mathematics

STEM Bridge Camp gives new students a jump-start in math and science

Melanie Balog — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 21:51:55 +0000

STEM Bridge Camp gives new students a jump-start in math and science Melanie Balog Mon, 08/28/2023 - 17:51

��AV has offered summer programming for incoming Patriots every summer since 2011. Previous offerings included a one-week math boot camp and a one-week STEM camp. This year they were combined to form a new two-week STEM Bridge Camp, held July 24-Aug. 4 at the Fairfax Campus.

Many peer leaders faculty members and support staff helped make this year’s combined camp a success. Faculty walked students through sample science classes, reviewed lab protocols, and provided daily math instruction. Students also got advice from upper-class Patriots about taking classes and preparing for exams.

Students in STEM Bridge camp learn about fingerprints during Forensic Science instruction. Photo provided

In a STEM challenge research activity, students worked in small groups, to develop and test research questions related to temperature and humidity. After they collected data using a research-grade thermometer, Taylor Anderson helped them visualize it. The students gave presentations on their work at the conclusion of the camp.

The program also allows incoming freshmen to get a taste of residential college life before the semester starts and become more familiar with campus, as well as take field trips to Washington, D.C., and Mason's SciTech Campus, the latter to experience The Edge, the team development and experiential learning program available through Mason Recreation.

Presentations on climate change from Mason researchers Luis Ortiz and Jim Kinter bookended the two weeks of camp. Students also learned about fingerprints and DNA analysis with Forensic Science faculty members Chris Durac and Georgia Williams.

The mathematics portion of camp was organized by Rosemberg Toala-enriquez, who was assisted by multiple math GTAs and two Mason alumni math teachers, Sheeva Doshireh and Harnam Arneja. After taking the math boot camp, all students improved their scores on their math placement exams, and many were placed into higher level math classes as a result.

This year's camp was in part funded by Strategic Investment Funds from the President's Office, which Tina Bell and Rebecca Jones applied for in December 2022.

STEM Bridge Camp is just one of many activities administrated and led by the STEM Accelerator, a unique interdisciplinary collective of faculty committed to improve STEM education at Mason.

This story originally appeared on the College of Science website.

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In Memoriam: Mathematics Professor Jeng-Eng Lin

Melanie Balog — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 13:43:24 +0000

In Memoriam: Mathematics Professor Jeng-Eng Lin Melanie Balog Fri, 06/10/2022 - 09:43

Jeng-Eng Lin

��AV mourns the recent passing of Jeng-Eng “Jerry” Lin, Professor, associate professor emeritus of mathematical sciences.

Lin, 74, of Los Osos, California, passed away on Friday, May 20, 2022, due to complications of lymphoma. He was born on July 13, 1947, the second in a family of six sons, and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. He received his doctorate in mathematics from Brown University and was a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Mason for 33 years.

During his time at Mason, he donated many hours of his time in community service to strengthen Chinese American and underprivileged communities. He published more than 40 papers in the area of nonlinear partial differential equations and, upon retirement, continued to do research and teach at Georgetown University.

“Jerry’s love of mathematics was best expressed by his outreach to young children,” said his colleague Sandy Saperstone.

In 1994, Lin established Mason's Math Enrichment Program, a summer program for children in middle and high school to take courses in an accelerated learning environment.

“Eventually the program became so popular that he had to enlist Mason faculty to teach these courses,” Saperstone added.

“I have no doubt that Mason’s profile grew within the local community partly due to Jerry’s outreach activities,” said Mathematics Professor Flavia Colonna, who remembered him as warm, caring and easily prone to smiling.

Colonna also remembered Lin's participation and contributions to discussions within Mason’s Academic Diversity Committee surrounding policies for improving and embracing diverse cultures and ethnicities across the university.

As an undergraduate and graduate coordinator, Colonna heard from students how well-liked Lin was. “I also learned from the students that he was quite humorous in the classroom,” Colonna added.

Padhu Seshaiyer referred to Lin as a "very strong mathematician and a very humble person." Jim Lawrence, who started at Mason the same year as Lin, called him a “soft-spoken, generous person who freely gave help, and who was a serious educator."

Mason’s Mathematical Sciences Department chair Maria Emelianenko said the department will continue Lin’s math camps for K-12 students. Donations to the ��AV Foundation in memory of Lin will help keep the camps going.

“We hope to continue his legacy by collecting funds to support our outreach and enrichment efforts that were such an important focus of Jerry’s life and time at Mason,” Emelianenko said.

Karen Crossin remembered Lin as someone who "accepted everyone where they were and helped them all reach a little higher."

“Jerry was a kind and generous person and a wonderful mathematician," Emelianenko said. "He made a tremendous impact on the broader mathematical community, and we all have a lot to be thankful to him for. He will be sorely missed."

Lin is survived by his wife, Shu-Ping; his two children, Oliver and Joyce; their spouses, Talia and Ian; and five grandchildren.