Bookmark and Share

Department of

Mathematics and Computer Science

Our Majors

Honors and Awards Recipients

Faculty and Student Publications

Senior Projects Archive (Senior Projects in Applied Mathematics and Honors Thesis Projects)

SURE and PURE Projects Archive

Honors and Awards Recipients

Class of 2009

Boyan Kelchev, Valedictorian

Major: Computer Science

Minor: Mathematics and Spanish

Current Occupation: Software and Systems Engineering, Forward Slope Inc., San Diego

Class of 2007

Darren Davis, Goldwater Scholar

Major: Computer Science

Current occupation: Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science, University of California, Irvine

Justin T. Webster, Goldwater Scholar and Valedictorian

Major: Mathematics

Current occupation: Ph.D. candidate in Mathematics, University of Virginia

Class of 2006

Nancy Rodriguez, Goldwater and McNair Scholar

Major: Mathematics with Applied Emphasis and Industrial Engineering

Current occupation: Ph.D. candidate in Applied Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles

Class of 2005

Daniel A. James, McNair Scholar

Major: Mathematics

Faculty and Student Publications

 Meghan Gunn ‘09 and Simon. G. M. Koo, Ph.D. "A Comparative Study of Medium Access Control Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks," International Journal of Communications, Network and System Sciences, November 2009, to appear.

Ani P. Velo, Ph.D., George A. Gazonas, Ph.D., and Takanobu Ameya '04, "z-Transform Methods for the Optimal Design of One-Dimensional Layered Elastic Media," SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Vol.70, No.3, (2009), pg. 762-788.

Ani P. Velo, Ph.D., George A. Gazonas, Ph.D., Edwin Bruder, and Nancy Rodriguez '06, "Recursive Dispersion Relations in One-Dimensional Periodic Elastic Media," SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Vol. 69, No. 3 (2008), pg. 670-689.

Basia Korel ’07 and Simon G. M. Koo, Ph.D.,  “Addressing context awareness techniques in body sensor networks,” Proceedings of the IEEE 21st International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA '07), First International Workshop on Smart Homes for Tele-Health, Niagara Falls, Canada, May 21-23, 2007.

Darren Davis ’07 and Eric Jiang, Ph.D., “Exploring Content and Linkage Structures for Searching Relevant Web Pages,” Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, 4632 (2007), pg. 15-22.

Simon G. M. Koo, Ph.D., and Ashley Olson ’07, “Capital asset pricing model revisited: Empirical studies on beta risks and return,” Proceedings of the SCS Spring Simulation Multiconference, Business and Industry Symposium (BIS '07), Norfolk, VA, March 25-29, 2007.

Daniel P. Sheehan, Ph.D., Jeffrey H. Wright, Ph.D., Andrew N. Putnam ‘04, and Emily K. Perttu ‘06, "Intrinsically biased, resonant NEMS-–MEMS oscillator and the second law of thermodynamics"', Physica E  29: 87-99, (2005).

Jeffrey H. Wright, Ph.D., Daniel P. Sheehan, Ph.D., and Andrew N. Putnam ‘04, "A Novel Sub-micron Electrostatic Motor", Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 3(4):329–334, August 2003.

Jeffrey H. Wright, Ph.D., Daniel P. Sheehan, Ph.D., and Andrew N. Putnam ‘04, "A Nanoscopic Rotary Electrostatic Motor", Proceedings of the Nanotech 2003 Conference, November 2002.

Daniel P. Sheehan, Ph.D., Andrew N. Putnam ‘04, and Jeffrey H. Wright, Ph.D., "A Solid-State Maxwell Demon", Foundations of Physics, 35(10):1557–95, October 2002.

Senior Projects in Applied Mathematics

Class of  2008

Paul Yandell
Project Title: Identifying Vibrational Modes using the Finite Element Method
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics and Mechanical Engineering (Mathematical Modeling, Finite Elements, Lisa software)
Advisor: Jeffrey H. Wright, Ph. D.

Class of 2007

 Cody Deckard
Project Title: Minimizing Temperature Gradient of Two-Dimensional Material Designs using Calculus of Variations
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics and Engineering (Steady State Heat Equation, Temperature Gradient, Heat Conductors, Matlab software: PDE toolbox)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Nicole Loeffler
Project Title: Voting Theory: Violations of the Majority Criterion and the Condorcet Loser Criterion by the
Borda Count Method and Plurality Voting
Field of Study: Voting Theory (Combinatorics, Probability, Matlab software)
Advisor: Jane Friedman, Ph.D.

Class of 2006

 Nancy Rodriguez
Project Title: A Direct Generalization of the Approach of Deriving the Dispersion Relation in One-Dimensional Periodic Layered Elastic Media
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics and Engineering (Wave Propagation, Elastic Layered Media, Maple software)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph. D.

 Jessica Watschke
Project Title: Investigations into Hare's Voting Method and the Condorcet Winner Paradox
Field of Study: Voting Theory (Combinatorics, Probability, Matlab software)
Advisor: Jane Friedman, Ph.D.

Class of 2005

 Adrian Araguas   
Project Title: Using Random Walks to Model the Solutions of Partial Differential Equations
Field of Study: Heat Equation, Random Walks/Monte-Carlo Method
Advisor: Lukasz Pruski, Ph.D.  

Kevin Brink
Project Title: Clam Evolution using a Continuous Age and Time Structured Model
Field of Study: Mathematical Biology (Population Dynamics, Differential Equations, Method of Characteristics, Matlab software)
Advisor: Jeffrey H. Wright, Ph.D.
Co-Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Alessa Ellefson   
Project Title: The Effect of Composites on the Temperature Gradient of Two-Dimensional Material Designs
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics and Engineering (Steady State Heat Equation, Temperature Gradient, Heat Conductors, Matlab software: PDE toolbox)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

JoAnna P. Mahiai
Project Title: Dispersion Relations in One-Dimensional Elastic Periodic Media with Symmetric Cell Configuration
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics and Mechanical Engineering (Wave Propagation, Elastic Layered Media, Maple software)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Class of 2004

Takanobu Ameya
Major: Mathematics with Applied Emphasis
Project Title: The z-Transform Method and its Applications to Wave Propagation in Layered Media
Field of Study: Applied Mathematics to Mechanical Engineering (Difference/Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Matlab and Maple software)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Adam Carney
Major: Mathematics with Applied Emphasis
Project Title: Determining the Offensive Value of a Major League Baseball Player using Linear Regression Analysis and Bootstrap
Field of Study: Sport Statistics (Baseball, Bootstrap method, SPSS software)
Advisor: Cameron Parker, Ph.D.
Co-advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Elizabeth Herman     
Project Title: How Many Judges Does it Take to Screw in a Lightbulb?
Field of Study: Applied Mathematics to Computer Science, Graph theory and Algorithm Analysis
Advisor: John Glick, Ph.D.

Dragan Plakalovic     
Major: Mathematics with Applied Emphasis  
Project Title: Stress Wave Propagation through Non-Goupillaud Type Elastic Layered Media
Field of Study: Applied Mathematics to Mechanical Engineering, Method of Characteristics, Difference/Differential Equations.
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Honors Thesis Projects

Spring 2008

Darren Davis
Major: Computer Science
Project Title: Evolution and Co-evolution of Computer Programs for a Localized Information Network Maintenance Task
Field of Study: Computer Science (Genetic Algorithms)
Advisor: Eric Jiang, Ph.D.

Fall 2008

Martin Henningsgard
Major: Computer Science
Project Title: Incentive mechanisms in P2P Networks
Field of Study: Computer Science (Distributed Systems and Networking)
Advisor: Simon Koo, Ph.D.

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)  and Pre-Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE)

SURE Projects Archive

Summer 2009

Matt Gigli
Major: Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
Project Title: Off-Topic Search Detection for Information Systems
Field of Study: Computer Science (Computer Forensics)
Advisor: Eric Jiang, Ph.D.

James Gill
Major: Mathematics
Project Title: Extending the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process: From Randomness to Order
Field of Study: Stochastic Processes; Simulation; Economics
Advisor: Lukasz Pruski, Ph.D.

Summer 2008

Ted Turpen
Major: Computer Science
Project Title: Predictive Analysis and Search Engine Personalization
Field of Study: Computer Science (Text Mining)
Advisor: Eric Jiang, Ph.D.

Summer 2007

Jacquelyn Vermillo Herman
Major: Computer Science
Project Title: Location-aware P2P Service
Field of Study: Computer Science (Mobile Networking)
Advisor: Simon Koo, Ph.D.

Paul Yandell
Major: Mathematics with Applied Emphasis
Project Title: Using Calculus of Variations to derive Dispersion Relations in One-Dimensional Periodic
Layered Elastic Media
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics (Wave Equation, Calculus of Variations)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Summer 2006

Darren Davis
Major: Computer Science
Project Title: Similar Web Page Search Using Linkage and Content Information
Field of Study: Computer Science (Web Link Analysis and Mining)
Advisor: Eric Jiang, Ph.D.

Paul Yandell
Major: Mathematics with Applied Emphasis 
Project Title: Stress Wave Propagation along a Finite Elastic Strip of Six-Layers
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics (Wave Equation, Matlab software)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Summer 2005

Aaron Winter
Major: Computer Science
Project Title: Data Mining Using Semantic Vector Models
Field of Study: Computer Science (Data Mining)
Advisor: Eric Jiang, Ph.D.

Summer 2004

Michael Marquez
Major: Computer Science
Project Title: Document Management and Filtering Systems
Field of Study: Computer Science (Document Databases)
Advisor: Eric Jiang, Ph.D.

Nancy Rodriguez
Major: Mathematics with Applied Emphasis and Industrial Engineering
Project Title: Displacement Analysis on a Three-Layered Elastic Strip subjected to Heaviside Loading
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics and Mechanical Engineering (Mathematical Modeling, Matlab software)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Summer 2003

Brian Sullivan
Major: Mathematics
Project Title: Finding Initial Bounding Functions for the Chaplygin’s Method of Solving First-Order Differential Equations
Field of Study: Mathematics (Differential Equations; Successive Approximation Methods)
Advisor: Lukasz Pruski, Ph.D.

Thomas Davis
Major: Physics
Minor: Mathematics
Project Title: Optimal Design of Three-Layered Elastic Media of Goupillaud-type, Honorable Mention Award
Field of Study: Mathematical Physics and Mechanical Engineering (Mathematical Modeling, Optimization, Matlab software)
Advisor: Ani P. Velo, Ph.D.

Summer 2002

Sara Salerno
Major: Biochemistry
Project Title: Neural Networks Learn Algebra and Calculus
Field of Study: Machine Learning (Neural Networks), Computer Simulation
Advisor: Lukasz Pruski, Ph.D.

James Tracy
Major: Computer Science
Project Title: An Information Indexing and Retrieval System with Graphical User Interface
Field of Study: Computer Science (Information Retrieval)
Advisor: Eric Jiang, Ph.D.

PURE Projects Archive

Summer 2009

Nick Nobles
Major: Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering
Project Title: Building a Vector Space Based Information Retrieval System Using MATLAB
Field of Study: Computer Science (Information Retrieval)
Advisor: Eric Jiang, Ph.D.