How Can Mathematics Help - Mathematics at Work

"What is the real cost of a speeding ticket?", "How can a computer recognize a person's voice?", "How can an insurance company use loss data to identify possible fraud?". These are some of the math questions the participants in the Mathematics in Industry Institute for Teachers (MIIT) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute will ask their students this fall. The message to the students is that advanced mathematics can be used to develop and improve products from cars and airplanes to inkjet printers, or can provide a better understanding of the stock market or insurance.

Mathematicians, who work in industry, came to the Institute to give examples of the exciting math they use and the new research areas that were motivated by real-world applications. Bob LaBarre, principal mathematician at the United Technologies Research Center talked about the necessity to have students be "problem solvers" instead of "problem doers." Solvers understand why the solution is right and they can explain why the solution works. Derek Kane described his work at DEKA Research and Development on projects ranging from the iBot, to the new Segway human transporter, to sensor design, to water purification systems. He argued that the best person to explore new areas for a company is one trained in mathematics - mathematicians know how to learn. Bruce Kearnan from John Hancock Life Insurance described the working actuary as an "insurance engineer." Actuaries design and build financial and insurance instruments. He argued that the ability to explain mathematics to the customer is one key to success in industrial math.

Sheila Tobias, a strong advocate for "mathematical mental health" as the ability to learn the math you need, when you need it focused on the stage of "creative floundering" that is crucial in any real-world application. She helped the teachers understand the process needed to overcome the panic that comes with open-ended real-world problems.

More than forty teachers worked for five days to develop versions of real industrial projects that will be used in their own classrooms. An abridged version of one project that focuses on decision making in the automobile insurance business is linked here. A much longer version, as well as additional projects, are available on the web at www.wpi.edu/+CIMS/teachers.

The Institute, organized by the Center for Industrial Mathematics and Statistics (CIMS) at WPI, is supported for the next three years by the GE Fund as part of its Math Excellence initiative. The GE Fund's main goal is to promote a stronger, more diverse pipeline in quantitative disciplines, including mathematics and engineering. GE believes that real applications in math classes will engage students, especially women and minority students, so that they are ready and able to study math and science and engineering in college.

For more information about the Institute see www.wpi.edu/+CIMS/teachers.