IAP 2016 Activities by Category - Mathematics

John Kiehl

Jan/25	Mon	10:00AM-01:00PM	26-328
Jan/26	Tue	10:00AM-01:00PM	26-328
Jan/27	Wed	10:00AM-01:00PM	26-328
Jan/28	Thu	10:00AM-01:00PM	26-328
Jan/29	Fri	10:00AM-01:00PM	26-328

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: None

All fields of human endeavor include considerations of mathematical scaling, either to solve or understand the nature of problems. During each meeting of this series we will have a presentation from an expert in a field. We will then break into small groups to approach the topics discussed through the perspective of mathematical scaling. 

Guest facilitators include: Don Beck (expert in large-scale social systems), Prof. Richard Muller (author of “Physics for Future Presidents”), Peter Burgess (inventor of “TrueValue Metrics”), Diana Senechal (educator, author of “Republic of Noise”)

Contact: John Kiehl, n/a, 917-886-0749, jckiehl2@gmail.com

Asra Ali

Jan/20

Wed

06:00PM-08:00PM

4-159

Enrollment: If you'd like to sign up, please contact asra@mit.edu

Come join us for 5-minute Math Madness: a 1-2 hour activity where we get together and each give a 5 minute math-related talk. The talk can really be about anything -- a theorem, proof idea, construction, conjecture, etc -- any small bit of information you find really cool. It should be accessible and importantly, engaging! (This maybe shouldn't be so hard, you'll be talking about your favorite theorem!) This event is geared towards math undergrads.

If you'd like to sign up, or are interested in attending, please contact: Asra Ali at asra@mit.edu.

Sponsor(s): Mathematics
Contact: Asra Ali, asra@MIT.EDU

Slava Gerovitch

Date TBD

Time TBD

Location TBD

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 11/13
Prereq: at least two math courses at 18.100 level or higher.

For undergraduates wanting to learn mathematical topics through guided self-study. Application deadline for Jan 2016 IAP is: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015.

After you get admitted, we'll pair you up with a graduate student mentor with similar interests. You two will agree on a topic to explore, and find a suitable textbook.
During IAP, you and your mentor will meet regularly to discuss the material. This is directed reading - You have the opportunity to ask in-depth questions, discuss your impressions, and receive feedback.

For more information and application instructions, see http://math.mit.edu/research/undergraduate/drp

Sponsor(s): Mathematics
Contact: Slava Gerovitch, E18-420, 4-1459, slava@mit.edu

Amartya Shankha Biswas, Michaela Ennis

Jan/11	Mon	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/13	Wed	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/15	Fri	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/20	Wed	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/22	Fri	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/25	Mon	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/27	Wed	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114
Jan/29	Fri	07:00PM-08:00PM	56-114

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Programming experience in Python

Covers the core material of 6.006 very, very fast.

Basic algorithms, data structures, including sorting, dynamic programming, and graphs.

Weekly programming assignments, twice-weekly office hours.  

You will gain the background necessary to apply algorithmic techniques to your area of interest, and to succeed at software engineering interviews.

 

 

Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Eta Kappa Nu, Student Information Processing Board
Contact: Amartya Shankha Biswas, asbiswas@mit.edu

Teal Guidici

Enrollment: complete form: http://goo.gl/forms/mQCbk61E0w
Limited to 8 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Looking to spread your love of mathematics through the soft power of hand knits? Wish you had squishy, approachable models of mathematical objects for classroom purposes? Or perhaps regular knitting patterns just aren’t…..mathy enough for you.

Whatever the case, these classes in mathematical knitting will help you achieve your mathy and/or knitterly dreams.

Session 1 will cover the construction of hyperbolic planes and Moebius strips, while in Session 2 we will discuss knitting patterns based on fractals, numerical sequences and, time permitting, space-filling curves.

These classes will be suitable for all levels of knitting experience, provided experience >0.

Update: Class is at capacity, but you can sign up to be included in email list for course materials

Please fill out the following form to register for the class or to be put on the wait list: http://goo.gl/forms/mQCbk61E0w . An email confirmation of enrollment or waitlist status will be sent in a moderately timely manner, as will a materials list. Instructor can be reached at teal_morgan@alum.mit.edu if you have questions about either session.

 

Sponsor(s): Mathematics
Contact: Teal Guidici, teal_morgan@alum.mit.edu

---

Things that won't lay flat

Jan/26

Tue

04:00PM-07:00PM

4-253

Things that won't lay flat: Moebius strips and hyperbolic planes. Tired of knitting scarves with two sides? Longing for your knitting to break free from Euclidean constraints? Or just ready for a knitting challenge?
Then this knitting class is for you! We'll cover the basics of knitting Moebius strips and hyperbolic planes. Additionally we'll discuss how stitch patterns can be adapted to yield a non-Euclidean surface.

---

Color and nothingness

Jan/28

Thu

04:00PM-07:00PM

4-253

Color and nothingness: Mandelbrot, Fibonacci, Peano. Have a passion for lace, but bored with knitting feathers, fans or flowers? Is your color work lacking self-similarity? In this class we'll look at patterns based on the Fibonacci sequence and Sierpinski's triangle. We'll also discuss how to use color work and lace knitting techniques to
create a pattern based on a fractal, numerical series or space filling curve.

Eva Belmont

Jan/14

Thu

12:00PM-01:00PM

4-145

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

Give a five-minute talk about your favorite theorem, and hear about other people's favorite theorems. The primary audience is graduate students in math, but others are welcome too. Feel free to come without giving a mini-talk, but if you want to speak, please contact ebelmont@mit.edu.

Sponsor(s): Mathematics
Contact: Eva Belmont, ebelmont@mit.edu

Jeremy Kepner, Fellow

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/23
Limited to 10 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: Linear Algebra

"Big Data" describes a new era in the digital age where the volume, velocity, and variety of data created across a wide range of fields (e.g., internet search, healthcare, finance, social media, defense, ...)  is increasing at a rate well beyond our ability to analyze the data.  Many technologies (e.g., spreadsheets, databases, graphs, linear algebra, ...) have been developed to address these challenges.  The common theme amongst these technologies is the need to store and operate on data as whole collections instead of as individual data elements.  This class describes the common mathematical foundation of these data collections (associative arrays) that apply across a wide range of applications and technologies.  Associative arrays unify and simplify Big Data leading to rapid solutions to Big Data volume, velocity, and variety problems.  Understanding these mathematical foundations allows the student to see past the differences that lie on the surface of Big Data applications and technologies and leverage their core mathematical similarities to solve the hardest Big Data challenges.

 

NOTE: This class is currently full.

Sponsor(s): Mathematics
Contact: Jeremy Kepner, 2nd Floor, 300 Tech Sq, 781 981-3108, KEPNER@LL.MIT.EDU

---

Four Perspectives on Data

Jan/05

Tue

11:00AM-01:30PM

2nd Flr 300 Tech Sq, Pizza will be provided

Preface and Chapter 1 of "Mathematics of Big Data" text

Jeremy Kepner - Fellow

---

D4M: A New Tool for Big Data

Jan/12

Tue

11:00AM-01:30PM

2nd Flr 300 Tech Sq, Pizza will be provided

Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of "Mathematics of Big Data" text. Introduction to D4M (http://d4m.mit.edu).

Jeremy Kepner - Fellow

---

Manipulation Big Data

Jan/19

Tue

11:00AM-01:30PM

2nd Flr 300 Tech Sq, Pizza will be provided

Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 of "Mathematics of Big Data" text.

Jeremy Kepner - Fellow

---

Mathematical Foundations of Big Data

Jan/26

Tue

11:00AM-01:30PM

2nd Flr, 300 Tech Sq, Pizza will be provided

Student presentations

Chapters 8, 9 of "Mathematics of Big Data"

Jeremy Kepner - Fellow

Amine Anoun, Arthur Flajolet, Zach Saunders

Jan/27

Wed

10:00AM-03:00PM

E25-111

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Prereq: None

The OR Center participates in MIT's Independent Activities Period (IAP) by offering informational seminars focusing on the OR Center and on current research and the practice of OR.

Date: Wednesday, January 27th
Time: 10:00am-3:00pm 
Place: E25-111

Description: There is little doubt that "Analytics" is becoming a major part of Operations Research, gaining a lot of interest in the research community as well as in a variety of industries. This year, the MIT Operations Research Center will welcome speakers from various fields to talk about the role and impact of Analytics in improving decision making. Four speakers, from both industry and academic settings, will present their work and experience on topics ranging from marketing to sharing economy.

Schedule:

9:30am - 10:00am - Intro and Continental Breakfast 

10:00am - 11:00am - John Silberholz - Lecturer in the MIT Sloan School of Management

11:00am - 12:00pm - Dean Eckles - Assistant Professor in the MIT Sloan School of Management - Marketing Groupy

12:00pm - 1:00pm - Lunch Break (lunch will not be provided)

1:00pm - 2:00pm - Jae-wook Ahn - Data Scientist at IBM Watson Life, TJ Watson Research Center

2:00pm - 3:00pm - Jon Petersen - Senior Data Scientist at Uber

More details at http://www.mit.edu/~orc/seminars/iap.html

Sponsor(s): Operations Research Center
Contact: Zachary Saunders, ZACHARYS@MIT.EDU

Douglas Sweetser '84

Jan/21

Thu

03:00PM-05:00PM

54-100

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required

A new proposal for explaining gravity will be detailed (the URLs below). A prediction we will try to confirm is that measuring the Poynting vector (ExB) in the Green building should be the same in 54-100 as near the top.

http://bit.ly/qg_sketch
http://bit.ly/vp-qg
http://bit.ly/vp-qg_talk
http://bit.ly/qg_paper
http://quaternions.com

Doug Sweetser '84
Course 7 and Course 10

Register today!

Sponsor(s): Alumni Association, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE@MIT.EDU

Joseph Huchette, Jack Dunn

Jan/05	Tue	09:00AM-12:00PM	E51-315
Jan/07	Thu	09:00AM-12:00PM	E51-315
Jan/12	Tue	09:00AM-12:00PM	E51-315
Jan/14	Thu	09:00AM-12:00PM	E51-315
Jan/19	Tue	09:00AM-12:00PM	E51-315
Jan/21	Thu	09:00AM-12:00PM	E51-315
Jan/26	Tue	09:00AM-12:00PM	E51-315
Jan/28	Thu	09:00AM-12:00PM	E51-315

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/01
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

The "big data revolution" has placed added emphasis on computational techniques in Operations Research (OR). Large-scale optimization, data analysis and visualization are now commonplace among researchers and practitioners alike. More than ever, there is a need not only to develop new techniques, but also to implement and use them. This course is a multi-session workshop focusing on software tools specific to the practice of OR. We concentrate on the mechanics of using common software to apply specific methodologies. The goal of the course is to provide a baseline technical knowledge for modern research in OR, including the computational aspects of: data manipulation/analysis, visualization, graphs, and optimization. Class participation and individual hands-on coding are stressed in each session.

Sponsor(s): Operations Research Center
Contact: Joseph Huchette, HUCHETTE@MIT.EDU