Each fall upper level mathematics and data science majors pursue an in-depth research study that enables them to apply their developing analytical skills to a research question of their choice. The Mathematics Seminar project is the third part of the program sequence that specifically targets the development of the mathematical thinking of program graduates. Prior to this research emphasis students have completed a semester of creative problem solving and a semester of formal reasoning. Students will culminate these experiences in the senior capstone. This year’s researchers with their topics are listed below:
- Emily Stutzman – “52! Exploring the Math of Card Shuffling”
- Nathan Jackson – “Physarum: A Tool for Graph Theory”
- Ethan Elliot – “The House Always Wins in Bulgarian Blackjack”
- Sterling Davis – “Foundation and Application of Bezier Curves”
- Dylan Ochs – “Body Mass Index: The Simple Yet Complex Measurement of Body Fat and Health Risks”
- Nicole Braz Domene – “Understanding the Mathematics Behind GPS”
- Grant Humerickhouse – “The Prisoner’s Dilemma”
- Jackson Dahlin – “Why did NFL teams suddenly realize 2 > 1?”
- Rebekah Firestone – “Predicting Party Affiliation from Public Voter Registration Data”
- Sylvia Huang – “Optimal Pacing Strategy for Time Trial Cycling: A Three-Parameter Critical Power Optimization Model”
- Lydia Pentecost – “The Four Color Hypothesis”
- Noelle McGill – “Chaos Theory and the Butterfly Effect: Implications for Weather Prediction”
- Ashlyn Warmington – “From Probability to Calculus: A Deeper Look at the Birthday Problem”
- Mark Lee – “Iterations of Quadratics in R and their Chaotic Behavior”
taylormath.com 