Undergraduate Student Activities

Are you an undergraduate student looking for a fun and engaging activity at Mathfest? Look no further than the Wisconsin Section's own "Face Off!" the mathematics game show. Teams of 3 to 4 students compete to answer questions from the broad realm of mathematics. And we really mean broad! If it's mathematical, it's fair game for the game. There is space for up to 10 teams to compete for fame and fun, so form a team and contact the organizers. Schools and REU's are welcome, but even if your organization can't field a full team, let us know and we can form hybrid teams. For more information, visit the "Face Off!" website. "Face Off!" is also onFacebook.

The Student Hospitality Center (SHC) provides a place for students and other MathFest attendees to meet for informal conversation, refreshments, and mathematical diversions. Programs for the MAA and Pi Mu Epsilon student paper sessions, packets for the MAA student presenters, and information on MathFest activities of interest to students are available in the SHC.

Few people expect to encounter mathematics on a visit to an art gallery or even a walk down a city street (or across campus). When we explore the world around us with mathematics in mind, however, we see the many ways in which mathematics can manifest itself, in streetscapes, sculptures, paintings, architectural structures, and more. This illustrated presentation offers illuminating glimpses of mathematics, from Euclidean geometry and normal distributions to Riemann sums and Möbius strips, as seen in a variety of structures and artworks in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Toronto, Montreal, New Orleans, Madison, Wisconsin, and many other locales.

During this session we will discover some simple but truly surprising mathematical facts.

All PME members and their supporters are welcome. See the registration form for more information on this ticketed event.

We are familiar with the prime numbers as those integers that cannot be factored into smaller integers, but if we consider systems of numbers larger than the integers, the primes may indeed factor in those larger systems. We discuss various questions mathematicians ask about how primes may factor in larger systems, talk about both classical results and current research on the topic, and give a sense of the kind of tools needed to tackle these questions.

Besides cake and ice cream, we will recognize all students who gave talks in the MAA Student Paper Sessions, and award prizes for the best of them. All are invited.

About 400 American teams, each consisting of three undergraduates, entered the 2012 MCM in February. The contest consists of two real(istic) problems, one discrete, one continuous. The teams have four days to deal with the challenge during which time they may use or consult anything inanimate - computers, libraries, the Web, etc. MAA judges choose one continuous and one discrete winner from the top contenders. The two MAA winning teams of students will present the results of their four-day challenge.

This event is the finals of the Problem Solving Competition. Universities and colleges that participate monthly on their own campuses by holding problem solving contests are invited to send a contestant. Each contestant will be required to solve a series of mathematical problems. Based on the outcome, a champion along with 2nd through 6th place winners will be named.

Presenters in this session must be graduate students. While many graduate students will be asked to give a lecture to a general audience which includes undergraduates and non-mathematicians as part of a job interview, most students do not have experience talking to a non-research audience. This session gives graduate students the opportunity to give a 20-minute talk aimed at an undergraduate audience which has been exposed to calculus and some linear algebra. Both the talks and abstracts should be designed to excite a wide range of undergraduates about mathematics. All participants in this session will receive private feedback on their presentations from an established faculty member and an undergraduate student. Time permitting, a discussion of effective techniques for delivering great general-audience talks will occur at the end of the session.

Contact Jim Freeman or Rachel Schwell for help on writing an abstract and preparing a talk for a general audience. Graduate student participants in this session should also attend the graduate student workshop (What's the Story?) on mathematical presentations. Information on travel support will be available atwww.maa.org/students/grad on March 1, 2012. Abstracts must be submitted by April 30, 2012.