Emmy Noether High School Mathematics Day

Workshops for Students

Music is math. Sounds good? [MATH 016]
Dr. Giorgio Bornia
Music is the place where sounds meet feelings. We play music because we feel. We listen to music because we feel. And guess what? Mathematics - apparently such a cold discipline - takes part in this emotional process. We will explore the world of music through mathematics. In this journey, a good old companion will lead us: the guitar.

Parallel lines never meet, or do they? [MATH 109]
Dr. Lars Christensen
We learn in geometry class that parallel lines never meet, but every time we let our eyes follow a straight stretch of highway all the way to the horizon, we doubt it. Of course mathematics has a way to make sense of what we see. In projective geometry, two parallel lines do meet in a point infinitely far away! And, actually, a line and a parabola always have two intersection points, provided that one looks carefully and counts properly.

Next Up! [MATH 111]
Dr. Raegan Higgins
This will be a hands-on introduction to difference equations. We will introduce a variety of basic sequences and see how to establish recursive relationships.

Carthage, Oxhide, and Mathematics [MATH 112]
Dr. Hung Tran
We talk about the legendary foundation of Carthage by Queen Dido, based on a piece of oxhide and some clever mathematics. It is an example of a broader theme of optimization problems which have several practical applications. There will be soap bubbles, architecture, and fun.

The city of Lubbock is running away! [MATH 010]
Dr. Dimitri Volchenkov
Cities are among the largest and most complex artificial networks created by human beings. At the same time the city is the ever biggest communication editor that determines not only our present social and economic well- being but for those generations to come, as providing an interface for our everyday mutual interactions. The speed and scale of urban growth require urgent global actions to help cities prepare for growth and to avoid them of being the future epicenters of poverty and human suffering. Recently, we have accomplished a study on urban dynamics of Lubbock. Due to structural factors of early urban development, our city runs south-west at a speed of about 200 yards per year that determines not only our present social and economic well-being but for those generations to come. The Texas Tech University is anchored in its historical campus and cannot follow the city running away. Situated on the boundary of urban areas going downhill, the University should search for a partnership with the Lubbock City Council and state government for a major downtown expansion of its campus in the neighborhoods falling into disrepair and decrepitude.

How fast can you react? [MATH 114]
Dr. Min Wang
During the workshop, we will find several student volunteers to collect their reaction time data using online tools and then present the basic idea of statistics to how to display and analyze the data and make comparisons among different data sets. This activity will help students gain some insights about applications of statistics in daily life.

Project Lazarus [MATH 113]
Dr. Brock Williams
This session will be a hands-on introduction to LAZARUS, the Lab for the Analysis of Zombie Activity and Research into Undead Simulations. We'll discuss the math we use to model zombie outbreaks. We'll visit the lab's GPU cluster so you can see how a supercomputer is constructed. Finally, we'll describe the outreach mission of the lab and do some hands-on experimentation with our web resources.

Workshops for Teachers

An Invitation to Projective Geometry [MATH 115]
Dr. David Weinberg
By introducing a new system of coordinates, a new world of geometry is revealed. The projective line, the projective plane, and points at infinity will be explained. We will see why there are no parallel lines in projective geometry (they intersect at infinity). Time permitting, we will see the great unifying power of projective geometry by studying conic sections in the projective world.

Is there a perfect exam question? [MATH 115]
Dr. Jerry Dwyer
This talk explores issues of assessment in mathematics. Is it possible to design an exam question that tests deep conceptual knowledge of a topic? Are exams the best way of testing students' content knowledge? Is there any merit in multiple choice tests? Should teachers be graded on their students' test scores?

   The Career Panelists

Raegan Higgins, Ph. D.
    Raegan Higgins didn't always love math. In her eyes, it was a class that everyone had to take. It wasn't hard nor was it easy; it just was. Upon placing out of Pre-Algebra in middle school, Raegan entered Algebra which quickly became her adversary. With little Pre-Algebra background, she struggled in the course she called "The Land of Unknowns." With a very encouraging no-nonsense teacher and parents who only asked for their daughter's best, Raegan excelled in Algebra and became an aspiring mathematician.
    In 2008, Raegan was one of the first two African-Americans to earn a doctoral degree in Mathematics from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. She had officially become a mathematician. In that same year, she joined the faculty at Texas Tech University. Her primary research focuses on determining conditions in which solutions to differential-like equations eventually stay positive or negative. She now has her first doctoral student and has advised several master's students. Dr. Higgins has also published over 10 papers.
    Because of her own experience as a person of color pursuing a STEM degree, she understands the importance of creating supportive environments where underrepresented students can thrive. In 2013, Dr. Higgins co-founded Young Women in Mathematics (now The Raiders Chapters of the Association for Women in Mathematics). This group provides a unique opportunity for TTU women to empower, motivate, and support one another in a field where they may face obstacles due to their gender. In 2014, the West Texas Association for Women in Science recognized her as the Outstanding Woman Leader for her commitment to the education, training, and mentoring of women in STEM. Most recently, she became the co-director of the EDGE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) Program whose goal is to strengthen the ability of women students to successfully complete PhD programs in the mathematical sciences and place more women in visible leadership roles in the mathematics community.
    Raegan enjoys watching home improvement shows and bowling. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and is the president of the local alumnae chapter. Raegan and her handsome husband, Dr. Kamau Oginga Siwatu, are the proud parents two lovely children. Their daughter, Jalia, is an inquisitive eight-year old and son, Tendaji, is a fun-loving kindergartner.

Aliza Wong, Ph.D.
    Aliza Wong had many career paths. When she was 7, she wanted to be a hair stylist. Unfortunately, a tragic haircut on her sister's Cinderella doll soon called that plan into question. The dream was completely dashed when Aliza, aged 9, unbeknownst to her parents, gave her little brother a "little" trim. The surprisingly geometrical chunk missing from the back of his head confirmed that Aliza's future would not include being a beauty consultant to the stars.
    Undeterred, Aliza soon realized that her next greatest love, reading, writing, learning, could provide the satisfaction and fulfillment adults seek. A lifelong student, Aliza soon chose a life of scholarship, pedagogy, and public engagement. An award winning teacher and researcher, Aliza began working at Texas Tech in 2002 and has reveled in the opportunities the university has offered her in working with some of the most curious, most creative, and most committed students in the state of Texas. An Italianist by training, Aliza teaches courses such as Europe and the Second World War, Popular Culture and History, History of Italian Fascism, and the History of the Italian Mafia. In addition, she invites selected Honors students to travel with her to Rome, Florence, and Milan to witness the intersections of architecture, engineering, history, culture, and society. She asks students to contemplate the quiet peace of Jesus's face as he reveals to his disciples that one of them will betray him in :Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper. She asks students to compare the youthful optimism revealed in Michelangelo's Pieta' in St. Peter's sculpted when he was 23 years old with the maturity and weight of the Pieta' Rondanini in the Milanese Castello Sforzesco left unfinished when he was 90 years old. She asks students to walk in the footsteps of the gladiators at the Colosseum in Rome and consider what they will leave behind, how they will change the world.
    Because that is Aliza's philosophy - that students should not only seek answers, but should strive to ask more questions, to push beyond, to challenge limits. And in so doing, Aliza is not only teacher, but student.

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