Student Capstone Presentations

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, April 1, via ZOOM
(contact Dr. Kerby for Zoom link)

Data Analysis of the Arbitration Process in the MLB Alex Riles
The arbitration process in Major League Baseball is used to prevent holdouts and prolonged disputes. The ability to predict the outcome of the hearing will help the players and teams know where they stand. This could change the amount a player or team submits, so the outcome could turn in their favor. This project used Neural Network and Random Forests models to investigate whether a predictive model is worth using to predict the outcome of arbitration. Results indicated that Neural Network and Random Forests models can be used to predict the outcome of the arbitration process with a low misclassification rate.
Modelling Baseball Players’ Likelihood of Being Inducted into the Hall of Fame Connor Demorest
	I used logistic regression to model the probability a player will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I found that my model has 96% accuracy when cross validating on players already in the Hall of Fame, and I discuss the implications of players who are still playing or not yet eligible. I determined what characteristics were most important to Hall of Fame voters and which were not. I identified several players who are not in the Hall of Fame yet and make a case for them to be inducted.

Department Colloquium

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Friday, February 28, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

Two Research Projects Birthed from

Curiosity, Recreation, and Joy

Dr. aBa Mbirika

Univ. Wisconsin—Eau Claire

 

This talk will center around two undergraduate research projects born from recreational math topics. The first project emerged from a connection between the Fibonacci sequence modulo 10 and astrology. The second project arose from noticing the magical and mystic golden ratio appearing as an eigenvalue of a certain tridiagonal real symmetric matrix. A cute connection between the two topics will be revealed at the end of the talk.

Student/Faculty Social/Trivia Night

Internship Presentations

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, February 19, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

Data Science Internship: Tuohy Furniture Adam Clemens
I will describe the tasks that I performed and what I learned from my internship experience. I will also talk about the software and skills that I used on the job.
Internship at Fastenal: Fastbin Research Nina Horabik
	I worked on various projects to gain more insight about how Fastenal’s Fastbins work, and to help Fastenal improve Fastbin technology in future versions.

Guest Speaker

12:45 - 1:50 PM, Thursday, February 13, Gildemeister 329

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 319. 

Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions
A Ski Jumping Story 

Greg Windsperger Former Olympic Ski Jumper and Former Head Coach of US Men’s Olympic Ski Jumping Team Greg will talk about his unique history of growing up ski jumping in north Minneapolis which lead to his participation in the 1976 Olympics and his eventual position as the US men’s ski jumping coach for the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games. During Greg’s time as head coach, the US team saw their most successful results. He will also talk about how math, science, and collaboration has revolutionized the sport since its inception in Redwing, MN in 1887.

Department Colloquium

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Monday, February 10, Gildemeister 155

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

Mathematical Colorings from Ramsey Theory

Dr. Darren Row
  St. Mary’s University

 

The topic of Ramsey Theory will be presented through exploration of some typical problem types. Known results, open problems, and proof strategies will be discussed. Special attention will be paid to Ramsey Numbers and Rado Numbers. Audience participation will be encouraged. Crayons are optional.

Internship Presentations

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

Refreshments served beforehand Gildemeister 135. 

 

Internship: Fastenal Data Team Katelin Catton
I will describe my internship duties and responsibilities as a Supply Chain Analyst, and will discuss a report analyzing inventory at all Fastenal Stores in the United States.
Internship: Medxcel Samantha Matera
	I worked with a team to create a benchmark for Medxcel's facilities, as well as completing other solo side projects that I will describe in this talk.