News & Activities
The Department of Mathematics & Computer Science is committed to servicing both the University and its surrounding community. Part of our mission as a department is to take every opportunity to involve faculty members, students and community members in our organization. The two major events we host each year are MPATE (Mathematics, Physics and Advanced Technology Exploration day) and Math Awareness Month.
Department News
Several faculty members have announced intentions to pursue interests elsewhere in the coming academic year. Dr. Maureen Doyle has accepted an appointment in Computer Science at Northern Kentucky University. Dr. Dan Seth will be the new Department Head of the Department of Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering at West Texas A & M University. Instructors Pat Coen and Charlie Jones are also leaving the university. We thank these four for their years of service to the department. We will miss you, and wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
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Department announces new Major in Computer Science
The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is pleased to announce a new Major in Computer Science to augment the current Area of Concentration and Minor. The major will allow students to have more choices since they will now be able to choose a minor in addition to the required computer science coursework. For example, students interested in video game programming can now major in computer science and minor in art. Someone interested in artificial intelligence and natural language could major in computer science and minor in linguistics. The wide variety of fields that now rely on problem solving abilities and technical expertise make the new major especially exciting.
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MSU faculty receive EPSCOR grant
Four Morehead State University faculty members in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science have received a $23,394 grant from the Kentucky NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
Involved in the research are: Dr. Maureen Doyle, assistant professor of computer science, principal investigator; and Dr. Doug Chatham and Dr. Timothy O'Brien, assistant professors of mathematics, and Duane Skaggs, technology coordinator, co-investigators. They are working in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Bryson at the NASA Ames Research Center.
The objective of this project is to establish a scalable research cluster consisting of eight computer processors. Working with MSU's Office of Information Technology (OIT), an initial eight-node cluster system, composed of high-performance CPUs, will be built, maintained and updated regularly by OIT.
This system will be available to the general university community for research and education. The relative affordability of high performance computing components and recent experience building an MSU-funded eight node prototype from salvaged computers were factors in establishing a scalable cluster.
The project addresses NASA initiatives in education and space exploration. Two MSU students will participate in building the hardware and configuring the operating system. The students will work closely with Dr. Bryson on parallel software design and implementation. Information Technology will finance an additional student to work on this project.
Additional information is available from Dr. Doyle by calling (606) 783-9438.
MPATE Day
The Mathematics, Physics and Advanced Technology Exploration day is an annual event that usually takes place in early November. The departments of Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics, and Industrial Engineering Technology join forces to provide a day of science exploration and competition to hundreds of high school students. The schools that participate are mainly from eastern Kentucky but we have a few from parts of Ohio and West Virginia. If you would like your school to participate please drop us a line.
Mathematics Awareness Month (MAM)
Mathematics Awareness Month is held in April each year to increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics. Mathematics Awareness Week began in 1986 and was concentrated on national-level events, such as opening mathematics exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution and hosting a reception on Capitol Hill.
Since that time the focus has shifted to activities at the local, state, and regional levels. Furthermore, the name was changed from Mathematics Awareness Week to Mathematics Awareness Month in 1999. Activities for Mathematics Awareness Month are generally organized by college and university departments, institutional public information offices, student groups, and related associations and interest groups. They have included a wide variety of workshops, competitions, exhibits, festivals, lectures, and symposia.
The purpose of Mathematics Awareness Month has been to increase the visibility of mathematics as a field of study and to communicate the power and intrigue in mathematics to a larger audience.
