Carroll College - MATH / ENGR / CS

04/25/2017

Carroll math students did amazing work in the MCM/ICM this year!

HELENA – The Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP) recently announced the results of the annual Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) & Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM), held in January 2017.

04/20/2017

Carroll Mathematics is well represented at this year's SURF - Student Undergraduate Research Festival!

01/23/2017

Right now, Carroll has 7 teams competing in the 99-hour "Mathematical Contest in Modeling." These 21 students have been working hard since Thursday: 4 of our teams are doing problem "D" where they try to optimize an airport security checkpoint. Our other teams are working to "A" develop a management plan for the Zambezi River, "B" optimize traffic flow through tollbooths, and "F" design a economic-workforce-education system for a Martian colony. They've done some great work so far, and we can't wait to see their final papers later today!

10/13/2016

Public lecture, "The Science of Synthetic Diamonds," Dr. Kelly Cline, 7pm, Thurs 10/13, SH101/202

Diamonds are some of the most valuable objects on Earth and are the hardest known substance, but they are made of ordinary carbon atoms, just like piece of a charcoal or your graphite pencil lead. To be a diamond, those carbon atoms have to be arranged into a very special crystal structure. For a century people all over the world tried to discover the secrets of how to turn cheap carbon into real diamonds. Finally, in the mid-20th century this mystery was solved, and today creating diamonds is a major industry. Why are diamonds so hard to make? How exactly can we create diamonds? How are diamond synthesis technologies revolutionizing our modern technology?

Join us for an exciting discussion of the science behind synthetic diamonds!

09/07/2016

“Public Debate: What is the Greatest Unsolved Mathematics Problem of Modern Times?” Wednesday, September 7, 7pm
Dr. Kelly Cline vs. Dr. Eric Sullivan
In the year 2000, the Clay Mathematics Institute announced that they would award a one million dollar prize for solutions to any of seven challenging mysteries in mathematics. One of these mysteries has now been solved, and six are still out there. What is the most important of these unsolved problems? Dr. Sullivan will argue that the most important unsolved problem involves the equations of fluid motion. While we have equations that describe how water or air can move and flow, these equations are extremely difficult to solve, making it challenging to predict how a new airplane design will move through the air, or how a fish moves through water. Dr. Cline will argue that the most important unsolved problem comes from the mathematics of how we use computers to find the most efficient ways to do things. For example, suppose we need to find the most efficient way to load many different types of cargo onto a set of airplanes: We could use a computer to try all the different possible ways of loading our cargo, but this problem takes exponentially more time as we consider more pieces of cargo. Is there a faster way to do problems like this? Or it impossible to do this problem in less than exponential time? At the end of this debate, the audience will vote on which of these two problems is the most important unsolved mathematics problem of modern times. Join us for this fun and exciting public debate!

03/08/2016

Here it is, the full debate between Dr. Cline and Dr. Sullivan over the greatest theorem in all of history. It's a fun and lively discussion covering a wide range of topics from the history of mathematics. Dr. Went gives a 2 minute introduction, Dr. Cline presents first, then at 19:00 Dr. Sullivan presents second, rebuttals begin at 40:30, questions from the audience begin at 44:45, and the event ends at 1:06 with the audience vote.

09/11/2015

Carroll Mathematics Receives $200,000 Grant from W.M. Keck Foundation

In support of an initiative to integrate statistics across the curriculum, the W.M. Keck Foundation has awarded Carroll College a grant in the amount of $200,000 for Project InterStats. The project will provide interdisciplinary experiences for students, involve more students in undergraduate research, and provide funds for professional development for a wide cross-section of faculty.

09/08/2015

We are proud to welcome a new math professor to Carroll College: Dr. Jodi Fasteen received her B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from North Dakota State University (2003), M.S. in Mathematics from University of Oregon (2006), and Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from Portland State University (2015).

Dr. Fasteen’s professional interests focus on the teaching and learning of mathematics at the undergraduate level. Her research has focused on curriculum development and work with prospective and current K-12 teachers. She also has a particular interest in statistics education and the development of interactive statistics curriculum for the undergraduate level.

Outside of school, Dr. Fasteen enjoys spending time with her children, exploring the outdoors, and all manner of building & crafting hobbies.

04/10/2015

Carroll's 9 MCM/ICM teams scored 4 Honorable Mentions and 5 Meritorious Winners!

This year 27 Carroll students volunteered to compete in 9 teams of 3 students, in this 96 hour mathematics contest, during February, 2015. In the contest each team selected one of four open-ended real-world problems, analyzed the scenario, and wrote a formal paper describing their work. This year’s problems involved (A) developing strategies for eradicating the Ebola virus, (B) creating methods for finding a plane that went down in the ocean, (C) managing human capital in organizations, and (D) developing a 20 year sustainable development plan for an underdeveloped nation. This year 9,767 teams from colleges and universities all over the world competed in the MCM/ICM

Five of our nine teams were ranked as “Meritorious Winners,” placing them in the top 11% of all teams. The other four of our nine teams were ranked as “Honorable Mention,” placing them in the next 33% of teams. 57% of all teams worldwide were ranked as “Successful Participants,” but every single Carroll team surpassed this level!

02/06/2015

The 2015 Mathematical Contest in Modeling has begun! Carroll has nine teams this year, 27 students, who will be spending the next four days working hard, doing math, writing an awesome paper, and eating tons of food! This year's problems are great: Problem A is to develop strategies for using a treatment for Ebola to stop the disease. Problem B is about the most efficient methods of searching for a lost airplane in the ocean. The students are full of energy and enthusiasm!

10/23/2014

Public Lecture Tonight: “The Great Calculus War: Newton Versus Leibniz" October 23, 2014, SH101/202
One of the most amazing events in the history of science was the great war over who invented calculus. This pitted two of the most eccentric and strange geniuses of all time against each other: Isaac Newton developed his theory of gravity and laid the foundations of modern physics. Gottfried Leibniz invented early calculators and pioneered binary mathematics, which led to the development of modern computers. Both of them claimed to invent calculus, and their claims set off a century-long war of words between their supporters. How did this happen? How did these great geniuses come into conflict? How did those fault lines shape the development of science over the following centuries? Join us to learn the strange and amazing story of these two geniuses and their war over calculus.