Dr. Umadevi Garimella, director of the Arkansas Center for Mathematics and Science Education, received a $11,975 grant from the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority (ASTA) for her proposal titled, “Microscopic World.” The funds will be used to provide professional development workshops for 20 elementary school teachers in central Arkansas. The workshop will focus on incorporating technology in content-rich curriculum based science and math-investigations and provide information about career opportunities in the STEM areas.
Dr. Patrick Carmack, assistant professor of Mathematics, gave an invited talk titled “Spatial Modeling and fMRI” in the Division of Biostatistics and Data Collection of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Columbia.
Dr. Ramesh Garimella, chair of the Department of Mathematics, recently published a paper entitled “An Operator Equation, KDV Equation and Invariant Subspaces.” The paper appeared in the February 2010 issue of the Proceedings of the American Mathematics Society, a premier research journal published by the American Mathematical Society. The paper was co-authored by Dr. V. Hrynkiv of the University of Houston –Downtown and Dr. A.R. Souror of the University of Victoria.
Dr. R.B. Lenin received a 2010 summer stipend from the University Research Council to work on a research project related to the efficiency of parallel computing. Dr. Lenin joined the Department of Mathematics as a tenure track assistant professor in the fall 2009. His area of specialty is applied probability and performance analysis of computer and communication networks.
Dr. Jean McGehee and Dr. Linda Griffith presented their work for Texas Instruments at the T^3 (Teachers Teaching with Technology) International Conference in Atlanta on March 6. In 2009, Drs. McGehee and Griffith were invited to be a part of a national team to write and develop an online geometry resource for teachers. The resource includes modules with several lessons. Each lesson consists of an action-consequence student document related to a TI Nspire dynamic software file. Extensive teacher notes and support documents were written related to the student document. McGehee was one of four academic advisors who developed the outline for the project and advised the team that wrote the material for both the Similarity and Right Triangle Modules. Griffith chaired the team. In Atlanta, McGehee presented the Similarity Module and Griffith presented the Right Triangle Module.
Department of Mathematics Directs Regional Math Contest
About 160 middle and high school students in central Arkansas took part in the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Mathematics Contest held on the UCA campus on March 6. Competitions were held in Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Precalculus and Trigonometry, Calculus, and Statistics. Winners will participate in the state contest on the UCA campus on April 24. Dr. Carolyn Pinchback, professor of Mathematics, was the director for the Regional Contest. Dr. Ramesh Garimella, chair of the Math Department, and Dr. Charles Watson, associate professor of Mathematics and director of the ACTM State Contest, assisted Dr. Pinchback in organizing the contest.