Community Collaboration
ArtBuilds Collective
ArtBuilds was formally founded in 2019, emerging from a desire to bring mathematics to life through participatory art. Its journey began when University of San Diego Professor of Mathematics Diane Hoffoss, PhD, attended Burning Man in 2016, where she was inspired by the interactive, math-driven art. In 2018, she collaborated with USD's Satyan Devadoss, PhD, and students to conceptualize a sculpture highlighting an unsolved mathematical mystery. Despite limited building experience, Dr. Hoffoss assembled a team of faculty, students and local experts to create Unfolding Humanity– a two-ton LED-lit dodecahedron referencing Dürer’s Conjecture– featured at Burning Man that year.
ArtBuilds has since produced large-scale installations that blend mathematics, engineering, storytelling and art together, offering a new way of exploring these fields and enriching the university by providing students with hands-on experience as designers, builders and problem solvers.
Research Breakthrough
Enhancing Proof Assistants with Homotopy Type Theory
In 2021, a team led by USD Associate Professor of Mathematics Michael Shulman, PhD, received a $7.5 million grant from the Department of Defense for a five-year project to apply Homotopy Type Theory to proof assistants.
As the largest research award in USD’s history, the $7.5 million grant funds collaborative research by USD faculty, students and four other universities nationwide. As a result, numerous papers have been published, software prototypes developed and more than a dozen USD mathematics students have been funded to contribute to the project.
Introducing New Dimensions
Honoring Innovation: Knapp Chair Scholar
In Spring 2018, the University of San Diego's mathematics department, led by Fletcher Jones Professor of Applied Mathematics Satyan Devadoss, PhD, and Perla Myers, PhD, organized the Knapp Chair Scholar event, which welcomes a prestigious external visitor to campus every year for interdisciplinary work. Invited were Marty Demaine and Erik Demaine, PhD, a father-and-son duo from MIT who specialize in the intersection of art, engineering and mathematics. Both have authored hundreds of research papers, published books and had their work featured in permanent museum collections worldwide. Erik, who joined MIT as its youngest faculty member at age 22, also received the MacArthur "genius" award that same year.
Three major events accompanied their visit: a multi-day, international origami festival, an art exhibit in the Humanities Center and an independent study course with 20 students. These events focused on exploring the physical manifestations of unsolved and recently solved mathematics problems.
The impact of this visit has been significant in influencing the creation of new math courses. In Spring 2019, Dr. Devadoss and Associate Professor of Architecture Shannon Starkey, PhD, launched a new course on Folding Geometry. In Fall 2024, Dr. Devadoss and Associate Professor of Art History Derrick Cartwright, PhD, introduced a course on Beauty and Utility. Additionally, in the Summer 2024, Dr. Devadoss and math majors led new research on unfolding high-dimensional polytypes.