REU Site: Research Experience for Undergraduates in Industrial Mathematics and Statistics

REU网站：工业数学和统计学本科生的研究经验

• 批准号: 1263127
• 负责人: Suzanne Weekes
• 金额: $ 38.2万
• 依托单位: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-05-01 至 2017-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1263127&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Research; Experience; Undergraduates

The WPI REU program in Industrial Mathematics and Statistics provides a unique educational experience for students of the mathematical sciences by introducing them to research in an industrial environment. It provides a glimpse of the many career possibilities which are open to students with a strong mathematical background. The students work in teams on problems that come directly from local business and industry. Students work closely with a company representative to define the problem and develop solutions of immediate value to the company. They work closely with a faculty advisor to formulate the problem mathematically and maintain a clear focus on the mathematics at the core of the project. Industrial problems rarely fit into one area of mathematics and this fact is an important part of the research experience. Many projects require some combination of classical analysis, modelling, statistics, optimization, and computer programming. The results from the projects completed in the REU program are of direct importance to the industrial partners and impact research and development at these companies. Further, projects developed for the REU program are modified for use in K-12 mathematics curricula in order to improve student motivation and generate interest in careers in the mathematical sciences.Many mathematics graduates now follow nonacademic career paths. Of the roughly 1200 2010-2011 doctoral recipients in the Mathematical Sciences who have known employment in the U.S., 31.5% of them have taken up employment in business, government, industry, research institutes and other not-for-profits. When one takes out those writing statistics or biostatistics dissertations, one finds that 22% of the new mathematicians are working outside academia. The WPI REU Program in Industrial Mathematics and Statistics aims to expose students to mathematics research that occurs outside of the university setting. It aims to provide challenges to students not faced in standard undergraduate programs and to develop skills not always developed in traditional educational programs, such as (a) communication at several levels, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening; (b) problem formulation as an interactive, evolutionary process; and (c) the ability to work with a diverse team. The WPI REU Program in Industrial Mathematics and Statistics has existed since 1998 and, since that time, we have worked with 167 students who have come from 119 different U.S. colleges in 37 states and Puerto Rico; 45% of the students were female. Only 7 of these 167 students were WPI students. Of the 119 universities that have been represented at the REU program over the last 15 years, 50% of them do not offer graduate degrees in mathematics. We have worked on 47 different industrial projects sponsored by 23 different companies. Students from the REU program often go on to pursue graduate degrees in mathematics and in other fields, and they also pursue careers in finance and industry.

工业数学和统计学的WPI REU计划通过将他们引入工业环境中的研究，为数学科学的学生提供独特的教育体验。 它提供了许多职业的可能性，这是开放给学生有很强的数学背景的一瞥。学生们在团队中工作的问题，直接来自当地的商业和工业。学生与公司代表密切合作，定义问题，并制定对公司有直接价值的解决方案。他们与教师顾问密切合作，以数学方式制定问题，并保持对项目核心数学的明确关注。工业问题很少适合一个领域的数学和这一事实是一个重要组成部分的研究经验。许多项目需要一些经典的分析，建模，统计，优化和计算机编程的组合。 在REU计划中完成的项目的结果对这些公司的工业合作伙伴和影响研究和开发具有直接重要性。此外，为REU计划开发的项目被修改用于K-12数学课程，以提高学生的动机，并产生对数学科学职业的兴趣。许多数学毕业生现在遵循非学术职业道路。在大约1200名2010-2011年数学科学博士学位获得者中，其中31.5%的人在企业、政府、工业、研究机构和其他非营利组织工作。当我们把那些写统计学或生物统计学论文的人排除在外时，我们会发现22%的新数学家在学术界之外工作。工业数学和统计学的WPI REU计划旨在让学生接触大学环境之外的数学研究。 它旨在为学生提供标准本科课程中没有遇到的挑战，并培养在传统教育课程中不总是发展的技能，例如（a）多个层次的沟通，包括阅读，写，说和听;（B）作为一个互动的，渐进的过程的问题制定;和（c）与多元化团队合作的能力。在工业数学和统计WPI REU程序自1998年以来一直存在，从那时起，我们已经与167名学生谁已经来自119个不同的美国在37个州和波多黎各大学; 45%的学生是女性。这167名学生中只有7名是WPI学生。在过去的15年里，在REU项目中有119所大学，其中50%不提供数学研究生学位。我们参与了由23家不同公司赞助的47个不同的工业项目。 从REU计划的学生经常继续攻读数学和其他领域的研究生学位，他们也追求在金融和工业的职业生涯。