Tag mathematics department

Students Cole Pearson and Mady Bihun present at national symposium

Shippensburg University students Cole Pearson, a Wood Honors College student and chemistry major, Mady Bihun, a mathematics major, recently showcased their research at the Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium (GCURS), hosted by Rice University. Pearson presented an ongoing research project that he has been working on for over a year and over the summer,‘Development of a Computational Tool for Kombucha Titration Analysis’. “This project has involved the incorporation of analytical chemistry, mathematical modeling and chemical thermodynamics. Furthermore, Pearson shared how his studies at Ship prepared him to communicate complex research. “My 3+ years of education at Shippensburg University and the College of Arts & Sciences, and particularly the Chemistry Department, has been instrumental in teaching me how to speak about science and research to a general audience.” While at GCURS, Pearson was inspired by the keynote speaker, Dr. Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, who spoke about her lifelong career in biophysical chemistry and what to expect of the field in the future. “Her work is especially exciting to me, as I hope to pursue a career applying an interdisciplinary physics-biochemistrt approach to solve pertinent problems.” Pearson also acknowledged the faculty at Ship who helped guide him and the SU Foundation, which funded his summer SURE grant. “I want to thank my research advisors, Dr. Jeb Kegerreis, Dr. Luis Melara and Dr. John Richardson, for their guidance. I want to also thank the SU Foundation for funding the summer SURE grant that supported my research.” Bihun, who presented in the applied mathematics section, focused her research on the connection between math and human biology. “I presented on The Decay of Botox Within the Human Body,” she said. “Which was a beginner’s mathematical study on how Botox interacts with human nerve cells.” To assist her research, Bihun frequently met with her advisor, Luis Melara. “We wanted to guarantee that no matter the person’s mathematical background, they could fully understand the concepts,” she said. One particular presentation stood out to her for its innovative approach. “I really enjoyed the presentation by Josh Ebbert, who automated the assignment of glycemic index (GI) values to food in national nutrition datasets using natural language processing and machine learning,” Bihun shared. For Bihun, GCURS enabled her to build upon her confidence and look forward to graduate school. “Having the opportunity to present my research at Rice University has helped me gain a better understanding of graduate school and how I will fit into that world after undergrad,” she said. Pearson and Bihun’s achievements shows how undergraduate research and mentorship allows students to take on challenging opportunities and follow their passions.

Cole Pearson, a Wood Honors College student and chemistry major, Mady Bihun, a mathematics major, recently showcased their research at the Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium (GCURS), hosted by Rice University.  Pearson presented an ongoing research project that he has been working on for over a year, ‘Development of a Computational Tool for Kombucha Titration…

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Dr. Hamblin’s open-source materials cut costs for students and raise course outcomes

reduces the overwhelm that can come from translating a generic textbook across different teaching and learning methods.

Shippensburg University professor of mathematics, Dr. James Hamblin, has spent the past several years replacing Elementary Linear Algebra textbook materials with free, fully integrated open-source resources: free online text, MyOpenMath exercises, and video lectures. According to Hamblin, the goal was to bridge the gap between a heavily theoretical approach favored by math majors and the…

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Mathematics department April 2025 kudos

Ship’s Math and Computer Science Day had over 180 high school students attend, with over 70 competing in a math contest coordinated by faculty and students. Mathematics major Mady Bihun presented her work at EPADEL, the Eastern PA and Delaware section of the Mathematical Association of America. Luis Melera, assistant director of the Wood Honors…

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Luis Melara, Mathematics department

Dr. Melara gave a research presentation entitled Optimal Bandwidth Selection in Biofet Measurements at the Vith Interdisciplinary International Conference on Applied Mathematics, Modeling and Computational Science. The meeting was held in at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada from August 14-18, 2023. Read it here. He co-organized and chaired a session on Mathematical Modelling and Disease…

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