On Saturday, February 17, over 150 students and faculty from Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio attended the third Michigan Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (MUMC) at the Grand Rapids campus of Grand Valley State University. This event was planned by the student mathematics organizations at Alma College and GVSU. Paul Fishback (GVSU), Jody Sorensen (GVSU), and Tim Sipka (Alma C) served as this year's conference organizers. GVSU, Alma College, the Michigan Section, Prentice Hall, and Thomson Learning provided funding
The conference began with the infamous "Real Estate Opportunities in Hyperbolic Space" presentation by Mel Slugbate of Slugbate and Mossbutter Real Estate Agency, a.k.a. Colin Adams (Williams C). Mr. Slugbate introduced the geometry of hyperbolic space by offering such real estate options as "The Lobachevsky", an octagonal house whose sides all meet at right angles. In addition to Mr. Slugbate's talk, the conference included 21 student presentations, the game show "Who Wants to be a Math Millionaire" hosted by Ed Aboufadel and Will Dickinson (GVSU), and several presentations by career and graduate school representatives. For a complete description of the conference schedule as well as event pictures, visit the conference Web page (http://www.gvsu.edu/mathstat/mumc.htm).
MUMC planners have already begun thinking about next year's conference. We are very interested in getting students and faculty from schools other than GVSU or Alma involved in the conference planning process. If you wish to learn more about ways of contributing to this event, which we hope will become an annual activity of the Michigan Section, please contact Paul Fishback, Section Student Activities Coordinator (fishbacp@gvsu.edu, 616-895-2443).
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