May 3rd, 2019. Sunny morning. A group of 8 members of our chapter met at the entrance of Monteith and headed to the parking lot. We all were excited and ready to go. On our way we’ve met our chapter’s advisor, Dr. Damir Dzhafarov, and the chair of our department, Dr. Ambar Sengupta, who warmly greeted us. We took two cars (thanks go to Waseet Kazmi and Sean Eustace for volunteering to drive us) and started our eventful trip. The weather was great, the company even better, so one-and-a-half-hour drive seemed very short (at least for passengers).

Once we reached the first destination, the AMS office in Providence, we were welcomed by the membership director, Megan E. Turcotte. She started by letting us sign in and giving us the visitor badges, it felt very official. In the foyer there we immediately saw a part of art exhibit “Concinnitas”, that for us was not just art, some of us recognized mathematical problems represented by some of the pictures. After we all signed in, the tour started, and let me tell you, we were treated like V.I.P. In every department we were greeted and told about all the work that they were responsible for, moreover, how this could help us in particular. We were encouraged to apply for grants and scholarships that the AMS is offering, advise to look at AMS Notice and blogs for advice about career development and even choosing the right career pass for us, we were introduced to different programs that AMS is running like meetings, math research communities, Mathemati-con, “Who wants to be a mathematician”, fundraising, etc. At every stop we were given some small gifts that represented the departments.

Our next stop was the print shop in Pawtucket, RI. Even though the printing was supposed to be stopped in the afternoon, our host, Don Proulx, showed us the whole process of making books and how machines are operated. Staff in the print shop was very glad to meet us and happy to see that their work is appreciated. They noticed that showing us shelves full of books is like letting “kids into a candy store”.

It started raining as our journey was close to its end, as if Providence was sad that we were about to leave it behind. We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner in the Providence Downtown area, walked a bit around the campus of Brown University, then down the hill to the river to stop by ICERM, which we decided to visit next time. Tired and content, we started heading back to Storrs.

We want to thank the AMS staff for this incredible opportunity. We learnt a lot about the structure and work done by the association. We’ll make sure to spread a good word about this cause.

On behalf of the AMS Graduate Student Chapter, we want to thank everyone who participated in this semester’s Writing/Research/Work Retreat last Saturday. It was nice to work in a synergistic environment with your fellows grad students or take a break on a busy day to have some tea/coffee with a snack and chat a bit. Hope you managed to be productive and we were able to help you get some work done.

Stay tuned to our emails next semester – we would definitely organize it again.

Our Chapter was featured in the recent article titled “Learning, sharing, inspiring: AMS Graduate Student Chapters” .

2019 MATHCOUNTS Eastern Chapter competition at the University of Connecticut, February 9, 2019 is sponsored by the Department of Mathematics, University of Connecticut.
The event was hosted by the University of Connecticut’s AMS Student Chapter, AWM Student Chapter and SIAM Student Chapter.

The UConn AMS Graduate Student Chapter together with the AWM Graduate Chapter at UConn are proud to announce that we will be hosting our invited speaker Prof. Emma Previato (Boston University) on Friday, February 22, at 12:20 p.m. in Monteith 214.

Title: “What is… An Elliptic Curve?” From Bitcoin to Self-Driving Vehicles

Emma Previato,  Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (inaugural class of 2012), is a professor of mathematics at Boston University (BU).

She earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Harvard University and works in areas at the crossroads of algebraic geometry and mathematical physics, information theory and cryptography. She published over 80 research articles and edited or co-edited six books.

She was the recipient of the MAA/Northeastern Section 2003 Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics and has been active in mentoring students and postdocs, including seven former Ph.D. students, a NATO postdoc, and undergraduates sponsored by the NSF REU program, BU and other institutions. She founded the BU Student Chapters of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), organized several undergraduate symposia and, since 2004, an annual outreach symposium, AFRAMATH.

Everyone is invited! We hope to see you there.

On behalf of the AMS Graduate Student Chapter, we want to thank everyone who participated in this semester’s Writing/Research/Work Retreat. We would also like to thank to Zoe Cramer for the delicious cake she brought. It is always nice to work in a synergistic environment with your fellows grad students or take a break on a busy day to have some tea/coffee with a snack and chat a bit. Hope you managed to be productive and we were able to help you get some work done.

Stay tuned to our emails next semester – we would definitely repeat it again.

On October 25th, 2018 the UConn graduate student chapter of the AMS held their Second Annual Integration Bee where undergraduate students of varying levels of mathematical background came together to test their knowledge of integrals. Students were taking turns going to the chalkboard in groups of six to complete various integrals on the spot. The rules were that each round a student had four minutes to complete the integral and if they ran out of time or got the answer incorrectly they would receive a strike. They were each given 2 strikes until they were out of the competition.

After an hour and half many contestants were eliminated and we had two finalists and five other students competing for the third place. The rivalry was pretty intense among the students fighting for the third place. They were holding the ground round after round until it was the turn of cos(ln(1/x)) to be integrated. This integral decided the fate of the third place after Nick Juricic was the only student who evaluated it correctly.

The two finalists were Samuel Degnan Morgenstern and Zhongwei Wang. The final battle was very dramatic and exhausting for both of them. After another hour or so we finally got the winner with  Samuel successfully integrating  1/(e^2-x^2). The contestants who scored in the top three won prizes which were generously donated from our sponsors: Cengage, Lizzie’s Curbside Catering, and Moe’s.

Although there were only three winners who officially won prizes, all students attending the Integration Bee received a nice meal compliments of the AMS and the joy of solving math problems.

The AMS graduate student chapter at UConn thanks all the participants and volunteers for their help making this event a success and it looks forward to organizing the Integration Bee again next year.

On April 19, 2018 the UConn graduate student chapter of the AMS held their first annual integration bee where undergraduate students of varying levels of mathematical background came together to test their knowledge of the infamous functional operator: the integral. The students all sat anxiously awaiting the first round of The Bee where they would be presented with 3 integrals which they would have to complete in five minutes or else.

Many of UConn’s gifted students made it through the first round but the many rounds to follow would give the students a challenge they won’t soon forget. After the first round students were brought to the chalkboard in groups of four to complete various integrals on the spot. The rules were that each round a student had four minutes to complete the integral and if they ran out of time or got the answer incorrect they would receive a strike. Unlike in baseball where a team is given the safety cushion of 3 strikes you’re out, our batters were each given only 2 strikes until they were out.

After three hours many bees left the hive and there were only four bees left competing. The four contenders at this point were Zerun Zhao, Grace Lauber, Zhongwei Wang, and Nick Juricic. The contestants who scored in the top three won prizes which were generously donated from our sponsors: Starbucks, Lizzie’s, Kathmandu, Subway, Moes, and Gansett Wraps. Grace and Zerun competed for the third place prize with Grace clutching the prize with just seconds to spare. The last round was a rollercoaster of emotions with Nick and Zhongwei competing to solve the last integral which Nick solved to take the big seat.

Although there were only 3 winners who officially won prizes all of the bees received a nice meal compliments of the AMS. Furthermore because they were in the presence of the infamous functional operator, the integral, we at the UConn graduate student AMS chapter like to think that all students who attended won in some way. (by Cory Weinfeld)