and services, plus benefits with alumni-owned & PNW businesses
– Invitations to members-only and select UW public events
– UWAA member communications
This talk will position service learning as a pedagogical tool that allows for a focus on diversity, inclusion, outreach, and belonging in mathematics. The first service-learning course offered by the Department of Mathematics at The Ohio State University will be highlighted: “Intersections of Mathematics of Society: Hidden Figures.” Service learning will be discussed — what it is, what it isn’t, and ways the reflective activities tied to this approach can be utilized in other types of undergraduate math courses.
Ranthony Edmonds is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of
Mathematics at The Ohio State University. Her research lies in Pure
and Applied Algebra. She completed her PhD in Mathematics in 2018 at
the University of Iowa.
Hear from UW students and alumni who have pursued English Teaching Abroad with Fulbright and other similar programs.
~ Register here
UW alums will share their experiences applying for an participating in globally-focused scholarships and fellowships including Bonderman travel fellowship, Boren Scholarship for Study Abroad, DAAD Study and Research Scholarship in Germany, Fulbright, and more!
~ Register here
UW students and alums will share their experiences pursuing programs like Fulbright to fund their graduate level study or independent research abroad.
~ Register here
Learn how to do your part to protect your neighbors and co-workers when bias and harassment collide in front of you. Hollaback! gives you tools to intervene as a bystander when you may otherwise feel uncomfortable intervening, and practice using those tools in real-life difficult situations. Register here for a free upcoming training: righttobe.org/our-training/
BYSTANDER INTERVENTION TRAININGS AVAILABLE:
– To Address Gender-Based Street Harassment
– For Youth: How to Stand Up For Others
– In the Workplace
– To Stop Voter Harassment at the Polls
– To Stop Police Sponsored Violence and Anti-Black Racist Harassment
– To Stop Anti-LGBTQIA+ Harassment
– To Address Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment
– How to Be an Ally When You Witness Online Abuse
– To Stop Stigma Around Learning Differences
OTHER TRAININGS:
– Conflict De-Escalation in the Workplace
– Conflict De-Escalation During Covid-19
– Sexual Harassment Prevention in the Workplace
– How to Respond to Anti-Asian/American Harassment When it Happens to You
– 8 Tools to Mitigate Implicit Bias
– What To Do When You Experience Online Abuse
– Resilience in the Workplace
– Resilience in the Face of Covid-19
> Distract: Interrupt a situation to de-escalate.
> Delegate: Ask someone nearby for help.
> Document: Record what you witnessed and share with the impacted person.
> Delay: Check in later with the impacted person.
> Direct: Speak up. Be firm and clear.
** Knowing the tools is not enough. You need to practice the methods. When is it safe to intervene, and when is it not safe? Repetition helps: it will be hard to think fast in a difficult situation.
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UW SafeCampus Violence Prevention & Response TrainingSafeCampus provides training to all UW staff, faculty, and students. During the virtual/live interactive training, participants are asked to consider their unique role in preventing violence at the UW. You’ll explore warning signs of different forms of violence and discuss workplace violence, relationship violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and suicide. Your toolkit of response strategies will be expanded by briefly practicing bystander intervention techniques and building your understanding of campus resources. Register here for a free upcoming training: washington.edu/safecampus/training-options/
Questions? Contact safecampus@uw.edu
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UW EPIC Training: Empowering Prevention & Inclusive CommunitiesEPIC is a program to prevent sexual harassment and gender discrimination. EPIC was created by and for UW academic student employees and postdoctoral scholars — including graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, research assistants, staff assistants, graders, and tutors.
EPIC’s goal is to respond to the needs of departments and communities and work to:
– Shift UW culture and create new community norms
– Empower academic student employees and postdoctoral scholars to prevent and respond to sexual harassment
– Support academic student employees and postdoctoral scholars in identifying how power and identity intersect to create oppressions that facilitate sexual harassment and discrimination in academia
The Asian American community is diverse and vibrant, but the media generally paints generic narratives for all Asian Americans such as the “model minority” stereotype. However, subtle differences in backgrounds can shape someone’s profession, work style, and motivation. During this panel, women in STEM participants from various Asian cultures discuss their unique Asian American narratives and how those experiences shaped their professional careers.
Industry Panelist – Northrop, with speakers Joy Gu, Michelle Cheng, and Cheryl DeCarvalho.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more a part of our everyday lives. Some in obvious ways like home assistants, smart devices, and robotics and some in less obvious ways like the algorithms that decide which shows are recommended for you on Netflix. If you are interested in learning more about the world of AI and how to launch a career in the field, this panel event is a great way to hear from other Huskies working at companies like Microsoft and Apple who have done the same.
This will be a moderated panel to start and then move into an open Q&A with the audience, so come ready with questions! This panel will likely not be recorded and is only available live, so we look forward to ‘seeing’ you there.
This panel event is presented by the Career & Internship Center, in partnership with the UW Alumni Association, as part of our ongoing Alumni Panel Series for students.
The University of Washington Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will host national Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Professor Karen Fleming of the Department of Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University. The full schedule of events is available on the UW PBK web site.
Dr. Fleming’s visit is co-sponsored by the Department of Chemistry, the ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change, and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Sciences and Engineering.
Panelists will discuss how they’re using data science to make an impact in the fields of government and education. Bring questions!
Jane Barker is a Senior Data Scientist at Seattle Public Schools, where she serves as a technical lead for the district 9th Grade Success Tracker and works with district stakeholders to identify areas of inquiry and develop supporting analyses. She also leads a research study investigating how district teachers and staff members interact with district data platforms and dashboards to identify opportunities for improved usefulness and usability. She has developed machine learning models predicting on-time graduation and college and career readiness, and leveraged causal inference methods to explore factors predicting participation in remote learning platforms.
James Lamar Foster is a Ph.D. Candidate at The University of Washington’s Education Policy, Organizations, and Leadership program in the College of Education. His work investigates questions at the intersections of race, place, policy, and practice. His current research uses analytical approaches from critical theory and organizational theory in concert with computational methods to understand how school leaders create conditions to foster marginalized students’ social and emotional development.
An alum of the MSDS program, Richard Todd is Data Analytics Lead for the City of Seattle; in this role he is lead data scientist in the Office of the Mayor and responsible for the City-wide data science program. Projects range from ad-hoc business intelligence to predictive modelling and A/B testing; they cover the breadth of City service areas from homelessness services, to utility customer outreach and library loans!
Livestream panel discussions with women who are alumni from universities across Washington state and work at Google in the Seattle metro area. Panelists will share and explore how they have leveraged their education and their personal experiences to find a fulfilling non-technical career in technology, and what has been most impactful for them along the way. You’ll hear from women in leading roles across all non-tech positions such as sales and marketing, project management, finance, recruiting, human resource and user experience. Google is offering three YouTube livestream sessions to choose from.
To attend, connect to the unique YouTube livestream link below:
While this series is focused on those that identify as female/she/her/they, talks are inclusive to anyone who would like to join.
Join UW alum Andrew Weckerly to learn about different types of consulting, a day in the life of a consultant, and potential paths to consulting from non-traditional business backgrounds. This will be a 30-minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of Q&A.
About Andrew: Andrew Weckerly graduated from the University of Wisconsin with undergraduate degrees in Political Science, East Asian Studies, and Chinese. He graduated from UW with a master’s degree in China Studies. Andrew currently works for the world’s largest professional services firm as a Senior Consultant in their Human Capital practice.
Co-hosted by the UW Alumni Association, UW eSports, and the Career & Internship Center, join the conversation with UW alumni who have spent their years post-grad pursuing careers in the gaming industry.
This event will be held over four consecutive Friday evenings, with different activities and raffle prizes for each day. Links will be weekly to each of the live stream events on the Facebook event page and the Grey Matters Facebook page, as well as on the website, greymattersjournal.org/ewn.
April 16 @ 5 pm PDT: Kick off EWN with Neurotechnology demonstration by UW Synaptech and Dr. Fatma Inanici. tiny.cc/ewn21neurotech
April 23 @ 5 pm PDT: Tune in for a brain dissection led by Dr. Ric Robinson and Dr. Kate Mulligan. tiny.cc/ewn21dissection
April 30 @ 5 pm PDT: View a neuroscience art presentation by Greg Dunn. tiny.cc/ewn21dunnart
May 7 @ 5 pm PDT: Panel of neuroscientists (listed below) will be answering your questions about neuroscience. tiny.cc/ewn21panel
* Live closed captions will be available for all livestreams, and organizers will be reuploading the live stream with edited captions afterward.
The event will be hosted by the Master of Science in Data Science at UW. Three data scientists will talk about their experience working in data science in the health sector. Bring your questions!
Kate Hertweck is Bioinformatics Training Manager at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where they support the efforts of biomedical researchers to learn and apply data and computational skills.
Elizabeth Montague is an MSDS alum who works as an Analytics Manager at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She leads a collaborative team of data scientists, engineers, and analysts that provide data solutions and analyses for hospital operations.
Saraswathi Sathees is a Data Scientist at UW Medicine in the Virology Division. She is currently working with UW virology investigators and analysts to develop data models, organize and analyze clinical data.
If you would like to attend, email networking@uwseba.org by 10:00 am on April 15 with your full name, updated resume, and two to three sentences detailing why this networking lunch would be interesting and valuable to you.
Bio: Jeff is currently a Senior Strategic Account Manager for Synthego Corporation, the genome engineering innovation company. Synthego’s genome engineering platforms enable broader access to CRISPR to accelerate basic scientific discovery, uncover cures for diseases, and support the development of cell and gene therapies. Jeff has also worked for Pacific Biomarkers, a clinical biomarker testing company, and ZwitterTech, a UW spin out company. He received a PhD in Bioengineering from the UW, where he was also actively involved with SEBA, serving in multiple leadership roles including president.
SEBA Networking Lunches: SEBA holds lunch and/or happy hour sessions twice a month. Though these lunches are typically held off-campus, in light of COVID-19 they will be held virtually, via Zoom. These events are open to science and engineering undergrads, grad students, and postdocs. Participants gain exposure to new industries, get information on specific career paths, make valuable connections, and practice networking in a casual setting. Events are limited to a small group (around 5-7 participants). Active SEBA members are given event priority.
In the April 2021 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Thomas Fleming shares their experience in a hedge fund along with some advice on how to succeed in the finance industry. Fleming includes a discussion of different categories of companies that offer jobs to the “mathematically inclined”: sell-side firms or broker/dealers; investment managers; hedge funds; proprietary trading companies; fintechs. Did you know that mathematicians can be found in the “front, middle, and back offices” of finance industry firms as desk quants, researchers, risk managers, and quant developers? Fleming has worked as a desk quant at a top sell-side firm and as a risk manager at a major hedge fund. The article also offers discussion of office culture and skills necessary to get your first job in finance.
– Follow your interests
– Attend career fairs
– Cast a wide networking net
– When asked a technical question during an interview, think out loud and communicate your thought process
– Understand how the business works and how you can contribute to its improvement
– Learn and use effective time management skills
– Acquire fluency in programming and data manipulation (e.g. scripting languages Python and R, the query language SQL, and C++)
– Be familiar with the practical application of calculus, linear algebra, computational simulations, probability, statistics, regression, point estimation
– Nonparametric statistics and machine learning are used in forecasting roles, as well as econometrics, including factor models, filtering, and time-series techniques
– Stochastic calculus is used in some pricing models
– Knowledge of optimization algorithms and how to apply them in practice
For February’s Black History Month, many organizations celebrated individuals in the Black/African American community who have made contributions in the fields of Mathematics, Statistics, Science, and Technology, among others.
Check out these incredible people!
Mathematically Gifted & Black: “Black History Month 2021 Honorees”
American Statistical Association AMSTAT News: “Celebrating Black History Month”
Several relevant articles in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society
Check out this video from on the Mathematics: The Winton Gallery website. It tells powerful stories about the work of mathematicians in the broadest sense, from salespeople to sailors, aircraft engineers to bankers, and gamblers to garden designers.
These stories span 400 years of human ingenuity from the renaissance to the present day, with objects ranging from intriguing hand-held mathematical instruments to a 1929 experimental aircraft.
From war and peace to life, death, money, trade and beauty, the objects in Mathematics: The Winton Gallery reveal how mathematics has shaped our world and connects to every aspect of our lives.
UW AMath/CFRM Undergrad News and Opportunities 