The Department of Mathematical Sciences at George Mason University will host a multidisciplinary REU program in computational mathematics and nonlinear dynamics of biological, bio-inspired and engineering systems. This nine-week summer program will expose eight qualified undergraduate students and a K-12 teacher to advanced topics in mathematics, problem-solving techniques and multidisciplinary applications. This summer research program will provide the participants with a unique experience of how mathematics can be applied to understand the qualitative and quantitative behavior of biological, bio-inspired and engineering systems. Selected problems range from Reconstruction of protein networks and Aneurysm mechanics to Modeling of Micro Air Vehicles, Neuronal field models, Porous substrates and Materials engineering applications. Through these research problems, we hope to encourage students and teachers to learn by discovery and enhance their understanding of the multidisciplinary role of mathematics in engineering, science and medicine. This nine-week summer program will also include the following activities: lecture series on topics; graduate mentoring club; guest colloquiums; student seminars; computational laboratory and; scientific & social tours. The REU site will involve eight qualified faculty who have excelled in their research accomplishments, have guided graduate and undergraduate research, and have been involved in K-12 outreach activities. The site will also involve two graduate students each year who will serve as mentors for the participants.
The multi-disciplinary research program will greatly enhance the awareness of the ever-increasing utility of mathematical and computational approaches in understanding biological, bio-inspired and engineering systems; contribute to the scientific development of undergraduate students and K-12 teachers and; will nurture the intellectual growth and development of graduate students providing them with a valuable experience of mentoring. This program will also integrate and complement the existing Undergraduate Research in Computational Mathematics program at George Mason University which is an NSF funded CSUMS program. The symbiotic relationship between the existing CSUMS and the REU program will provide opportunities for targeted students to prepare for success in the mathematical and engineering fields and assist them from college to graduate school. The REU program will provide a valuable experience to two K-12 teachers in problem-solving and open-ended exploration in high-school mathematics classrooms. This program will also greatly encourage women and underrepresented minorities to pursue multidisciplinary careers that bridge mathematical, computational and biological sciences.
This site is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.
The first time two year REU Site at George Mason University exposed sixteen qualified mathematics undergraduate students and two K-12 teachers (9 female and 9 male), to advanced topics in mathematics, problem-solving techniques and also provided a unique experience of how mathematics can be applied to understand the qualitative and quantitative behavior of biological, bio-inspired and engineering systems. This program provided hands-on-experience for every participant with state-of-the-art mathematical techniques and tools for scientific visualization. This program also greatly encouraged all the REU participants including women and underrepresented minorities to pursue careers in multidisciplinary topics across mathematics, science and engineering. Most of the REU students have already gone on to pursue their graduate careers in STEM related areas at various schools. This program has also helped nurture the intellectual growth and development of undergraduate and graduate students at George Mason University as well and has helped provide them with a valuable experience of mentoring and peer-to-peer communication. The REU participants and the faculty mentors have actively communicated the results of their research at a variety of national and international meetings and conferences. Also, both the K-12 teachers presented lesson modules based on their REU projects in their respective high school classrooms to motivate students and other teachers in the class to learn more about the multidisciplinary applications of high school mathematics and existing research opportunities. Every undergraduate REU participant prepared a written report in the form of a journal paper on their respective project. A monograph with the collection of all the projects from the two year REU Site will be available through the project website. The two K-12 teachers also prepared detailed reports on their respective research projects which also included pedagogical implications of their research that can help enhance the student learning in the high school curriculum. All the participants developed software programs that helped to validate their research project. The presentations created by each participant are also available. Overall the REU progam had an extremely positive influence and has helped the participants to mature and grow as the next generation workforce of mathematical scientists.
