Eighteen times in the past, undergraduate students have gathered in Huntsville, Tyler, San Antonio, Beaumont, Austin, Nacogdoches and "the cloud" to talk about math, play games, and network with students and faculty from around the state of Texas. This year, we will return to Tyler!
Friday evening's events and most of Saturday's events will be in W.T. Brookshire Hall, which is #13 on the map. Parking passes will be available at the registration table. Conference participants should park in lots P9, P10, or P14 on the map. Note that lot P10 is the closest to Brookshire Hall.
Plenary talks will take place in RBS, and lunch will be in the MET Cafeteria. Campus does have some small hills, so conference participants with mobility issues may want to consider driving between WTB and these other buildings. RBS is #17 on the map, and the closest parking lot is P8. The MET Cafeteria is in the University Center, #28 on the map, and the closest parking lot is P17.
Our invited speakers are Dr. Rebecca E. Garcia from Colorado College and Daniël du Preez from SpaceX.
Dr. Rebecca E. Garcia is a Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Colorado College (CC). Previous to this, she was Professor of Mathematics at Sam Houston State University for nineteen years. She continues to serve as Co-Director of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Undergraduate Program (MSRI-UP) and the Project Director and PI for the MAA's National REU Program. Garcia is native CHamoru, born and raised in Guam, and, so far as she knows, is the first CHamoru to earn a doctoral degree in theoretical mathematics. Her research interests are at the intersection of computational and commutative algebra and combinatorics, with contributions in computational algebraic combinatorics, theory of sandpile groups, dimension theory of partially ordered sets, and in generalized graph splines. Garcia is an active member of the American Mathematical Society, the Mathematical Association of America, the Association for Women in Mathematics, and the National Association of Mathematicians. She is the recipient of the 2015 Texas Section MAA Award for Distinguished College and University Teaching of Mathematics and the 2023 MAA Inclusivity Award for her work in creating and directing programs that aim to provide research opportunities for students who identify as belonging to groups that were historically marginalized and excluded from participating in mathematical research and educational opportunities.
Daniël du Preez is a Software Developer working on networking routing for Starlink at SpaceX. He earned his undergraduate degrees (BA in computer science, BS in mathematics) from the University of Texas at Tyler. Before SpaceX, he also worked on retail software for Amazon. Daniël's work focuses on writing software which solves linear programming problems to optimally route traffic through the Starlink network, enabling improved reliability, throughput and latency.
Friday, November 8, 2024
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 6:30 pm | Registration opens | WTB Atrium |
| 6:30 - 8:30 pm | Pizza party and games | WTB 133, 137 |
Saturday, November 9, 2024
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| before 8:00 am | Breakfast at hotel | |
| 8:00 am | Registration opens | WTB Atrium |
| 8:30 - 9:00 am | Panel sessions | WTB 133, 137, 235, 236 |
| 9:05 - 9:35 am | Panel sessions | WTB 133, 137, 235, 236 |
| 9:40 am | Conference photo | WTB Stairs |
| 10:05 - 11:05 am | Plenary talk Rebecca Garcia |
RBS 2024 for students RBS 1031 for faculty |
| 11:15 am - 12:15 pm | Lunch | MET Cafeteria |
| 12:30 - 1:30 pm | Plenary talk Daniël du Preez |
RBS 2024 for students RBS 1031 for faculty |
| 1:50 - 3:05 pm | Contributed talks abstracts |
WTB 133, 136, 137, 235, 236 |
| 3:10 - 3:40 pm | Grad school fair | WTB Atrium and hallways |
| 3:45 - 5:00 pm | Contributed talks abstracts |
WTB 133, 136, 137, 235, 236 |
Dr. Rebecca Garcia, Colorado College
An Introduction to Generalized Graph Splines
Classically, a spline is a piece-wise polynomial function over a polyhedral complex where the polynomials agree up to some degree of smoothness at the intersection of faces. This notion has been generalized in a natural way, established in the work by Gilbert, Tymoczko and Viel. In this talk, we will look at some of the known results that lead into open and student-friendly questions in the area, as well a sneak peak into some ongoing collaborative research that has brought joy back into doing math.
Mr. Daniël du Preez, SpaceX
Linear Programming & Applications in Computer Networks
Linear programming or linear optimization is a powerful and versatile problem-solving technique. This talk will begin with an introduction to LPs including definitions, examples, and strategies for solving them. Next, the talk will focus specifically on how LPs can be applied to improve packet routing in computer networks. Finally, we will close with a look at why these techniques are so applicable to the Starlink network.
Each panel session will run twice – once from 8:30-9:00am and then from 9:05-9:35am, so that participants can attend multiple panels.
abstracts for contributed talks (both sessions)
abstracts for contributed talks (both sessions)
Registration and abstract submission are now closed.
The student registration fee is $10. Information about how to pay is included in the registration form. Faculty registration is free.
Students may submit an abstract for a 15-minute contributed talk. Priority for contributed talk slots will be given to students presenting original research. Based on availability of contributed talk slots, abstracts for high quality expository talks may be accepted as well. All students interested in math are welcome to register for and attend TUMC, regardless of whether they are presenting. There are also a limited number of 15-minute contributed talk slots available for presentations by faculty.
Deadlines:
Undergraduate students who register by October 16th will have the option for the TUMC conference to make and pay for hotel accommodations for the night of the November 8th. Registration will remain open until Friday, November 1, but students who register after October 16 but before November 1 will be responsible for arranging their own lodging. Faculty will need to make their own hotel reservations (information on that below).
We will have a graduate school fair on Saturday. Faculty who wish to sign up for a table at the grad school fair may do so when filling out their conference registration form. There is no fee for having a table at the grad school fair.
On Friday evening, the events include a pizza party and math games from 6:30 PM until 8:30 PM. On Saturday, we will have two plenary talks, contributed students talks, the grad school fair, and panel presentations.
The conference hotel will be the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Tyler, at 3104 Golden Road, Tyler, TX 75701. Students will be grouped by institutions and a hotel list will be sent out about a week after registration closes.
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