41st Annual WKU Mathematics Symposium

41st Annual Mathematics Symposium
Western Kentucky University

February 25, 2022 | 3:00PM - 9:15PM

Ogden College Hall & Snell Hall

Free Registration | Send your abstracts to ozkan.ozer@wku.edu by Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Click the above link for the detailed schedule with a full list of abstracts.

On behalf of Organizing Committee and our sponsors, thank you to all who attended the Math Symposium at Western Kentucky University. We hope attendees learned something new in mathematics and made some fruitful connections throughout the day.

Please fill out the satisfaction survey here.

Congratulations to the best three presentations from the SIAM Student Chapter Sponsored Session on Applied Mathematics and Computer Programming!

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Matthew Poynter, Junior

First Place ($100)

Title: Wolfram Demonstration Projects to Simulate the Control of Vibrations on a Three-layer Beam
Advisor: Dr. Ozkan Ozer
Bio: Matthew Poynter is a Gatton academy Graduate and WKU Junior. As a Premedical Student, Matthew has chosen to break away from the traditional biochemistry major pathway, and pursue a mathematics degree. Matthew is a devout Christian and active member of Crossland Community Church in Bowling Green, KY. In his free time, Matthew enjoys spending time outdoors. In the summer, he can be found at Green River lake, where he enjoys watersports like waterskiing and wakeboarding. In the cooler months, he is an avid hunter and fisherman.

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Nikhil Akula, Gatton Academy

Second Place ($60 shared)

Title: Using Mathematica to Create an Uno Card Game
Bio: Nikhil Akula is a Student Researcher currently attending the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science on the campus of Western Kentucky University. He has conducted research in Mycobacteriophages and Computer Science.

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Anish Penmecha, Gatton Academy

Second Place ($60 shared)

Title: Using Mathematica to Create an Uno Card Game
Bio: Anish Penmecha is a senior at the Gatton Academy. Anish is from Frankfort, Kentucky. After graduation, he plans to study biology on a pre-med track. Anish enjoys playing soccer and swimming. Anish is currently conducting research with Dr. Richard Schugart.

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Allen Lin, Gatton Academy

Third Place ($40)

Title: Properties of Pólya's Circular Symmetrization
Advisor: Sarah Tammen
Bio: Allen Lin (he/him) is a Gatton Academy senior from Northern Kentucky. He is currently researching special values of types of Dirichlet series with Dr. Dominic Lanphier of Western Kentucky University. He also worked with Sarah Tammen and other members of the Department of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a student researcher at the Research Science Institute, a research program held at MIT and sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education for 80 high school students, selected internationally. He has presented at numerous conferences, including the Kentucky Section of the Mathematics Association of America, and his work has been accepted to the Joint Mathematics Meetings, the largest math conference in the world. At the Gatton Academy, he leads tutoring sessions in Calculus I, Calculus II, and higher mathematics as a peer tutor. He hopes to communicate his passion for mathematics with others, change the stereotype about mathematics, and create a world where he never hears the words “I’m awful at math” again. Allen plans to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics. Outside of mathematics, Allen volunteers at the Hardin Planetarium. His favorite reads are Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, and his least favorite reads are any mathematics literature not written in LaTeX.