RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences Launches Summer Mathematics Institute

Free workshops run June 30 to July 3

Mathematics in the real world looks nothing like examples in a high school textbook. Math makes the Google search engine fly. It determines the airflow around cars and airplanes. It searches communication networks for terrorist cells. It can predict how cancer cells spread and the progress of bone regeneration.

A free workshop for high school math teachers, grades nine through 12, will be held June 30 to July 3 at Rochester Institute of Technology as part of the new Summer Mathematics Institute offered by RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences.

The workshop was tailored to address questions posed by high school teachers last summer when RIT professors met with representatives from local school districts.

“We asked what could college professors do, what would be valuable?” says David Ross, director of RIT’s Summer Mathematics Institute. “As professors of mathematics, we want to make a contribution to mathematical literacy education.”

The twofold program will address:

  • Why high school math matters and how it can make or break a college students’ success in disciplines ranging from higher mathematics to physics, economics, engineering and computer science. (A special section will address the growing problem of students’ over dependence on calculators.)
  • Examples of occupations that rely on mathematics with talks by undergraduates who have completed co-ops at Microsoft, Nationwide Insurance and the Institute for Defense Analysis, and graduates who work at Harris Interactive, Care Stream and Capital One.

“Our goal is to establish a Summer Math Institute that will offer various innovative summer programs to address a number of national educational issues in mathematical sciences and to provide feasible solutions,” says Sophia Maggelakis, head of the School of Mathematical Sciences. “We are thrilled with the positive response we got from all the school districts, and we are looking forward to collaborating with them.”

The Summer Mathematics Institute workshop is sponsored by RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences and RIT Assistant Provost Eulas Boyd.

For more information, contact the School of Mathematical Sciences at (585) 475-2498.

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized for academic leadership in computing, engineering, imaging technology, and fine and applied arts, in addition to unparalleled support services for students with hearing loss. Nearly 16,000 full- and part-time students are enrolled in more than 200 career-oriented and professional programs at RIT, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For nearly two decades, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT among the nation’s leading comprehensive universities.

The Princeton Review features RIT in its 2007 Best 361 Colleges rankings and named the university one of America’s “Most Wired Campuses.” RIT is also featured in Barron’s Best Buys in Education.


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