Three St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) seniors recently took first place and honorable mention awards for the presentations of their undergraduate papers at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Sectional meeting. The MAA is the largest professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level.
Lisa Byrne took first place for Best Undergraduate Presentation for her work on magic squares and elliptic curves. A magic square is a square array of numbers arranged so that the sum of each row, each column and both diagonals is the same.
Peter Lo received an honorable mention in the Undergraduate Pedagogical Presentation category for his presentation, titled “The Effect of Using Mathematics Activities on Students’ Interest In and Attitude Toward Mathematics.” Lo volunteered in an after school program and engaged students in mathematical and logical activities. He analyzed the impact the activities had on the attitude and interest level of the students.
David Clewell received an honorable mention in the Undergraduate Research Presentation category for his presentation on the mathematics of harmonics (the sound produced on a stringed instrument when lightly touched).
Susan Goldstine, associate professor of mathematics and adviser, said that three out of 14 undergraduates who presented at the conference were from St. Mary’s. “The MAA sectional meetings afford students and faculty an opportunity to interact with their peers. This gives us an opportunity to build a network and hear students and professors present their own mathematical interests outside of the classroom,” she said.