Archived Meetings Spring 2022 - Fall 2019
SPRING 2022 - Q-Club will take place in VAL 208 with presentations starting at 12:00. Please check meetings individually for location, because of COVID many talks will be held via ZOOM at http://stlawu.zoom.us/j/2417184033 The schedule is as follows:
March 24: Q-Club will be held virtual with Andrew Ford '08 speaking about On the Road to Becoming a Property/Casualty Actuary.
Andrew Ford (’08), Actuarial Manager at Utica National Insurance Group will share an insider’s look at the journey from the classroom to a career in the actuarial profession consistently touted by national media as the career of choice because of its robust employment and career growth opportunities, lucrative salaries, challenging work and rewarding experiences. Q-Club students are invited to meet the speaker and learn more about his experiences as an actuary. In addition, Andrew Ford will introduce CAS Student Central, a free membership program dedicated to helping students navigate the curriculum, credentialing, and interviewing.
February 17: Q-Club will be held virtual and Eduardo Puerta will speak about The Knot Determinant: A Romance of Linear Algebra and Topology
Knot theory is a sub-field of topology focusing on the classification and properties of mathematical knots. The study of knots has applications in statistical mechanics, molecular biology, and DNA unfolding. Intuitively, mathematical knots can be viewed as knotted strings where the ends are glued together to form a knotted loop. Much of knot theory revolves around distinguishing knots from each other. This talk will explore basic knot theory with the goal of motivating a concept known as the knot determinant, a useful number used to distinguish knots.
January 27: Q - Club will be held virtual and the MCSS Faculty will discuss information on summer 2022 Internships and Fellowship Funding Opportunities. Information on Graduate School Programs in Math, CS and Statistics students do not have to pay tuition and are paid stipends. Learn more about Pi Mu Epsilon the national mathematics honorary society. Information will be discussed on general department announcements for the spring at this virtual Q-Club meeting.
FALL 2021 - Q-Club will take place in VAL 208 with presentations starting at 12:00. Please check meetings individually for location, because of COVID many talks will be held via ZOOM at http://stlawu.zoom.us/j/2417184033 The schedule is as follows:
September 9: Corning - Title: Corning Inc. Zoom Panel
September 23: Cam Kessler - Title: Using Machine Learning to Detect and Locate Brain Tumors
October 7: Data Science Major - Title: Data Science Major
October 21: Tom Zhang - Title: Investigating the Most Effective Card-Upgrade Strategy in Clash Royale
November 4: Mike Sheard - Title: Why a Mathematician Can’t Tune a Piano (RESCHEDULING - TBA)
November 5: Kevin Angstadt - Title: Every Computing Thing: Supporting and Securing the Systems of Tomorrow
November 11: Alexandra Hill - Title: Mathematical Analysis of Mental Health in Literature
November 12: Rushit Dave - Title: Continuous Secure Authentication Using Mouse Dynamics based on Machine Learning
December 2: Kim Merchant - Title: Making StatKey Accessible
SPRING 2020 - The schedule is as follows:
There will be a virtual Q-Club meeting at 4:00-4:30pm on Thu, Apr. 16. Here's the link and password to the Zoom meeting.
https://stlawu.zoom.us/j/397458196?pwd=YzZRVk1PZEY1YTJUam9FKzB0V1NEQT09
Password: qclub
Speaker: Taylor Pellerin ('17)
Title: Keeping a Level Head During COVID-19
Abstract: In this session, Taylor Pellerin ('17) will discuss a range of topics, focusing on his own experiences and observations about making the most of the global pandemic. Topics include the virtual hiring process and what to do with all this free time. Time and interest permitting, he’ll also conversationally cover careers in data science & analytics, discuss ongoing efforts for a virtual mentorship / SLU connect series being run by Jillian McKernan Walley, and hype up his grad school’s masters in data science program.
Thursday, March 12
Speaker: Alan Mersereau ('66)
Title: The Performance Review
Abstract: In many companies, the annual performance review is a major milestone for employees. What are the best ways to achieve top ratings on your performance review? In this presentation, we will explain how to set realistic and appropriate goals for the coming year; how to ensure both you and your supervisor interpret the goals the same way; how to accomplish and exceed your goals, and how to deal with and resolve the inevitable problems you will face.
Thursday, March 5
Speaker: Muhammad Ruze
Title: An Application of Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods to Predicting Storms
Abstract: Bayesian inference problems can sometimes be very difficult to solve. These difficulties can be overcome by using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods (MCMC). One of the most common MCMC algorithms is the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm. In this presentation, I will run the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm on the annual number of storms in the North Atlantic Ocean data to show the prediction results.
Thursday, February 20
Speaker: Therese Lupariello
Title: Simulating the Alaskan Driftwood Phenomenon
Abstract: Driftwood research, in the field of dendrochronology, can be really revealing of climate change. Unfortunately, it is historically under-researched because performing the analysis is a difficult task. The first step in most dendrochronological analyses is to use statistical models to remove biological and ecological trends that exist in tree-ring chronologies. This process is known as detrending, and the choice of detrending method used has been shown to seriously impact the conclusions that can be drawn from the analysis. For this project, we aim to conduct a simulation study using the data provided from the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) in Alaska to investigate the impact that the detrending method has on the ability to correctly match driftwood back to its source of origin.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Speaker: Chelsea De Luca
Title: Linear Algebra in Computer Graphics
Abstract: In computer graphics, the programmer wants to present three-dimensional images in two dimensions. To properly present these images, the programmer must take into account the different perspectives of the image. For my SYE, I studied the structural basics behind manipulating objects in 3-space and how to then represent that object in 2-space displayed on a computer screen. Linear algebra was used to present these images, including the display of how shapes are created, translated, rotated and scaled.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Speaker: Skylar Ratcliffe
Title: An Expository Look into the Banach-Tarski Paradox
Abstract: The proof of the Banach-Tarski Paradox, a theorem in which a solid ball may be split into pieces that are subsequently rearranged to form two solid balls, each identical to the first, utilizes mathematical concepts within group theory with an emphasis on the free group on two generators and the special orthogonal group. This research was conducted with the purpose of creating a companion piece to the proof in hopes of allowing those with little knowledge on the subject to be exposed to an interesting, albeit complicated, theorem. Due to constraints based on the length of the proof, this presentation will mainly consist of an introduction to the relation between the Paradox and group theory, a short proof vital to the big picture, and how the Banach-Tarski Paradox can mathematically occur in three-dimensional space.
FALL 2019
Meeting are in Valentine 205-206 at 11:50 am - 12:20 pm on Thursdays. The schedule is as follows:
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Speaker: Shuyu Qiao
Title: Using MCMC and Graph Theory to Investigate Diversity of Birds Species
Abstract: We look at methods to access competitions among bird species based on Diamond’s finch data. The data matrix has rows for 13 different finch species and columns corresponding to 17 islands in Vanuatu. In each cell, a 1 represents the presence of the species on that island, and 0 is the absence. If the dot product for the rows for two species is zero, we may have evidence of competition. We call this a checkboard, 1s for one species are always matched with 0s for the other species. How do we know when the number of checkerboards is unusually high, more than we would expect by random chance indicating competition? We investigate this question by simulating lots of random matrices and counting the number of checkerboards. To generate the random matrices, we use a Markov Chain to move from one matrix to the next. The connections between the matrices form the edges of a graph, and we use the graph to calculate a transition matrix and investigate the behavior of the MCMC.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Speaker: Sarah Coburn from Career Services - What they can do for you, what our majors have done in the past. How to get in touch with alumni, etc. regarding both full-time employment and internship opportunities.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Speaker: Alan Mersereau '66
Title: "Mathematics in Business"
Abstract: I finished my career in corporate financial plans and controls. Major responsibilities included budgeting, forecasting the income statement and projected cash flow. I was also heavily involved in streamlining our inter-functional business processes including customer order fulfillment, and field service logistics. Earlier in my career, I was in charge of the implementation of business applications including Environment Resource Planning, and Just-in-Time operations planning. I will discuss the use of mathematics in my business career.
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Speaker: Dr. Michael Sheard
Title: "A Derivation of My Favorite Formula"
Abstract:
I will present a derivation of Euler's original solution to the Basel Problem, which shows that a simple infinite series adds up to the unexpected sum of "pi 2 / 6". This is a fun and surprising application of some basic algebra and calculus.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Speaker, Susan Liu
Title: "Using Cluster Analysis to Understand Long Term Viability of Cards in Clash Royale".
Abstract:
Esports, a multiplayer video game played competitively for spectators, have become increasingly popular and mainstream among professional and casual players today. Clash Royale, a real-time multiplayer game that combines elements from collectible card games, tower defense, and the multiplayer online battle arena has reached $1 billion in revenue in less than a year on the market (Takahashi, 2017). Players build decks of eight cards which are used to defeat their opponent. Fan sites offer card win rates to assist players in identifying viable cards.
For example, the site Statsroyale, reports cards’ win rates along with their popularity. However, factors such as player skill level (measured in trophies) can skew the overall win rates for cards. This project aims to collect Clash Royale data from Kaggle and Clash Royale application programming interface (API), visualize card performance across trophy count, and identify cards with long-term viability using cluster analysis.
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Speaker: Xin Tao
Title: Build an All-Voice Reminder
Abstract:
Reminder systems, which allow people to set their devices to remind them to do things, can be helpful to people’s daily lives and increase their efficiency. For some elders, they become forgetful about daily things such as taking medicine; automated reminders could help them remember important tasks. For some students, time management is a challenge; using reminder systems, they could keep themselves on track. However, reminder systems also have limitations. Elders may find them difficult to use if they struggle using computers and other devices in general. Some students can be so distracted by social media and computer games that they ignore their reminders, and as a result, they do not follow the plans they make. The purpose of my research is to build a reminder system that operates entirely by voice.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Speaker: Sai Wei
Title: Aptapp - An In-app Program that Helps Novice User with WeChat Functions
Abstract: WeChat is the most widely used, multi-function super app in China, bringing convenience to every aspect of users’ daily life. However, novice users, those who are new to technology, are having a hard time trying to catch up with the updating functions in WeChat. Aptapp is a WeChat mini-program that allows users to easily get access to specific WeChat guidance with an intelligent customer service responding system. Launched by WeChat team in 2017, mini-programs are the sub-applications aiming to provide more possibilities for WeChat users. Customer service is one of the function components supported by the mini-program API. Working with cloud functions, the customer service in Aptapp is able to respond to users’ requests by sending back the corresponding web-link to the requested guidance. In order to make Aptapp more helpful for novice users, by analyzing the updating features and API’s from WeChat, Aptapp is expected to require less interactions but to provide more intelligent responding system to users in the future.