2016 Conference Program

2016 Western Washington Community College Student Mathematics Conference
Edmonds Community College
Saturday, February 20, 2016
All sessions held in Snoqualmie 212.

10:15 Opening Remarks

10:20 Introduction to the PageRank Algorithm Soohwan Jung, Edmonds Community College
Google uses a famous algorithm known as PageRank for the results of your searches. This presentation will use simple graphs to explain how PageRank calculates the “importance” of each page on the Web.

10:35 Robotic Arm Kinematics Sierra Bonilla, Lake Washington Institute of Technology
An examination of kinematics for two- and three-dimensional robotic arms using trigonometry and linear algebra to derive the transformation matrices to obtain robotic-arm coordinates for complex motions.

10:50 SUMmER REU Steve Klee, Seattle University
At the Seattle University Mathematics Early Research program, students from diverse backgrounds work collaboratively on projects at the frontiers of current mathematical knowledge.

11:00 Volumes of Spheres in Any Dimension Jonathan Blake, Edmonds Community College
Properties of `n`-dimensional spheres, generalized to non-integer dimensions using the gamma function.

11:15 Morning Break

11:20 Exploration of a Non-Base Number System Marie Bomber, Clark College

Jumping off from the idea of a “base infinity” number system, we discuss a new way of representing the real numbers and extend those concepts to real-world problems.

11:40 Flightpath Optimization and Dynamics of a Glider Evvan Land, Lake Washington Institute of Technology
Modeling the flightpath of a hang glider, optimized to minimize turbulence, using calculus-based methods.

11:55 Getting Math Off the Ground: Applied Mathematics at Boeing Fritz Klein, The Boeing Co.
A discussion of the the types of problems and applications Boeing's Applied Mathematics group tackles and the mathematical disciplines and other skills that are important to this work.

12:35 Lunch

1:15 Hot Water Bath Raghav Mandhana, Wasif Sarwar Siddique & Ji-hoon Kim, Green River College
A solution to a problem presented by COMAP’s Mathematical Contest in Modeling.

1:30 Our Math Stories Yasameen Al-kahachi & Christopher Gorton, Highline College
How one student decided to not give up on math, and how another used the Internet to achieve success.

1:45 The Golden Ratio Yuan Lu, Highline College
A brief history of the Golden Ratio, an introduction to `phi`, and some real-life examples.

2:00 Teaching Math with Joy and Beauty Rebecca Ifland, Edmonds Community College
Proposed additions to the standard math curriculum to give it depth that will attract more students.

2:15 Afternoon Break

2:20 Graham’s Number Patsha Ha, Edmonds Community College
The extraordinary Graham’s number, its basis in Ramsey Theory and its real-world applications.

2:35 Are You Smarter Than an NFL Head Coach? Mike Kenyon, Green River College
Are you ready for some football? With a decent understanding of mathematics not much more complicated than fractions and decimals, you can gain a small but clear advantage over all but the very best NFL coaches, improving your decisions at some critical times and “stealing” a win here and there for your team.

3:05 Closing Remarks & Door Prizes

The 2016 Western Washington Community College Student Mathematics Conference is made possible by funding from WAMATYC and the Edmonds Community College Foundation.