Grad School Panel

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, March 3, via ZOOM

	Gabe Mancino-Ball ('18) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Gabe is pursing a PhD in Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.  Gabe graduated with a BS in Math in 2018.  Gabe studies nonlinear programming and distributed computing at RPI.  In 2020, Gabe was awarded a fellowship from Rensselaer-IBM Artificial Intelligence Research Collaboration.  Gabe enjoys rock climbing and playing card games in his free time.
	Emily Robinson ('17) University of Nebraska – Lincoln Emily is pursuing a PhD in Statistics at UNL.  Emily graduated from WSU in 2017.  Emily has taught introductory statistics at UNL and has experience in consulting with researchers from various departments across the university.  Emily’s research area is in statistical graphics. In her free time, you might find Emily at a local coffee shop or rock climbing.
	Tyler Wiederich ('21) Winona State University Tyler is a senior here at Winona State University. Tyler plans to attend graduate school in statistics starting Fall 2021.  Tyler has not yet decided which school he will attend.  Tyler has interest in statistical consulting and enjoys programming in R.

 

2020-2021 Distinguished Lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics

Dr. Lisette de Pillis

Harvey Mudd College

Modeling Nature: What Happens When You Assume...?

Abstract:  Mathematical models hold the keys to understanding some of the most interesting and complex phenomena in the natural world! In this talk, we will explore how to harness the power of mathematical modeling to answer challenging questions that may at first seem unsolvable. Can an overflowing bathtub help us figure out how to achieve herd immunity in a pandemic? Can the behavior of a lynx help us understand how human immune cells fight cancer? By making a few simplifying assumptions, we can draw parallels between natural systems that may appear radically different on the surface to unlock new levels of understanding the world around us.

Tuesday, March 2^nd,
7:00—8:15pm via Zoom

3rd Annual WSU Data Visualization Expo

Students in our DSCI 310: Data Summaries & Visualization course are participating in this event. Due to COVID restrictions, this event is happening online using the Gather.Town app.

Student Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, Nov 18 , via ZOOM

Data & Market Analyst Internship at Cytilife, Inc Stephen Masha
I had an opportunity to work as an intern with Cytilife, Inc as a Data & Market Analyst this past summer. During this period, I conducted research on wearables that was crucial to acquiring data, retrieved and cleaned data from the database, modeled data, and conducted a market analysis for a new app, and offered business‐to‐business support. My internship was not limited to just data science tasks. In this presentation, I will take you through my internship experience and other opportunities at Cytilife, Inc.

Student Seminar

12:00 - 12:50 PM, Wednesday, Nov 4 , via ZOOM

2020 Summer Internship at U.S. Bank Sarah Lauwagie
I will be talking about my 2020 Summer Internship at U.S. Bank as a Business Analyst on the Mortgage Development and Support team. During my time there, I worked with the Mortgage IVR system and analyzed its process maps. I found areas for improvement and presented them to the business line with approval to move forward. Also, I had the opportunity to participate in a case competition with 91 teams regarding marketing to Millennials.

Dr. Kerby Awarded NSF Grant to Support Statistics and Data Science Education

Dr. April Kerby, a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Winona State University, has been named as a co-principal investigator on a $600,000, three-year National Science Foundation grant supporting the Motivational Attitudes in Statistics and Data Science (MASDER) project.

With the ever-growing demand for professionals with the necessary skills to turn data into knowledge, statistics and data science have become two of the fastest growing fields worldwide, with a high demand in the U.S. specifically. Understanding students’ attitudes towards these subjects can be crucial for developing effective pedagogies in these areas and inspiring students to pursue a career in these fields.

MASDER will create a family of instruments in both statistics and data science to measure teaching and learning through data collected about students and instructors, in addition to the learning environment.  These instruments, which Kerby hopes will become a “go to” resource for assessing students’ attitudes towards statistics and data science, will be publicly available to instructors and researchers to help inform their teaching and improve those attitudes.

Kerby looks forward to involving undergraduate students in the project and is excited for what they will be able to contribute as well as gain from the experience. “I hope that students will get to utilize their programming skills to help us create customizable reports which will be available to the instructors who have their students take the survey.”

During her time at Winona State University, Dr. Kerby has helped create the undergraduate Data Science program, one of the first in the Midwest.  Her research has primarily focused on students’ attitudes towards statistics in relation to introducing a “Problem of the Week” into the introductory statistics course and she has published her findings in the Statistics Education Research Journal.

Source

2020-2021 Distinguished Lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics

Dr. Lisette de Pillis

Harvey Mudd College

Mathematical Medicine:  Modeling Disease and Treatment

Abstract:  Immune system dynamics have proven to play an increasingly central role in the development of new treatment strategies for immune-related diseases such as type 1 diabetes and certain cancers.  The critical importance of the immune system in fighting such diseases has been verified clinically, as well as through mathematical models.  Many open questions remain, however, including what may lead to non-uniform patient responses to treatments, and how to optimize and personalize therapy strategies.  Mathematical models can help to provide insights into the mechanisms that may be influencing patient outcomes.  In this talk, we will present a sampling of mathematical models that help us to simulate immune system interactions, disease dynamics, and treatment approaches that may slow, or even stop, disease progression.

Wednesday, October 28^th,
12:00—12:50 pm via Zoom