Data Visualization Expo

Students in the DSCI 310 class have created a variety of visualization throughout the semester.  This exposition will allow the public to see a culmination of their abilities to visualize and tell a story with data.  For their final projects, students worked with the College Scorecard dataset which is published by the U.S. Department of Education.  This dataset provides a substantial amount of information about higher education institutions across the United States.  Students selected particular themes, e.g. Diversity, Family Support, Admissions, Student Load Debt and will showcase how Winona State University compares to other higher education institutions.

Student Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, December 5, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

What Affects U.S. Healthcare Insurance? Rounak (Ron) Kejriwal
We all rely on healthcare and insurance prices. If something unfortunate were to happen, we don’t have to pay for it (at least not entirely). We will find out exactly how much insurance prices have our back, and what affects these prices.
What Impacts How Fast Smart Windows Color?    Austin Ellingworth
	This summer I participated in a research experience at Colorado State University. I served as a statistical consultant for a team of chemists who were interested in what characteristics impact the speed at which smart windows change color.

Math Ed Panel

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, November 28, Gildemeister 329

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 319. 

Mathematics Education Question and Answer Session
Nicole Peterson Hastings High School WSU Alumna	Chad Wedan Holmen High School UW-La Crosse Alumnus	Zachary Zangl Winona Sr. High School WSU Student Teacher
Teachers from different schools and career stages will share their experiences in the teaching profession. This informal question and answer session will also provide the opportunity for audience members to ask questions about the student teaching experience, the job application process, and coaching opportunities.

Department Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, November 14, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

Use of accelerometer data to evaluate physical activity as a surrogate endpoint in heart failure clinical trials   Dr. Tracy Bergemann Senior Principal Statistician, Medtronic

Recent research regarding physical activity levels in heart failure patients shows a strong correlation with neurocognition and other more traditional functional assessments, such as the exercise capacity test. Accelerometer data from current implantable devices such as implantable cardiac defibrillators provides the opportunity to collect objective data as a heart failure patient goes about their daily activities. While increases in physical activity have face validity as a study objective in clinical trials, changes in summaries of the accelerometer recordings may function as a surrogate endpoint for traditional heart failure clinical outcomes. This talk will describe how surrogate endpoints are used in clinical trials and how their validity is assessed.

Student Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, November 7, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

Data Science in Banking and Investment Linh Nguyen
In the race to get ahead of all the banks downtown, Merchants Bank has been utilizing data science to improve efficiency and accuracy in reporting to make business decisions. My internship revolved around developing business intelligence (BI) applications for the executive board. Come hear my talk on FinTech and my project of investment in start-ups!
Forecasting Vending Machines at Fastenal   Sam Williams
	This summer I worked at Fastenal on two major supply chain projects, including Reset and Local Integrated Fulfillment Terminal (L.I.F.T.). During this talk, I will focus on the L.I.F.T. project, which includes providing support for vending machines. My main project consisted of building a model that will effectively and efficiently supply products with 100% accuracy.

Department Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, October 31, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

Mathematics for Sustainability   Dr. Jacob Duncan Winona State University

Some of the biggest challenges facing humanity today stem from issues surrounding environmental degradation and social injustice. This talk focuses on the WSU course called Mathematics for Sustainability wherein students use mathematical concepts to solve real-world problems pertaining to environmental and social sustainability.

Student Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, October 10, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

Predicting Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease with Machine Learning Models Stacey Miertschin
This past summer, I participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates at UNC-Greensboro. I worked on a team project exploring a data-driven approach to predicting diabetes and cardiovascular disease, evaluating performance characteristics of different machine learning models.
Match Making at Anthem Dental   Mariah Quam
	This summer I was a part of Anthem Dental's first ever internship program, working as a Business Analytics Project Intern within the Data Analytics team. My main project consisted of making a tool to get more accurate matches when comparing request for proposals (RFPs) against the company’s database.

Fall Picnic

Student Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, October 3, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

Plowing through the Data at Deere Reagan Buske
This past summer I worked as an intern at John Deere on the aftermarket analytics team. My main project was to build a multi-label classification model that predicts the work-type category. I will be talking about what I learned during my internship.
Data Quality Internship at Ediom   Akif Khan
	Ediom is a start-up company in Las Vegas that uses data to uncover valuable insights in the health-care industry. Working as a Data Quality Analyst Intern on the Market-Pulse team, I gathered unstructured data on medical equipment and brought it to a structured format in their local database, using various analytical tools to make my work more efficient.

SCUDEM III 2018 Modeling Challenge

SCUDEM III 2018 MODELING CHALLENGE

 Competition Saturday – 27 October 2018 

Registration: 1 Aug – 5 Oct  2018 – see simiode.org/scudem.

SIMIODE Challenge Using Differential Equation Modeling

Form a team and challenge yourselves in a friendly community to learn and show your skills in this unique competition for modeling with differential equations! Registration for teams of three high school or undergraduate students open until October 5, 2018.

Teams and coaches gather Saturday 27 October 2018 at local sites around the United States and beyond to present their findings at a day for presentation, networking, learning, faculty development, and awards – Outstanding, Meritorious, and Successful. For students there is a fun Math Bowl.

Challenge is the word we use for we believe this is truly a growth experience in modeling. Join us and grow!

Complete details and past results at simiode.org/scudem

Local WSU Contact:  Jacob.Duncan@winona.edu

Department Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, September 26, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

A Survey of Motivational Attitudes toward Statistics   Dr. April Kerby Winona State University

Attitudes toward statistics play an important role in a student’s statistics achievement and retention. In 2016, the Research on Statistics Attitudes workgroup began development of new instruments to measure attitudes towards statistics. This talk will discuss the resulting Survey of Motivational Attitudes toward Statistics (SOMAS), including the theoretical framework for the surveys based on Expectancy-Value Theory as well as the item development, subject-matter-expert review, pilot data collection, and exploratory factor analysis results.

Dr. Debnath Awarded WSU's Distinguished Faculty & Staff Award

Winona State University recently announced Dr. Joyati Debnath as the 2018 recipient of the Distinguished Faculty and Staff Award.

Debnath is currently a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at WSU, where she has taught since 1989. She received her B.S. in pure mathematics and her Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Iowa State University. She has received numerous honors and awards, including Best Teaching Award from Iowa State University (1987), Outstanding Woman of Education Award (1993), and Who’s Who Among American Teachers (1996). Prior to joining WSU, Debnath was a faculty member of the Mathematics and Computer Systems Department at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

A longtime advocate and mentor for female mathematicians, Debnath has led her career with a student-focused approach to her work. She was nominated for this award by a former student.

Debnath has research interests in the areas of integral transform theory and more recently in matrices and graph theory. She is an author/co-author of over 50 publications in numerous peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings and has made numerous research presentations at national and international conferences in mathematics and computer science.

Debnath is the recipient of many grants, including the National Science Foundation Instructional Laboratory Improvement grant, Center of Undergraduate Research in Mathematics grant and grants for WSU undergraduate student research.

She has served as a faculty director of the WSU Freshman Orientation Program and on numerous university committees, and has coordinated WSU’s Distinguished Lecture Series in Mathematics for several years.

In addition to her role and responsibilities at WSU, Debnath has been very involved in the Winona community, with active roles with the YMCA, Parents of the Winona Area Catholic Schools Association and Habitat for Humanity. She is also a frequent judge of research paper presentations at the annual Minnesota State Science Fair.

She resides in Winona and has one son, Shubham, who recently completed his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and resides in Miami.

The Winona State University Alumni Society annually recognizes alumni, faculty, staff and community members for their outstanding commitment to the university, its mission and to improving our world. For more information, visit http://www.winona.edu/alumni/awards.asp.

(source: Winona Daily News)

Department Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, September 12, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

Mathematical Balderdash with Calculus   Dr. Aaron Wangberg Winona State University

The world is a really messy place. Luckily, math can help. In this interactive discussion, we'll play a mathematical variation of Balderdash. Can you discover the hidden power of mathematical theorems? Can you discover when your math professor is lying?

Dr. Barry Peratt selected as MAA Distinguished Teacher for North Central Section

The selection committee for the North Central Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) has selected Dr. Barry Peratt as their winner for the 2018 Distinguished Teaching of University Mathematics Award. Peratt was announced as the winner at their spring meeting, which was held at Minnesota State Mankato April 20-21, 2018.

Peratt has been a tenure track faculty member at Winona State University since 1996 and has been responsible for teaching a wide variety of undergraduate mathematics courses. He has been heavily involved in curriculum reform of Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Differential Equations, and various service courses.

Peratt’s teaching style can be described in terms of interaction and motivation. Regarding the interactive element, even when he teaches a class more than once, it is always very unique because the composition of each class is unique. Student interest, mathematical background, and even the mixture of personalities determine how he approaches them with the material. Regarding the motivational element, he makes it intentional that he never introduces topics for which he cannot provide students with a solid motivation.  He believes that mathematics, even with more abstract subjects like Advanced Calculus, grew out of a need and were motivated by very real challenges that humans were attempting to negotiate.  This is a constantly present element in his teaching.

Students comment on his teaching evaluations that he has great projects in his courses. They state that it greatly impacts their learning of the material. He utilizes projects in all of his courses, from the very applied projects in his classes full of engineers to the very abstract and theoretical students in his classes such as Advanced Calculus, to the more pedagogically oriented ones in Modern Geometry.
“Peratt is the ‘Cadillac’ of mathematics professors,” said Nicole Williams, Professor and Chair of the Math Department. “He gets students through the material on a smooth ride where they learn the material, understand conceptually the content, and build expertise in procedural, application, and modelling skills.”

Outside of the classroom, Peratt has contributed to the field of mathematics teaching by collaborating on writing curriculum modular units for the Monterey Institute for Technology in Education, publishing articles on Topology, presenting at conferences, and working with students on undergraduate research projects.

He works diligently to ensure that WSU students are successful in their careers. Along with his outstanding understanding of students’ struggles, Peratt promotes an excellent learning environment and works diligently to ensure that WSU students are successful in their careers.

“As I look back over my life, I can see clearly how many people have played a role in forming me as a teacher, from my parents to former teachers, mentors, students, and colleagues.  I am deeply indebted to each of them,” said Peratt. “ It is only on their behalf, recognizing that this award properly belongs to all of them, that I feel I can sincerely receive and joyfully embrace this honor.”

Source: WSU News Blog

2018 Spring Awards Ceremony

Congratulations to all our AWESOME students!

Mu Sigma Rho Inductees

Pi Mu Epsilon Inductees

Departmental Scholarship Recipients
(more info about scholarship recipients)

Honored Graduates
Gabe Mancino-Ball -- Departmental Outstanding Student
Nick Meyer -- University Distinguished Student of Mathematics
Jimmy Hickey -- Departmental Outstanding Student
Megan Roth -- University Distinguished Student of Mathematics: Secondary Education

Student Research Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, April 25, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

Parametric Weibull Survival Regression Model of Coronary Heart Disease Courtney Steinmueller
This presentation explores the Framingham Heart Study, which began in 1948 and examined subject biennially for cardiovascular results. The goal of my research was to create a RShiny application that models survival analysis of the Framingham Heart Study data and identifies important predictors of Coronary Heart Disease.
Fastenal Data Research Assistant   Samantha Meyer
	My internship as a Data Research Assistant at Fastenal involves managing data and creating reports used for business decision-making. One big project I worked on was making a predictive model for forecasting Net Sales. Come learn about my experience.

Student Research Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, April 18, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

Fastenal Commodity Intelligence Analytics Eddie Schmit
In my internship at Fastenal, I worked on a country cost projection program for our supply chain. I took current country prices on certain parts and used their projections to try to predict cost from other countries of origin. In other projects, I used R and data manipulation to compare parts on different attributes. I also created programs using Excel VBA to optimize work flows.
Analyzing an Overwatch Player’s Skillset   David Stampley Jr.
	By scraping data from Overbuff and MasterOverwatch websites, we identified which hero from each of the four classes was the strongest. Building a logistic regression model, we were able to examine which statistics were most important to satisfy the condition of winning for the population of players in a given skill tier in comparison to the player codenamed Stampede20.

Student Research Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, April 11, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

NBA Draft Analytics Sam Dokkebakken
Analytics analyzing both individual and team sports performance have become increasingly important. My study centers on the NBA draft. The order in which players are drafted affects both a player’s salary and a team’s immediate and future personnel decisions. I will consider  the many factors that influence draft order, and will present the outcomes of my investigation.
Mathematics and Art: The Union of Two Beautiful Worlds   Talen Raben
	Visual artists face the problem of representing a three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. In this project, I develop a means of mapping points in three-space directly to points on a two-dimensional plane, and then use this method to create the image of a large architectural space.

MUDAC 2018

The Midwest Undergraduate Data Analytics Competition was held April 7-8, 2018 on the WSU campus.

MUDAC 2018 Quick Facts

• About 130 students from all over the Midwest participated; they represented over 20 universities
• About 20 academic advisers assisted the teams, volunteered to judge, etc.
• About 40 working professional assisted with judging of the outcomes
• Just short of 10 organizations participated in the job/internship fair

MUDAC 2018 Outcomes

• WSU was able to bring three teams to MUDAC 2018.
• There were 35 teams total – the top teams from Round #1 judging move into Round #2.  Two WSU teams made it to Round #2.  
• Outcomes:  WSU Team 05 took FIRST PLACE OVERALL!  WSU Team 26 made it to round #2 but did not place.  WSU Team 12 was ranked #7 (out of 35), and just narrowly missed making it into Round #2.

WSU Teams

• WSU Team 05 (1^st place overall): Bradley Erickson; Uzma Ghanzanfar; Brad Hennes; Jimmy Hickey
• WSU Team 26 (Top 5 finish): Thomas Gathje; Stacey Miertschin; Austin Ellingworth; Dalton Wardell
• WSU Team 12 (7^th place out of 35 teams): Kapil Khanal; David Stampley Jr; Mariah Quam; Reagan Buske

Student Research Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, April 4, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

My Mathematical Journey with the Z-Transform Gabriel Mancino-Ball
This presentation explores the theory of the Z-Transform and its applications. We will investigate an application of the Z-Transform in signal processing and learn how equalizers are used in music. We also discuss the use of asymptotic analysis of divergent series to approximate functions.
Chaotic Random Number Generation   Michael Holmblad
	This talk focuses on creating and testing a pseudo random number generator (PRNG). Our algorithm uses a chaotic dynamical system called the tent map. We discuss the process of modifying the tent map to produce a more random distribution, coding, testing, and final evaluation of the resulting number generator.

Student Seminar

12:00 - 12:25 PM, Wednesday, March 28, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

Database Application Development at Dougherty & Company Brad Hennes
My internship at Dougherty & Company, a Minneapolis investment bank/brokerage firm, focused on database application development and data management, creating applications to import, export, clean, and display various data. I’ll cover what I learned and show real examples of projects I've worked on.

SCUDEM 2018 Modeling Competition

Modeling First Differential Equations Build modeling skills Network with peers Students publish their models in SIMIODE Sample problems and SCUDEM 2017 results simiode.org/scudem

Saturday - 21 April 2018 Registration ends: 1 April 2018 - see simiode.org/scudem Student Competition Using Differential Equation Modeling Form a team and challenge yourselves in a friendly community to learn and show your skills in this unique competition for modeling with differential equations! Teams and coaches gather Saturday 21 April 2018 at over 95 local sites around the United States and beyond to present their findings at a day for presentation, networking, learning, and faculty development. Also for students there is a fun Math Bowl. Register at www.simiode.org/scudem before 1 April 2018.

Questions? Please contact: Lee Windsperger lwindsperger@winona.edu

Distinguished Lecture Series

Distinguished Lectures in Mathematics

Thursday, March 15th – Friday, March 16th

Dr. Arthur Benjamin – Mathemagician!
	Dr. Arthur Benjamin is the Smallwood Family Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. He is also a professional magician, and in his entertaining and fast-paced performance, Dr. Benjamin will demonstrate how to mentally add and multiply numbers faster than a calculator, compute the day of the week of any date in history, and other amazing feats of mind. For the last 25 years, Dr. Benjamin has presented his mixture of math and magic all over the world to thousands of groups. He has given three TED talks which have been viewed over 12 million times. He has authored several books and DVD course that share the beauty and magic of mathematics. His most recent book, "The Magic of Math" was a New York Times Bestseller. In 2012, he was selected by Princeton Review as one of The Best 300 Professors. He has received numerous awards for his writing and teaching from the Mathematical Association of America. Dr. Benjamin has appeared on many television and radio programs, including The Today Show, CNN, National Public Radio, and The Colbert Report. He has been profiled in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Scientific American, Discover, Omni, Esquire, People Magazine, and Reader's Digest. In their "Best of America" issue, Reader's Digest recently called him "America's Best Math Whiz."
The Bingo Paradoxes Thursday, March 15 Stark 103 12:45 - 1:45 pm Imagine you are walking past a crowded Bingo parlor with hundreds of people playing. Suddenly you hear one person excitedly call out "Bingo!" Is it more likely that they have 5 in a row, in a column, or on a diagonal? The answer will surprise you.
Mathemagician! Secrets of Mental Math Thursday, March 15 Stark 103 5:30 – 6:45 pm In this entertaining and fast-paced performance, Dr. Benjamin will demonstrate amazing calculation feats and reveal the secrets of mental math.
Mathematical Card Tricks Friday, March 16 Stark 103 9:00 - 9:50 am Dr. Benjamin will demonstrate several amazing card tricks based on mathematical principles, and then explain their secrets!

For further information contact: Joyati Debnath (jdebnath@winona.edu) or Steve Leonhardi (sleonhardi@winona.edu).

Department Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, February 7, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

NCAA March Madness: How WSU almost ruled the world with Linear Algebra   Dr. Aaron Wangberg Winona State University

The NCAA Men's Basketball tournament presents a fun mathematical challenge each year: Pick the best bracket and claim bragging rights for a year. In 2017, WSU students used techniques of linear algebra to pick their bracket in friendly competitions among a sportscaster, a basketball coach, WSU's mascot (Wazoo), and 19 million of our nearest friends on ESPN's bracket challenge. In this talk, we'll highlight the techniques used to choose the bracket and show how we came within seven points of ruling the ESPN bracket world.

Annual Spaghetti Dinner

Click Here to RSVP

Click Here to RSVP

Department Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, January 17, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

Fingerprinting with Technology Toby Schmidt Data Security Officer Winona State University