|
Current Courses | Courses
I've Taken | What I Do at UIC |
Research Interests/Goals |
Personal
Current Courses I'm Taking:
- Math 435 - Foundations of Number Theory (Prof.
Teitelbaum) - web
- Math 516 - Second Course in Abstract Algebra I (Prof.
Srinivasan) -
web
- Math 430 - Formal Logic I (Prof. Thulin) -
web
- Math 496 - Independent Study (Prof. Radford)
Topic: Lie Algebras
Math Courses I've Taken
- Math 181 - Calculus II (Prof. Stawiska)
- Math 182 - Emerging Scholars Workshop for Calculus II
(Jeff Olsen)
- Math 210 - Calculus III (Prof. Yoo)
- Math 211 - Emerging Scholars Workshop for Calculus
III (Dean Leonardi)
- Math 215 - Introduction to Advanced Mathematics
(Prof. Masur)
- Math 313 - Analysis (Prof. Wood)
- Math 320 - Linear Algebra I (Prof. Srinivasan)
- Math 330 - Abstract Algebra I (Prof. Shipley)
- Math 417 - Complex Analysis (Prof. Shalen)
- Math 425 - Linear Algebra II (Prof. Srinivasan)
- Math 431 - Abstract Algebra II (Prof. Shipley)
- Math 496 - Independent Study (studied quadratic
reciprocity, primes 1 (mod 4), and prime distribution under the
guidance of Prof. Teitelbaum)
What I Do at UIC (jobs and
responsibilities)
Mathematical Sciences Learning
Center (web)
- I currently tutor at the MSLC located in SEO 430, and I can
help with virtually any course listed above -- including the
lower-level, related courses.
- I've been around that place for over 2 years.
- The website is located
here.
- Recently I've worked to acquire an old PC from the ACCC in
order to implement a new sign-in process for students who are
seeking tutoring. The point of this was to acquire more reliable
statistics about who visits the MSLC. I've designed a web page
located here
as a front end for the sign-in process.
SACNAS (web)
- I'm an active member of the UIC chapter of SACNAS - the
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in
Science (web).
- Last year, I got the opportunity to attend the national
conference in Tampa Bay, Florida.
- I'm the webmaster for UIC's chapter website, located
here.
AMP (web)
- I'm an active member of the Alliance for Minority
Participation at UIC, whose goal is to actively reach out to
minorities and promote careers in the sciences (and, in
particular) and pursuing graduate degrees in STEM fields.
- I've been active in both areas of this program:
(1): Research (currently
studying mathematical results related to the Prime Number
Theorem, under the guidance of Prof. Teitelbaum) ... and ...
(2): ESP Workshop Assistant
(I've worked as an ESP workshop assistant for both Math 180 and
Math 181 courses)
- I've attended two IL-AMP annual conferences so far.
Department of Mathematics,
Statistics, and Computer Science (web)
- I've worked as a homework grader for 3 semesters so far
(Math 180 - Prof. Berman; Math 181 - Prof. Thulin; Math 180 -
Prof. McCathern)
- Sometimes I attend Friday teas if I get enough courage to
walk into the room as the sole undergrad.
- I'm passionate about recruiting younger students into the
mathematics major, and I find it a real shame that the
Department as a whole doesn't actively promote undergraduate
research (enough).
- Apparently I couldn't stay away from SEO last summer,
because I worked in the MSLC for Summer Session 2007.
ASCEND (web)
- I've been a ... staff(?) member of the ASCEND summer program
at UIC, working (essentially) for Prof. Teitelbaum, as he was
the PI for the project.
- ASCEND is a multi-part program to promote career in STEM
fields, particularly to minority groups, sponsored by the
National Science Foundation
- My area of ASCEND-type work was in the mathematics
enrichment portion of the program. We prepared approx. 35-50 of
the ASCEND incoming college freshmen for their up-and-coming
mathematics courses, with the goal of getting everyone through
Math 180.
- My position in the program was recently described by
Teitelbaum as the "undergraduate mentor," aka "the big kid in
the group."
- I've worked for the ASCEND program both years it's been
offered (Summer 2006 and Summer 2007)
- The Summer 2006 mathematics staff was: Marcy
Robertson, Troy Hernandez, Luissette Hernandez-Medina, Mechie
Nkengla, Jeremy Teitelbaum, and I.
- The Summer 2007 mathematics staff was: Marcy
Robertson, Richard Jordan, Luissette Hernandez-Medina, Mechie
Nkengla, Jeremy Teitelbaum, and I.
- As part of the program, I was able to give 4 "mini-lectures"
on the following mathematical topics: sequences/series, complex
exponentiation and Taylor series, and fractals and Chaos Theory
(intro. to dynamical systems).
- Money was the last reason I chose to work on ASCEND. In
fact, with UIC parking fees, I didn't end up making much at
all... It's all about the opportunity to work with talented
people and have those people actually care about your opinions
(and furthermore trusting my own mathematical abilities and
knowledge).
- Check out the ASCEND Facebook group
here.
Academic Computing and
Communications Center (web)
- I've worked for the ACCC at UIC since May of 2007.
- I started as a lab monitor, managing ACCC's public computer
labs, but I've since moved on to the Client Services Office in
SEL 2267 and the Cave (microrepair office).
- I've been active in creating and appending to ACCC's "wiki"
documentation about such fields as UNIX training, which I was
currently asked to cover at recent CSO meetings.
- I'm also pretty active in working with RT Helpdesk, ACCC's
online problem-tracking system. So if you email a
question/complaint to
consult@uic.edu, I might just respond to you -- if you're
unlucky. :-)
- I'd like to move on to another area in ACCC -- in
particular, the LAN or security groups.
Past or Dormant Things
- For two years I was involved with UIC Concert Band as a
percussionist, and I was treasurer for the organization for a
year.
- I was employed by the Department of Performing Arts for a
year as equipment manager.
- I worked for ARAMARK at UIC Pavilion for about 2 years.
Since ARAMARK isn't under contract with UIC anymore, I doubt
I'll be returning to that place.
Research Interests/Goals
Currently I'm an undergraduate mathematics major, and I plan to
attend graduate school (very likely at UIC, unless I get a really
good offer elsewhere) in hopes of earning a PhD in pure mathematics.
The fields I'm currently most interested in are algebra (abstract or
Lie algebras) and number theory. It's quite possible that I'll
pursue an area of algebraic or computational number theory, as
computers have always been a hobby of mine.
I'm also very interested in computer programming, cyber security,
web design, and theoretical physics (in particular, areas of
cosmology and quantum gravity, and interpretations of quantum
mechanics). I read A Brief History of Time while a freshman
in high school and became hooked. Contemplating the mere existence
of black holes really changed my whole perspective on the universe.
Make fun of me all you want, but movies such as A Beautiful
Mind (maybe obvious) and Jurassic Park (maybe not so
obvious) have had a significant impact on my life. The latter
introduced me to Chaos Theory, and after reading Gleick's Making
a New Science, I was never able to look at the world in the same
way as before. A Beautiful Mind suggested a sense of
mathematical intuition as presented through John Nash, whose
"governing dynamics" suggested a fundamental property of the
universe. Combine that with the universality mentioned in Gleick,
and you can see that I am very interested in fundamental principles
and deep connections.
I chose to study mathematics (not exclusively, but especially)
because of its elegance, beauty, and interconnectedness. I'm among
those who believe that doing mathematics is the closest one can come
to realizing the notion of absolute truth. I feel that mathematics
has a relation to a higher entity associated in some way with the
universe.
Personal
Besides mathematics, computers, and theoretical physics, my
hobbies/interests incude:
- Playing drums and percussion
- My band
- Guitar and piano
- Writing
- Web design
- Playing video games
- Sleeping
- Rollerblading
- Acting
I play in a band called the Button Pushers. Check us out
here.
Some day I'll add a pictures section
here.
Some math people I know...
The following people from MSCS have worked with me on various
things in the past (or are those whom I just have much respect for):
- Florencio Diaz - Undergraduate advisor who's helped
me to get to do almost every cool thing I've been able to do, as
it pertains to the math dept. (ASCEND, SACNAS, AMP...)
- Troy Hernandez - Graduate student in statistics and
the only person from MSCS to go to one of my bands shows!
- Marcy Robertson - A sort of graduate mentor for me in
pure math. She can always give me the scoop on grad school.
- Prof. Thulin - My boss at the MSLC. He didn't protest
when I wanted to put a sign-in computer in the MSLC, so that's
pretty cool.
- Prof. Carraminana - He's interested in helping
undergraduates do research and also works with the Latino
Cultural Center and AMP.
- Prof. Teitelbaum - One of the main reasons I have a
job at the MSLC, and he let me hang out with the ASCEND group.
Also, he agreed to be my advisor for my undergraduate research.
- Prof. Srinivasan - A well respected mathematician in
her field who will always let me know if I get off track.
- Jeff Olsen - Former grad student in MSCS... he got
his PhD (I think he's in Vermont now?). He was my TA for Math
181 and taught my first ESP course, inspiring me to get involved
with AMP.
So, I don't mean to brown-nose in any way in this section. I'm
just mentioning some people who've enabled opportunities and made my
experience as a math major a very positive one here at UIC.
That's all I'm writing for now. It's late.
Top of page
|
