INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES AS PART OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE - Suzanne L. Weekes UPPER DIVISION PATHWAYS

INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITIES AS
PART OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
          UPPER DIVISION PATHWAYS
                 TPSE MATH

             Suzanne L. Weekes
        Department of Mathematical Sciences
    Center for Industrial Mathematics and Statistics

   Mathematics is used to make real decisions -
    IMPACT
   Mathematics plays a role in many, many disciplines
    – CONNECTIONS
   A strong mathematics education provides a path for
    upward mobility - JOBS

There is a need for workers with strong quantitative /
analytical / computational skills who can solve
problems in a range of businesses and industries.
 We have access to lots of information
 We have lots of data
 We have access to good computing

WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

   Private university of science, technology, engineering,
    and business
    4200+ undergrads, 1000+ part-time and full-time
    grad students
   250 tenured/tenure-track faculty, 100 NTT

THEORY AND PRACTICE

MAJOR QUALIFYING PROJECTS AT WPI
 All WPI undergrads must do original research in his/her major area.

GOALS:
 formulate a problem, develop a
  solution and implement it
  competently and professionally,
 demonstrate application of the
  skills, methods, and knowledge
  of the discipline,
 work in teams and communicate
  well, both orally and in writing.

BUT, IT BEHOOVES US TO KNOW
o   What is the role of a mathematician in business
    and industry?
o   What is it like to work with technical experts on a
    problem that requires significant mathematics but
    also must satisfy real-world constraints?
o   What kind of mathematical and statistical tools
    are used to solve problems in business and
    industry?
o   What skills are important to be successful?
o   What can we do to better prepare our students?

Some students are attracted to the
  intrinsic beauty of mathematics.
Others need to see the relevance to

        societal needs.

CENTER FOR INDUSTRIAL
    MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS

   Founded in 1997
   Makes partnerships with industry that benefit the
    sponsors, and WPI’s mathematical sciences community
   Real-world research projects that come directly from
    industry, government and finance

     Visit http://www.wpi.edu/+CIMS

CIMS PARTNERS

WPI REU IN INDUSTRIAL
 MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS
DMS9732338, DMS0097469, DMS0353816, DMS0649127, DMS1004795, DMS1263127
                                                        DMS1757685
                                             20 summers +
                                             210 students +
                                               135+ colleges
                                             28+ companies
                                             60 projects +

 Visit http://www.wpi.edu/+CIMS/REU

FOUR KEY FEATURES
   Industrial math projects have impact.
       Math is used to make a real decisions.

   There is rarely one right answer.
       But there are good solutions and bad solutions.

   Formulating may be harder than solving.
       You don’t know what math will be useful.

   Communication is crucial.
       If you cannot explain it, the solution is worthless.

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE PROJECTS

   Calibration of an Optimal Bidding Model for the Mobile
    Advertisement Markets
   Estimating Liquidity Risk Using Exchange Traded Funds
   Conditioning the Capital Asset Pricing Model to Incorporate Macro-
    Economic Based Variables
   Modeling Irrational Behavior to Explain Apparent Momentum in
    Stock Prices
   Modeling Stock Returns and Optimizing Bond Portfolios

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING PROJECTS

   Modeling Cancer Stem and Non-Stem Cell Population Growth
   Performance Sensitivity in Vertical U-Tube Geothermal Energy
    Harvesting Systems
   Modeling the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Interacting Fish
    Species in the Northeast Continental Shelf
   Modeling-Based Minimization of Time-to-Uniformity in Microwave
    Heating System

                                                              16

PRE-MISSION FLIGHT PLAN OPTIMIZATION
                                                      Graph Theory

                                             Combinatorial Optimization
   http://www.ef.uni-lj.si/graduate/buslog
                                             Operations Research

APPLIED STATISTICS PROJECTS

   Analyzing Exome Sequencing Data to Detect Familial ALS (Lou
    Gehrig’s Disease) Genes
   Evaluation of Glucose Sensor Simulated Use as a Predictor of
    Device Performance
   Analysis of Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Trials
   Robustifying Logistic Regression: An Application to Body Mass Index

                                                                18

DATA SCIENCE PROJECTS

   Performing Binary Classification of Contest Profitability for
    DraftKings
   Analyzing Databases for Patterns in Customer Usage
   Process Mining the Credit Suisse Advisory Process
   Predictive Power of a Generalized Preventive Care Segmentation
    Model
   Analyzing New Health Care Placement of Mercy Health Facilities

SKILLS NEEDED

   Programming
                                Communication skills
   Statistics
   Probability                 Ability to work effectively
   Differential Equations       in a team
   Linear Algebra              Enthusiasm
   Modeling                    Self-direction
   Numerical Simulation        Ability to complete
                                 projects
   Operations Research

“The United States alone faces a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000
people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and
analysts to analyze big data and make decisions based on their
findings.”

From The Mitre Corporation
Within each company, you typically have two options for replacing
someone who separates from the company: 1) hire in someone
similar or 2) promote someone below into the vacated position,
promote someone below them into their old spot, and so on (referred
to as cascading promotions). There is a cost associated with each of
these options, but with most large companies, it varies depending on
your part of the organization. The objective is to utilize MITRE data to
understand the tradeoffs between strategies and develop an optimal
strategy for MITRE.

From Staples
Effective marketing is important for businesses to increase customer
interaction and lifetime value. Email is an example of a marketing
channel. There are costs associated with sending emails to
customers. We can use marketing dollars more efficiently by
identifying which customers are most likely to respond to an email.
Given customer information (e.g. firmographics, transaction history,
online behavior), identify which customers are most likely to respond
to an email (make a purchase within 7 days after receiving the email).

SPREADING THE JOY

       Preparation for Industrial Careers in
             Mathematical Sciences

PIC MATH PROGRAM
PIC Math works with mathematical sciences faculty to
help them prepare undergrads for careers in business,
industry, and government by engaging their students in
research problems that come directly from industry.
                                   DMS-1345499, DMS-1722275

                                   Co-directors:
                                   M.Dorff (BYU)
                                   D. Narayan (RIT)
                                   S. Weekes (WPI)

PIC MATH PROGRAM STRUCTURE
a)   3-day faculty training workshop for faculty in summer
b)   a semester-long course in which students work on research
     problems that come directly from BIG,
c)   written & oral research solution submission and evaluation,
d)   student research presentations at PIC Math Student session at
     summer national meeting of MAA or SIAM

PIC MATH – STATISTICS, THUS FAR

Already three cohorts of faculty and their students
                AY 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2018/19, 2019/20

   140+ different faculty participants
   over 1400+ undergraduate student participants
   101+ different universities/colleges participating
   32+ states and Washington D.C.
   147+ research reports authored by undergraduate students
   150+ conference presentations by undergraduate students
   over 100+ industrial partners provided research problems and liaisons

One more cohort (2020/21) to join!

PIC MATH WORKSHOP ON DATA
ANALYTICS

RESOURCES

BIG Math Network    https://bigmathnetwork.org

Professional Societies Career Resources pages