A Word from the Chair By Bernard Deconinck Third newsletter in this electronic format already!  A quiet year in some ways, and an eventful one in other ways. First, I want to extend my thanks to Professor Randy LeVeque who stepped in as acting chair, while I was on sabbatical in Autumn and Winter Quarters. You never fully leave being chair behind, but Randy made my life while I was away a lot easier. I suspect some of you might not read this entire letter, so I will put the…

Applied Mathematics: The Next 50 YearsJune 17-22, 2019 (Registration begins February 2019) Applied Mathematics at UW started in 1969 when Carl Pearson founded the Applied Mathematics Committee, which was a vehicle for the teaching of some applied math courses. Through different steps (the Applied Math group, the Applied Math program), this effort resulted in the formation of the Department of Applied Mathematics in 1985. In 2019, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Applied…

By Prof. K.K. Tung, Applied Mathematics During the Decadal Program Review conducted this April, the Department posed the following question to the Program Review Committee: Should the Department establish an undergraduate major in applied mathematics?  This may seem like a strange question, as almost every applied mathematics department in the US has its own undergraduate major. (There are some exceptions but these are the non-departmental units such as joint programs among…

By Jack Simonson, CFRM MS Graduate When I started the Computational Finance and Risk Management (CFRM) program I truly had little-to-no idea of what I would wind up doing once I graduated. I had vague notions of what I might do and areas of study that interested me, but what company or job description I wanted to wind up with was still a mystery. I imagine that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way when entering the program, but hopefully what I can say here will help assuage some of…

By Emily Curtis, Applied Mathematics MS graduate When I applied to the applied math MS program over a year ago, my plan was to become a data scientist. I’d seriously considered a career as an engineer, an actuary and in statistical analysis, but was drawn by the growing field of data science. I thought the Applied Math program would give me an opportunity to grow my skills and provide me with the qualifications I needed to start my career. While this was absolutely true, that isn’t…

Doctors of Philosophy    Tommaso Buvoli Advisor: Randall J. LeVequePolynomial-Based Methods for Time Integration  Trevor A. Caldwell Advisor: Anne GreenbaumK-Spectral Sets and Functions of Nonnormal Matrices  Brisa N. Davis Advisor: Randall J. LeVequeAdjoint-Guided Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Hyperbolic Systems of Equations Kameron D. Harris Advisor: Eric Shea-BrownThis Brain is a Mess: Inference,…

SIAM UW AwardRecipient: Benjamin LiuFor exceptional service to the University of Washington Chapter of SIAM for the 2017-2018 academic year. Joseph Hammack Endowment AwardRecipient: Jithin GeorgeFor exemplary work by a student in the Department of Applied Mathematics.Tung Family Endowment AwardRecipient: Jacob PriceFor exemplary work by a student in the Department of Applied Mathematics. Boeing Teaching Award, StudentRecipient: Lowell…

  Bahman Angoshtari has been a Research Associate in the Department of Applied Mathematics since August 2018. He holds a DPhil in Mathematics from University of Oxford, and has served as a postdoctoral researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Bahman’s research interests include applications of stochastic optimization and control theory, with primary focus on models of optimal portfolio choice and risk management in finance and…

By Jacob Price (graduate) and Kelsey Marcinko, Applied Mathematics PhD students In Fall 2017, one of the authors of this article (Jake Price) organized a graduate student reading group focusing on topics in college mathematics education. The other author (Kelsey Marcinko) has been an extremely active member of the new group. We sought to familiarize ourselves and the department with the current state of college mathematics education research. The group, which consisted of approximately…

By Guðmundur Heimisson, AMath Online MS Student Math is often described as the "universal language," usually by non-mathematicians (or worse, physicists). Sometimes a quasi-mystical meaning is attached to mathematical notation, or even particular symbols, to the extent that the uninitiated might be forgiven for thinking that if aliens descended from the sky we would be able to communicate with them if we just used the Greek alphabet along with a few made-up pseudo-Greek symbols…

By Krithika Manohar, Applied Mathematics PhD graduate After graduating this summer with a PhD in applied math, I am headed to a postdoctoral position at Caltech. Many people confuse a postdoc with even more schooling. I’ve had to explain to my exasperated grandparents that a postdoc is more of a research apprenticeship, and that I am, in fact, done with “schooling”. Some of my friends still think of PhD students as perpetual students, when in reality we quickly diverge from taking…

By Felix Ye, Applied Mathematics PhD graduate I cannot believe my PhD study is over. I had been in Seattle for so long that I almost don’t remember which year I started. I participated in so many others’ graduation ceremonies and now, finally, it was my turn. My memory of classes, lectures, and life in Guggenheim and Lewis Hall are still vivid. One particular memory was watching the precious winter sunsets from the window of the big PhD office in Guggenheim. I feel it was like…

By Keshanie Dissanayake, retired Administrator  I retired a few months ago after working at the UW for thirty-eight years, of which many years were spent at Applied Mathematics. I was not too certain of what to expect from life as a retiree, but to date it has been a very exciting experience. Since I retired, I have kept myself busy by traveling overseas with my husband and reconnecting with friends and relatives. As I move on, I would like to take a moment to remember the…

By Rachel Reichert, Applied Mathematics Administrator  I am very excited to have joined the Department of Applied Mathematics. I had heard that this department had dedicated competent staff and exceptionally wonderful faculty and I can honestly say my expectations have been far exceeded.  Beginning with my training from Keshanie Dissanayake (retired administrator) who did an exceptional job in providing a clear hand-off in duties and responsibilities and continuing with the…