10. You want to know what mathematics is really about.
9. You want to know more about the research being conducted by mathematicians at Kent State.
8. You are a math major.
7. You secretly wish you were a math major.
6. You want to know more about career options for math majors.
5. You want to understand WHY that formula holds.
4. You laughed at one or more of the cartoons on the right.
3. You are still reading this list.
2. You would even consider spending a Friday afternoon listening to a math talk.
1. You really like pizza.

Talks in this colloquium series are geared toward undergraduate students interested in mathematics.
If you are a current math major or if you're just curious about math, then you will want to join us for these talks!

NEXT EVENT

Speaker: Professor Kevin Woods
Oberlin College Department of Mathematics

Title: Generating Functions and the Two Stamp Problem

Abstract:
We'll take a look at the following question: "Given two denominations of stamps, a cents and b cents, what is the largest postal rate that we cannot pay exactly?" This is called the Frobenius problem with two generators. Using generating functions, we'll get a nice formula for the answer.

Then we'll take a look at a wide variety of questions that we can answer using this same sort of generating function. In general, generating functions can often encode a seemingly complicated set (such as the set of postal rates that can be paid with a cent and b cent stamps) in a nice, compact form. Then we can use the generating functions to answer questions like "Is this set nonempty?" "What is its cardinality?" "What is its minimal element?" We'll also survey other interesting applications of generating functions.

FUTURE EVENTS

PAST EVENTS

Speaker: Professor John Oprea
Cleveland State University Department of Mathematics

Title: Mathematics and Soap Films

Speaker: Professor Morley Davidson
Kent State Department of Mathematical Sciences

Title: The Mathematics of Speed-Solving Rubik's Cube

Speaker: Zach Riel, Undergraduate Mathematics Major, Kent State

Title: An Undergraduate Research Experience in Modern Algebra

Speaker: Professor Per Enflo
Kent State Department of Mathematical Sciences

Title: What happened to the Neandertals?

Friday, March 2, 2007

Speaker: John McVey, Ph.D.
National Security Agency (NSA)

Title: Mathematical Life at NSA

Speaker: Timothy A. Davis, Ph.D.
Goodyear Technical Center, Tire Physics and Computational Mechanics

Title: An Applied Mathematician's Experience in Industry

Title: Panel Discussion on Graduate School in Mathematics and Related Fields

Confirmed Panelists:

• Joe Diestel, Professor and former Graduate Coordinator, Kent State Department of Mathematical Sciences
• Kazim Khan, Professor and former Graduate Coordinator, Kent State Department of Mathematical Sciences
• Mark Lewis, Associate Professor and current Graduate Coordinator, Kent State Department of Mathematical Sciences
• Judith Melillo, Associate Professor in Curriculum and Instruction for Mathematics Education, Kent State Department of Teaching, Leadership and Curriculum Studies
• Tom Wakefield, current Graduate Student, Kent State Department of Mathematical Sciences

Speaker: Professor Morley Davidson
Kent State Department of Mathematical Sciences

Title: The Mathematics of Rubik's Cube