Thanks for visiting the Norwich University College of Science and Mathematics. Here you will be able to keep up on the latest news on school happenings, upcoming events, and alumni announcements. We hope you will find this site useful and exciting!

Jim Murdock, lecturer in Sports Medicine, is the featured faculty member in the Winter ’13 edition of the Norwich Record. The article focuses on Jim’s experiences as an athletic trainer for the United States Wheelchair Rugby team during the past three Olympic Games.

Victoria Green, lecturer of mathematics, will give the next Mathematics Colloquium talk on Game Theory.  Her talk happens on Tuesday, October 9th from 12:10 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Cabot Science 295.  Student are especially welcomed.

For an abstract and more details, please click here.

Dr. Chris Koteas of the Norwich University Department of Geology will give a Geology Seminar talk on Friday, September 7th at 12:05 p.m. in Cabot Science 195.  All are welcome!

The talk is entitled “What Do Granites and Mapping Tell Us about Geothermal Potential in the New England Region?”  For details and an abstract, please click here.

The Norwich Biology Department donated six microscopes to a mission-run school in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The Anajali School educates 450 students in grades pre-K to 8 in one of the poorest communities in Africa.

Carlos Pinkham ’65, a biology professor emeritus and member of the Green Mountain Community Alliance Church, which supports the school, joined the mission trip to Kenya this summer. He developed a lesson plan for use of the microscopes and showed teachers and students how to use them.

For more information, read Pinkham’s blog at http://bit.ly/pinkhamWeblog.

Students at the Anajali School in Nairobi, Kenya use microscopes donated by the Department of Biology and Physical Education.

The Mathematics Colloquium Series kicks off its 2012-2013 season by welcoming back Mathematics graduate Dennis R. Davidson ’82 on Friday, September 14th.

Davidson, who works at the Johnson Space Center, will deliver a colloquium lecture on “The New Space Race.”  His talk will be held on the 14th at 2:00 p.m. in Cabot Science 295.  Students are encouraged to attend and refreshments will be served.

An abstract and details about the talk are available by clicking here.

The Board of Fellows for the College of Mathematics and Sciences will hold a panel discussion of two readings given to students, on Wednesday, September 12th.

The readings are:

• a 1996 article from the New Yorker magazine by Malcolm Gladwell entitled “The Tipping Point,” on whether a sudden dip in crime in New York City means that crime really is an epidemic, and
• “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillebrand.  This story of a World War II bombardier attempting to get to safety after his plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean is the Class of 2016 Norwich University “First Read.”

The discussion begins at 7:00 pm on the 12th in Cabot Science 085.  Students are especially welcome.

You can obtain a free copy of Gladwell’s New Yorker article by clicking here.

The Department of Mathematics held Integration Bee X on Thursday, April 18th in Cabot Science 085.  The tenth annual calculus contest, first held in 2003, featured around 40 students participating, and is the signature event for the department during Mathematics Awareness Month.

A large group of students were on hand to cheer for their friends, as well as several students accepted to Norwich for this fall, as part of NU101 activities.  Participants work against the clock to solve integrals, mathematical objects that can be interpreted as areas or generalizations of areas.  Integrals and derivatives are the fundamental objects of calculus.

Teerawut Praiwal, a freshman civil engineering major from Hua Hin, Thailand, was the Grand Champion for Integration Bee X.  Praiwal won a paid trip to see the Red Sox play the Yankees at Fenway Park.  He narrowly beat Prapat Kotpat, a second-year civil engineering major from Washington, DC.

Praiwal (l) and Kotpat, Integration Bee X finalists

Finishing with Praiwal and Kotpat in the Final Four were Kristina Pomeroy, a sophomore architecture major from Windsor Locks, CT, and Pete Wagner, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Graniteville, VT.

(l to r) Praiwal, Kotpat, Pomeroy, and Wagner, Integration Bee X Final Four

Rounding out the Elite Eight were Andrew Janowicz, a freshmen mechanical engineering major from Derry, NH; Jacob Maheu, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Belchertown, MA; Anthony Belval, a freshman civil engineering major from Essex Junction, VT; and Jordan McCarthy, a sophomore chemistry major from Windsor, VT.

For the past few years, the Department of Mathematics gives the Katy and Kelli Tyner Award to the two Integration Bee participants who best embody the spirit of the competition.  The prizes are generously funded by Dr. Dennis and Patty Tyner in honor of two of their daughters, who competed fiercely in the first several Integration Bees.  The Tyner Awards for Integration Bee X were presented to Kristina Pomeroy and to Katherine Kjeer, a Norwich student from Waterbury, VT.

The Integration Bee was co-sponsored by the Department of Mathematics and by Wolfram Research, makers of Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha.  All participating integrators were given a one-year license for Mathematica for Students.

Dr. Robert Knapik, Department of Physics, is the next speaker in the Science Lecture Series.  His talk, “What is a Neutrino?” happens on Thursday, April 19th at 12:00 noon in Cabot 295.  All are welcome and Science majors are encouraged to attend.

Please click here for an abstract and more information.

The following School of Mathematics and Sciences faculty members have been awarded fellowships and grants from the Office of Academic Research:

• Dana Research Fellowship to Darlene Olsen of the Department of Mathematics for her proposal to study “The Kolmogorov-Zurbenko Algorithm for Statistical Analysis of Long Time Course Microarray Data.”  Dana Research Fellowships are awarded to regular faculty on a competitive basis to support research, creative, or scholarly projects.
• Curriculum Development Fellowship to Christine Latulippe of the Department of Mathematics for her proposal to perform research and development on a Secondary Mathematics Education course.  Curriculum Development Fellowships are awarded to regular faculty on a competitive basis to support projects for curriculum development beyond expected revision of courses.
• Dana Category I Grants to Cathy Frey, Department of Mathematics, Dean of the School of Mathematics and Sciences, and Karen Hinkle, Department of Biology and Physical Education, for demonstrating superior scholarship, teaching ability, and university service.

Congratulations to all our winners!

Every year undergraduate students from across the globe participate in the International Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM). This year, Norwich University had two teams compete against 3695 teams from 17 countries (341 US Teams). For the contest, each team selects one of two problems to work on over a five-day period in February. A summary of this year’s problems are:

A) Determining how much the leaves on a tree weigh. How might one classify leafs? Build a mathematical model to describe and classify leaves. Do shapes minimize overlapping individual shadows, or maximize exposure?

B) Create a mathematical model that would determine an optimal schedule for river trips by groups of enthusiasts with varying duration (measured in nights on the river) and the propulsion (motor or oar) that will utilize campsites in the best possible way. One constraint is that no two groups can occupy the same campsite at the same time.

During the contest each team learns about the problem and constructs a mathematical formulation for addressing the problem questions. The teams then analyze, expand, and simulate their model. Each team submits a written report describing their findings which is then evaluated by an international panel of judges, administered by the Consortium for Mathematics and its Application (COMAP).

The Norwich team comprised of Antonio Diaz (Mathematics Major) and Nicholas Michaud (Physics Major) was awarded the designation of “Honorable Mention” for their solution. This team worked on problem A) and made excellent progress in modeling the complex open-ended questions related to leaves.

When asked about his experience with the contest, Michaud stated, “I learned a lot about trees, how they grow, and common patterns that the natural world appears to follow. I also learned a lot about myself and my teammate in a stressful work environment, and methods for dealing with situations that come up.”

The team comprised of Katherine Kjeer, Jasper Barlich, and Robyn Taylor (all Mathematics Majors) was given the designation “Successful Participant”. This team also chose to work on problem A).

Robyn Taylor said, “The contest was a new experience for me and I really enjoyed working with my teammates. I was able to apply concepts that I learned in the classroom to this real world problem. I am looking forward to participating again next year.”

Each student will be given a certificate of completion from COMAP with their team’s designation.

Both teams were mentored by Assistant Professor of Mathematics Joe Latulippe.  Participation in the contest is very time consuming and stressful. Each team did a wonderful job working on their problems and with each other.

Congratulations to our participants!