Applied Mathematics at the University of Nevada Reno

Applied Mathematics Students

The applied mathematics faculty at the University of Nevada Reno teaches at both the undergraduate and gradudate level. There are currently 96 undergraduate mathematics and statistics majors in the department. Of these 13 of them are pursuing the degree option in applied mathematics and 12 in discrete mathematics and operations research. There are currently 31 master's students in the department of which 20 are supported by teaching assistantships and 5 are supported by research assistantships. Of these more than 10 have chosen an option of applied mathematics, discrete mathematics or operations research.

Applied Master's Theses and Graduates

Chris Gaffney
Graduated: Spring 2008
Thesis: The Application of the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle in Learning Monotone Boolean Functions
Advisor: Tom Quint

Paige Hernandez
Graduated: Spring 2008
No Thesis: coursework option

Diana Moss
Graduated: Spring 2008
No Thesis: coursework option

Sayaka Olson
Graduated: Spring 2008
Thesis: Hypergraphs with small Ramsey numbers
Advisor: Bredan Nagle

Amit Saini
Graduated: Spring 2008
No Thesis: coursework option

Kevin Hayden
Graduated: Spring 2007
Thesis part 1: Modeling of Free-Surface Film Flow
Thesis part 2: Synchronization in the Lorenz System
Advisors: Eric Olson and Aleksey Telyakovskiy
Job upon Graduation: Researcher at JPL

Brianna Killian
Graduated: Spring 2007
No Thesis: coursework option
Academic Advisor: Tom Quint
Job upon Graduation: Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Daytona Beach Community College.

Suresh Kumar
Graduated: Spring 2007
No Thesis: coursework option
Academic Advisor: Eric Olson
Job upon Graduation: Software Developer at PC Doctor

Sinan Ozcan
Graduated: 2006
Thesis: Modeling of Flows of MR Particles Flow in Narrow and Rough Channels
Co-advisor: Mark Pinsky

Vinod Prabhu
Graduated: Spring 2006
No Thesis: coursework option
Academic Advisor: Thomas Quint
Job upon Graduation: Visiting Lecturer in Dept of Math & Stat UNR

Pothana Sadagoparamanujam
Graduated: Fall 2006
No Thesis: coursework option
Academic Advisor: Mark Pinsky

Ryan Dotson
Graduated: Fall 2005
Thesis: An Application of the Hypergraph Regularity Method
Advisor: Bendan Nagle

David Lee
Graduated: Spring 2001
Thesis: A Model for Two-Party Competition under a Single Nontransferable Vote
Advisor: Tom Quint

Bill Essary
Graduated: 2000
PhD Thesis: Identification and Robust Control of Some Nonlinear Systems
Co-advisor: Mark Pinsky

Charles Slinger
Graduated: 1998
Thesis: Normal Form Analysis and Control of Some Nonlinear Systems
Advisor: Mark Pinsky

William Essary
Graduated: 1996
Thesis: Robust Control of Bifurcation Phenomena in Aircraft Flights
Advisor: Mark Pinsky

Students Supported on Grants

Sreevatsam Raman
Year: 2006
Grant: Detection and Tracking of Moving Hands Using Variational Methods and PDE.
Sponsor: Mark Pinsky

Pothana Sadagopa
Year: Summer 2005
Grant: Development of Robust Estimators for 2D-Navier-Stokes Models.
Sponsor: Mark Pinsky

Satoko Kurita (postdoc)
Year: 2005-2006
Grant: In-situ Bioremediation of Contaminated Soil.
Sponsor: Eric Olson

Hyun Chao
Year: 2003
Grant: Development of Multiscale Approaches to Robust Control of Molecular Dynamic Systems.
Sponsor: Mark Pinsky

Job Opportunities

Over the past decade, the employment prospects for mathematicians have brightened considerably, and we expect our graduates will do very well on the job market.

Mathematicians trained in multidisciplinary research areas tailored to real-world applications have excellent job prospects. In probability/statistics, job opportunities exist in a wide range of applications, from pharmaceutical industry, public health, government, environmental research companies, risk assessment, census, epidemiology, insurance, biostatistics, to finance, and economics; from current job openings at Pfizer or Batelle to ones at the US Census Bureau, RAND or the National Cancer Institute. Mathematicians specializing in operations research are often hired at large companies such as IBM, Bell Labs, oil companies, and airlines. Ph.D.s in game theory/mathematical economics often find work in corporate planning, defense jobs (e.g., with NSA), or in consulting. Students working in discrete mathematics - the mathematics of computer science", are attractive hires to software firms, technical consulting firms, and the high tech computing industry. In the government sector, discrete mathematics is among the most sought after fields at the National Security Agency.

Similarly, mathematicians specializing in applied and computational mathematics have many opportunities in high tech companies, oil companies, financial firms, and in research departments of major national corporations delivering products and services in areas ranging from medicine and drug development to the aerospace industries. Graduates from our program will also successfully compete for research positions in the Government research laboratories, such as NASA Centers, and Defense and Energy Departments research Labs.

Our Masters students are very successful on the job market and in the academia. To the best of our knowledge, all our students who graduated in the past 5 years are employed or in Ph.D. programs. Two are working in government: one is the Chief Biostatistician for the Nevada State Health Division, one works for the Churchill County Planning Commission. Six work in industry (4 of them in IGT), one at DRI, one teaches high school in Las Vegas, one teaches in a university in Croatia, five teach at US community colleges (in Virginia, New Mexico, Florida, Oregon, and at Western Nevada), five are currently visiting lecturers at UNR. Twelve of our MS graduates are currently in Ph.D. programs in the mathematical sciences or in education at universities such as UC Davis, University of Illinois, UC San Diego, UC Riverside, Indiana, Michigan State, U of Alabama, Western Michigan, and UNR.

Last Updated: Fri May 23 10:01:13 PDT 2008