2021 Mathematics Open House

As chair of the CSUN Mathematics Department, it is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to this special occasion: our annual department open house.

I would especially like to highlight our student research presentations.  These presentations illustrate the many and varied opportunities that the Math Department offers both our undergraduate and graduate students.  Research experience is becoming an increasingly important facet of the scientific training of students, and our department is helping to lead the way so as to prepare our students for 21^st century challenges.

I would also like to call your attention to the three afternoon panels made up of several of our former students, who have volunteered to describe how their education at CSUN enhanced their academic and professional careers.  The lion’s share of credit, of course, goes to the students themselves – both our current and former students - but the roles of our talented and dedicated faculty should also not be overlooked.  Two of our faculty will provide an overview of their research activities. You will see that they are working on a broad range of cutting-edge projects.

We hope that you will be able to attend as many sessions as you can throughout the day.  We have an information session where you can ask questions and learn all about our department programs.  If you stop by during the intermission, right after the student research presentations, you can enjoy music provided by a blues band that includes three CSUN mathematicians.

The pandemic imposed some restrictions on our interactions.  It has forced us to take special measures to remain physically separated, and to rely on the internet and innovative technologies to teach and communicate ideas. Thanks to the efforts of our hardworking and extraordinary staff, our department doors have remained open remotely, providing the care and support our students need under these unique circumstances. We hope that this event will bring us together even more to applaud the accomplishments of our students and faculty and to share some of the wonderful opportunities that our department has to offer.

Thank you again for joining us today.  I hope that you find your time here enjoyable and illuminating.

Rabia Djellouli
Department Chair

Presenters

Jing Li

Associate Professor of Mathematics

Modeling Waning and Boosting of COVID-19 in Canada with Vaccination

Several vaccination policy-making bodies, including the Government of Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), have solicited transmission modeling studies to evaluate possible strategies for allocating vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Most models of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 are modifications of a classic model in population biology in which the host population is partitioned into those who are susceptible to infection; infected, but not yet infectious; infectious; and removed from the process to include features of the biology of COVID-19 that might affect transmission (e.g., pre- and asymptomatic infections, hospitalization of some with symptomatic infections, vaccination, mortality, and waning of immunity). We have used a model with some of these features that however emphasizes the waning and boosting of immunity and relationship between immunity when infected and disease to answer some of the questions posed by the NACI. 

David Klein

Professor of Mathematics

Climate Models & the Climate Crisis: An Overview

A brief introduction to the mathematics of climate science and the magnitude of the climate crisis will be given.  Questions about what to expect in the future, and what can be done will also be addressed. 

Faculty Session Chair

Emmanuel Yomba

Professor of Mathematics

Want to learn more about what CSUN Math has to offer? This is the perfect session for prospective students and family members interested in learning more about our undergraduate and graduate programs and department resources. You will hear from those who work closely with students to support them through their journey and have the opportunity to ask questions live.

Presenters

Natalie Howe Mathematics Academic Advisor	Alberto Candel       Mathematics Graduate     Program Coordinator
Andrea Nemeth Associate Director of Mathematics Tutoring Center	Mary Rosen Associate Chair

Presenters 

	Gulnaz Shalgumbayeva  BS Candidate in Mathematics - Statistics                                     Erick Castillo BS Candidate in Mathematics - Statistics   Statistical Analysis of COVID-19     Faculty Advisor: Carol Shubin
	Julian Corpeno MS Candidate in Mathematics Solving a Generalized Gepner Equation for Bridgeland Stability on Elliptic Surfaces Faculty Advisor: Jason Lo
	Inga Girshfeld MS Candidate in Mathematics - Applied Mathematics High-Order Wave Tracking Strategy for Solving High-Frequency Scattering Problems Faculty Advisor: Rabia Djellouli
	Brandon Sripimonwan MS Candidate in Mathematics Exploring Local Crossing Numbers of Complete Bipartite Graphs Faculty Advisor: Silvia Fernandez
	Courtney van der Linden MS in Mathematics - Applied Mathematics, CSUN 2020 Correlation of Golay–Rudin–Shapiro Sequences Faculty Advisor: Daniel Katz
	Student Session Chair Jason Lo Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Enjoy music by the
Johnny Blue Jay Band
featuring 

Jerry Rosen
Professor of Mathematics

John Sikora
BA in Pure Mathematics, CSUN 2005
MS in Mathematics, CSUN 2008

Greg Imhoff
MS in Mathematics, CSUN 2013

Sam McAdam

Alumni Panelists

	Kevin Balas Instructor of Mathematics Department of Mathematics Moorpark College, California BA in Mathematics – Secondary Teaching, CSUN 2011                                MS in Mathematics, CSUN 2014
	Dr. Bret Holladay Assistant Professor of Mathematics Department of Statistics Cal Poly, SLO, California  BS in Applied Mathematics, CSUN 2011 MS in Applied Mathematics, CSUN 2014 PhD in Statistics and Applied Probability, UC Santa Barbara 2019
	Melida Paz Instructor of Mathematics Department of Mathematics Bakersfield College, California BA in Mathematics - Secondary Teaching, CSUN 2016 MS in Mathematics, CSUN 2018
	Dr. Azadeh Rafizadeh  Associate Professor of Mathematics Department of Mathematics and Data Science William Jewell College, Missouri BA in Pure Mathematics, CSUN 2003 MS in Mathematics, UC Riverside 2007 PhD in Mathematics, UC Riverside 2011
	Dr. Evan Randles  Assistant Professor of Mathematics Department of Mathematics and Statistics Colby College, Maine BA in Mathematics and BS in Physics, CSUN 2010 MS in Applied Mathematics, CSUN 2011 PhD in Applied Mathematics, Cornell University 2016
	Yeranuhi Semerdjian Instructor of Mathematics Department of Mathematics Los Angeles Pierce College, California BS in Astrophysics with Mathematics Minor, CSUN 2006 MS in Mathematics, CSUN 2010
	Panel Moderator Silvia Fernandez Professor of Mathematics

Alumni Panelists

	Aida Britton Mathematics Teacher Louisville High School,  Woodland Hills                                              MS in Mathematics, CSUN 2020
	Diana Contreras Mathematics Teacher Panorama High School and Magnets, Panorama City BA in Mathematics - Secondary Teaching, CSUN 2018
	Helena Dallas Mathematics Teacher Sylmar Charter High School, Sylmar BA in Mathematics - Junior Year Integrated Credential Program, CSUN 2020
	Robert Hammell Mathematics Teacher & Department Chair Burbank High School, Burbank BA in Mathematics - Four Year Integrated Credential Program, CSUN 2008 MA in Secondary Education - Mathematics Education, CSUN 2012
	Samantha Maxey Mathematics Teacher Castaic Middle School, Castaic BA in Mathematics - Secondary Teaching with Finance Minor, CSUN 2017
	Panel Moderator Kellie Evans Professor of Mathematics

 Alumni Panelists

	Dr. Samuel Fleischer System Engineer NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory BS in Mathematics, CSUN 2015 PhD in Applied Mathematics, UC Davis 2020
	Sara Fratianne Senior Business Manager Microsoft Azure BS in Applied Mathematics, Loyola Marymount University 2005 MS in Mathematics, CSUN 2007 MBA in Finance, Strategic Management, Managerial and Organizational Behavior, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business 2014
	Pareen Kalia Senior Data Scientist Farmers Insurance BTech in Computer Engineering, NMIMS 2012 MS in Applied Mathematics, CSUN 2017
	Andy Milne Senior Software Engineer Walt Disney Animation Studios BS in Mathematics and BSE in Computer Engineering, University of Michigan 2001 MS in Applied Mathematics, CSUN 2015
	Panel Moderator Mark Schilling Professor of Mathematics

Rabia Djellouli
Department Chair