Department Seminar
12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, March 20, Gildemeister 155
Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135.
Picking your NCAA Bracket with Linear Algebra
Dr. Aaron Wangberg
Winona State University
Abstract: How do you pick your NCAA Bracket? Do you value home wins, early season games, and blowouts against Division II and III foes? Or is it better to base everything on the last five games of the season? Bring your computer to fill out your NCAA Bracket and hear the math that has helped WSU Linear Algebra students finish in the top 10% of ESPN's Bracket Challenge.
Department Colloquium
12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, March 6, Gildemeister 155
Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135.
Squigonometry  Dr. Bill WoodUniversity of Northern Iowa |
| The trigonometric functions cosine and sine report the coordinates of a point on the unit circle at a given angle. The circle and its associated functions have perfect symmetry, which we will study by seeing what happens when we break it. The Euclidean unit circle has equation x^2+y^2=1, but we will change the 2's to p's in the distance function and study the curve with equation |x|^p+|y|^p=1. As p gets larger, the circle flattens out and looks more and more like a square; we thus call these curves "squircles." We will look at the analogues of the trigonometric functions in this family of geometries, called p-norms, and explore some interesting connections to special functions, calculus, and number theory. |
Distinguished Lecture Series
Session 1
Sunday Feb 24, 3 pm, Stark 103
Visualization for Effective
Communication
Scientists usually believe that good and clear design consists just of “beautifying” their charts, graphs, and maps. This should be an afterthought, as what truly matters is to “show the data”. This session explains why reasoning about design decisions is as important as reasoning about the data we present to audiences.
Session 2
Sunday Feb 24, 7 pm, Stark 103
How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter
About Visual Information
Graphic designers, data analysts, and journalists are taught that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, that we should “show don’t tell”, and that charts are “intuitive” and useful to “simplify” information. This talk explains why these myths, if taken at face value, are wrong and dangerous, and what we can do to become better readers and designers of graphics.
Session 3
Monday Feb 25, 12pm, Gild 155
Engagement and Future Trends
in Data Communication
Visualization is a language in constant evolution. This session will focus on how designers of visualization can make their graphics more attractive and engaging, and on several potential futures of data communication.
Department Colloquium
12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, February 6, SLC 120
Applying Data Analysisin the Business World  Rick FredricksonSupply Chain Lead, Fastenal Company |
| Come hear from WSU mathematics alumnus Rick Fredrickson how his Supply Chain team is applying data analysis in the business world to drive customer service levels, manage $1.28 billion dollars in inventory investments, and optimize operational efficiencies. What are the key numbers behind the scenes that allow these business goals to merge together? Learn about opportunities to put your mathematics, statistics, or data science degree to work with a publicly-held, international company. |
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.
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