Posted on Monday, November 14, 2011
¾¨Ó㴫ý's Department of Mathematics and Computer Science offered a series of orientation workshops for incoming mathematics and computer science majors.
First-year students met weekly over lunch with department faculty and upperclass majors for the first seven weeks of the fall semester for an informal introduction to each other and to members of the department.
Dr. Natacha Fontes-Merz, associate professor of mathematics, organized a problem-solving competition with prizes for the first session. Upperclass majors shared their experiences during the second session and gave a presentation on summer internships and research opportunities during the third.
The remaining four sessions on interesting new topics in the field were led by department faculty: "Mathematical Modeling's First Problem" by Dr. Carolyn Cuff, professor of mathematics; "Computer Science Can Be Fun…Really!" by Dr. John Bonomo, associate professor of computer science; "What Does a Mathematician Do?" by Dr. David Offner, assistant professor of mathematics; and "This is Math?! An Introduction to Knots" by Dr. Jeffrey Boerner, assistant professor of mathematics
First-year majors who participated in the orientation program were:
• Physics and mathematics major Stephanie Burkus, a daughter of Michael and Teresa Burkus of Connellsville and a graduate of Connellsville Area High School;
• Computer science major Nicholas Hainsey, a son of Allen and Bonnie Hainsey of New Paris and a graduate of Chestnut Ridge High School;
• Computer science major Stephen Lutz, a son of Theodore and Connie Lutz of Oakdale and a graduate of West Allegheny High School;
• Mathematics major Morgan Pierce, a daughter of Jay Pierce of Fredonia and a graduate of Reynolds High School.
Contact Offner at (724) 946-7293 or email for additional information.
