Student Activities


The MAA endeavors to ensure that all the mathematical sessions at MathFest are accessible to a broad audience and students are invited and encouraged to attend any of them. In addition, check out the range of programming below, which has been curated for K-12 students, parents, teachers, and undergraduate students.
Problems from the American Mathematics Competitions
Wednesday, August 6, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm, Meeting Room 11
My talk is based on problems I wrote for the American Mathematics Competitions. I will include at least two of my problems from this year's tests. Handouts will be provided.
Organizers:
Steven Davis, Retired
Math Jeopardy, the Student Welcome Reception, and Navigating MathFest Overview
Wednesday, August 6, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm, Ballroom B3-5
Answer: A fun undergraduate mathematics contest to lead off MAA MathFest.
Question: What is Mathematics Jeopardy?
Four teams of students will provide the questions to go with the mathematical answers in many categories. All interested students in the audience can enter their names to be chosen to play on one of the four teams of four players. There will be prizes for all the participants. Come cheer for your favorite team.
Organizers:
Ron Taylor, Berry College
Michael W. Berry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Sponsor: Committee on Undergraduate Student Programming (CUSP)
Student Lounge - Sponsored by Transform Learning | Every Learner Everywhere
Open Hours
Thursday, August 7, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Meeting Room 9-10
Friday, August 8, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, Meeting Room 9-10
Student Lounge Activities
Thursday, August 7, 10:00 am – 11:00 am, Student Lounge (Meeting Room 9-10)
MAA has run the National Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (NREUP) for over 20 years, engaging many hundreds of undergraduate students in research experiences in the mathematical sciences. This panel of former NREUP participants will share their NREUP experiences, their career trajectories, and their advice for students thinking about or looking for undergraduate research opportunities.
Organizers:
Catherine Paolucci, Mathematical Association of America
Gulden Karakok, University of Northern Colorado
Christopher Jett, Georgia State University
Thursday, August 7, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm, Student Lounge (Meeting Room 9-10)
Get ready to “B-1” of the lucky ones at our bingo event! Join Pete for some fun, laughter, and fabulous swag—because in our game, everyone leaves with a prize that’s more than just a “B-9” improvement to your MAA MathFest!!
Host: Pete Dohan, Mathematical Association of America
Friday, August 8, 9:30 am – 10:00 am, Student Lounge (Meeting Room 9-10)
Honwell Xing is a passionate math enthusiast who loves to explore math problems, engage in discussions, and teach math both at school and in her community, especially to girls. Using illustrative examples, she will share her experience teaching math to other girls and her work analyzing the thinking process involved in learning math from a girl’s perspective.
Organizers:
Honwell Xing, University of Toronto Schools
Hong Zhao, Atopmath School
Friday, August 8, 10:00 am – 11:00 am, Student Lounge (Meeting Room 9-10)
The MAA INTEGRATE program is launching a new Math Club Handbook to support teachers, students, and other volunteers who are looking to start a new math club or enhance their existing club. The team invites teachers and students to come try out some of the problems and activities in the new handbook and offer feedback and ideas for continued development.
Organizers:
Liz Arnold, Montana State University
Bill Hawkins, Lower Merion School District
Shelby Aaberg, Scottsbluff High School
Estimathon® - Sponsored by Jane Street
Thursday, August 7, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm, Student Lounge (Meeting Room 9-10)
The Estimathon is a mind-bending mixture of math and trivia. Attendees will work in teams to come up with confidence intervals for 13 Fermi (estimation) problems, ranging from totally trivial to positively Putnamesque. The team with the best set of intervals will be crowned the champs!
Organizer:
Andy Niedermaier, Jane Street
Sponsor: Committee on Undergraduate Student Programming (CUSP)
Research in Motion (Undergraduate Student Poster Session)
Setup: Friday, August 8, 9:00 am - 9:30 am, Exhibit Hall (Hall A - First Floor), Posters Area
Students & Judges Only: Friday, August 8, 9:30 am - 10:30 am, Exhibit Hall (Hall A - First Floor), Posters Area
Public Viewing: Friday, August 8, 10:30 am - 11:30 am, Exhibit Hall (Hall A - First Floor), Posters Area
This session features research done by undergraduate students. Appropriate content includes, but is not limited to, a new result, a new proof of a known result, a new mathematical model, an innovative solution to a Putnam problem, or a method of solution to an applied problem. Projects that are currently in progress, but leading towards one of these outcomes, are also welcome. Purely expository material is not appropriate for this session.
Organizers:
Amber Russell, Butler University
Thomas Langley, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology & C
Lauren Keough, Grand Valley State University
Curious Cube Live Recording - Sponsored by D. E. Shaw & Co.
Friday, August 8, 11:15 am - 12:00 pm, Ballroom B2
Join us for a live recording of the MAA AMC’s student podcast, “The Curious Cube.” Meet hosts Isaac, Laura, Srinivas, and Emily, and come with your questions about math competitions, developing your math skills, embracing your math community, and more!
Organizers: American Mathematics Competitions (AMC)
History of Mathematics Trivia Contest
Friday, August 8, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Student Lounge (Meeting Room 9-10)
Come join fellow mathematics and history enthusiasts for an exciting team trivia event! Participants will test their mathematical and historical knowledge over several rounds and compete for prizes. Questions are drawn from the general history of mathematics, but with special emphasis on mathematical connections to California. All are welcome, and undergraduate students are especially invited to attend. Players will be put in teams at the event, so please come and make some new friends, too!
Organizers:
Ximena Catepillán, Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Abe Edwards, Michigan State University
Greg Coxson, United States Naval Academy
Sponsors:
Committee on Undergraduate Student Programming (CUSP)
SIGMAA on the History of Mathematics (SIGMAA HOM)
Special Session on AMC/AIME/USAMO Editors’ Favorite Problems
Friday, August 8, 4:00 pm - 5:55 pm, Ballroom B3
With the participation of over 300,000 students each year, the AMC is the largest program of the MAA. The competitions start with the AMC 8, the AMC 10, and the AMC 12 exams, open to students in grade 8 or below, grade 10 or below, and grade 12 or below, respectively. Based on their performance on these multiple-choice competitions, approximately 9,000 students are invited to take the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME). The competition series culminates with the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO), offered to approximately 500 students. In this special session AMC Editors will showcase some of their favorite problems from recent competitions.
This session will be immediately be followed by a Meet & Greet. Please join us!
Organizers:
Béla Bajnok, Gettysburg College
Ioana Mihaila, Cal Poly Pomona
AMC Director and Editors Meet & Greet
Friday, August 8, 6:00 pm - 6:30 pm, Ballroom B3
Meet the AMC Director, members of the Council on Competitions, and Editors for AMC, AIME, USAMO problems. Informal discussions about the AMC program.
Organizers:
Béla Bajnok, Gettysburg College
Ioana Mihaila, Cal Poly Pomona
Undergraduate Student Dessert Reception
Friday, August 8, 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Regency Ballroom BC (Hyatt Regency Sacramento Hotel - First Floor)
Besides serving various desserts, we shall recognize all students who gave talks in the MAA Student Poster Session.
Organizer:
Thomas Langley, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Sponsor: Committee on Undergraduate Student Programming (CUSP)
MAA Business Meeting
Saturday, August 9, 9:20 am - 9:50 am, Ballroom B1
Join your fellow MAA members at the annual business meeting to hear about MAA's exciting activities and impact over the past 12 months. During the meeting, you'll also hear about MAA's financial position and programmatic priorities to support our community in this current challenging environment. The business meeting includes a Q&A session for members with MAA leaders.
Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival
Saturday, August 9, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm, Meeting Room 9-10
Panel on Career Paths in Business, Industry, and Governments - Sponsored by Citadel | Citadel Securities
Saturday, August 9, 3:00 pm – 4:20 pm, Ballroom B1
You’re about to earn a degree in mathematics. Now what? You may be surprised to know that teaching isn’t your only option. Mathematical knowledge is a valued commodity, and there are many interesting job opportunities for mathematicians that don’t necessarily involve teaching. Whether you are a mathematics student looking for a job once you graduate or an advisor looking for advice to give to future job-seeking students, this session will help you gain new perspectives on career experiences in business, industry, and government and what employers value in their employees. Panelists will share their paths to their current positions and offer advice to others looking for employment in similar fields.
Stick around after the panel for light refreshments and an informal meet and greet with the panelists, sponsored by Citadel | Citadel Securities.
Panelists:
Nasko Antasov, Citadel | Citadel Securities
Richard Carini, Waymo
Karen Saxe, American Mathematical Society
Organizers:
Thomas Langley, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Jason Hardin, Worcester State University
All sessions are listed in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT = UTC-7:00) and located on the Second Floor of the SAFE Credit Union Sacramento Convention Center unless otherwise specified.