In addition to engaging young minds, the festival also united students from different universities who share a passion for applied math and outreach.

For me personally, this was the first time I had an opportunity to connect with my SIAM peers outside of our own chapter at �鶹��ý����. I’m grateful for festivals like this for allowing me to be part of a beautiful equation of passion, purpose, and community.

One of the SIAM Education Committee’s broader goals is to provide SIAM members and student chapters with support for interacting with their local communities. As such, the committee is packaging, polishing, and sharing the two activities from the SIAM booth as part of a “festival in a box.” SIAM members are welcome to submit their own tried-and-true resources to the SIAM Education Committee by contacting Wesley Hamilton at whamilto@mathworks.com. These submissions will then become available to all SIAM student chapters and members who are planning to partake in and contribute to future events.

The School of Computing will provide academic leadership and facilitate collaborations for computing, and embody the vision of an academic unit without walls. It will strive to achieve its academic goals through effective programmatic integration with other units, increase its research activity in basic computer science and selected computing areas in which computer science is a key, but not exclusive, component, and expand partnerships and entrepreneurial activities by applying computer science to other areas.

The School of Computing will house existing undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics, with planning for new academic offerings underway. Computer Science, and its related programs, is one of the most in-demand occupational job areas for the next decade, with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for future employment four times that of all occupations.

Chris Fitzpatrick, Manager – University Relations & DEI, Crestron and MSU Alum, Gen Hinson Relations Specialist, CSAM Career Services, �鶹��ý����, Christian Bliss, Sr. Talent Acquisition Specialist – Campus & DEI Relations, Crestron

Visit to apply for numerous positions available for spring, summer and fall. These opportunities are also available to our International Students!

Benjamin, now a senior, knows so much about the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (also known as PETM) because, like a lot of undergraduates in the College of Science and Mathematics, she has had the opportunity to conduct research with a faculty researcher on topics that interest them.

And that research has paid off.

Benjamin won first place at the 2021 Mario M. Casabona Future Scientists Awards competition in November for her research on PETM.

As part of the Future Scientists program, Benjamin, along with five other student researchers, presented their research in both a poster session and in five-minute oral presentations at the Awards held at the Center for Environmental and Life Sciences in November. The program trains student researchers to communicate their scientific research to the general public, helping them to succeed in their graduate education and career paths. The program’s sponsor, Mario M. Casabona, an entrepreneur and founder and managing director of TechLaunch LLC and Casabona Ventures, attended and was joined by a professional panel of judges, who determined the winner.

Benjamin discussing her research at the 2021 Mario M. Casabona Future Scientists Awards, where she won first place.

Students presented research on topics varying from mathematical education to neutron star structure in gravitational waves to a protein’s relationship to melanoma to how treatment for inflammation can be derived from mathematical models, and much more.

Undergraduate, as well as graduate, research is a hallmark of the College of Science and Mathematics, says Dean Lora Billings.

“Faculty-mentored student research is really important because not only does it allow the student the freedom to explore and be creative, but to also be a problem solver with confidence to think out of the box,” Billings says. “This falls under the world of experiential learning, where a student uniquely applies what they have learned in the classroom and then sharpens their communication skills by telling the story.”

Studying and researching with professors is an important step for many future scientists. Before receiving the research opportunity with Earth and Environmental Studies Assistant Professor Ying Cui, Benjamin says she felt unqualified for research.

“I was initially very intimidated because I thought, ‘Here I am, an undergraduate, with no resume qualified experience and definitely not specializing in a singular topic,’ ” Benjamin says.

However, Cui made it clear that she was very open to having students of all levels get involved, and Benjamin’s experience has been meaningful ever since.

“This experience will be one I will carry with me in my future,” Benjamin says. “Dr. Cui is an incredible mentor and my involvement has given me the chance to understand more deeply the time, effort, money and methods that go along with true research.”

Winning first place after presenting her research on how black carbon is used as a tool to understand how ecosystems responded to the PETM global warming event was a tremendous feeling, she says. Her research gave her the preparation she needed to confidently discuss how society is dependent on the ecosystem and therefore it is essential to understand how it will respond to climate change.

As part of her research, Benjamin has had the access to work with high-grade equipment alongside fellow student researchers like Melissa Spigelman, a junior studying Molecular Biology, who has also gotten a meaningful experience out of her research.

Melissa Spigelman explains her research on melanoma and protein during the Mario M. Casabona Future Scientists Program competition.

Spigelman was awarded second place and audience favorite for her research on a protein known as ICER and its relationship to melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer. Her goal is to create a cream that contains ICER and protein that could kill off the melanoma and prevent those cancer cells from spreading.

Her interest in research was inspired by her best friend who suffered from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer in the lymph nodes. While Spigelman always had a hidden passion for biology, watching her friend fight cancer only further inspired her to make a change in the world.

“I wanted to help in any possible way that I can,” Spigelman says.

During the time her friend was undergoing cancer treatment, Speigelman was offered a remarkable opportunity at �鶹��ý���� through one of her close friends, Angelo Cirinelli. At the time, Cirinelli was a senior researcher at the University while she was only a senior in high school. After speaking with Biology Professor Carlos Molina, Cirinelli was able to bring Speigelman on board. The two have worked together on research projects ever since.

“It was honestly a true blessing that Dr. Molina was willing to take a chance on me at such a young age,” Speigelman says. “I’m just so glad that one day in the future, I feel like we’ll be able to find a treatment for really aggressive cancers like melanoma.”

The student research opportunities offered at �鶹��ý���� took Cirinelli to the next level of his career in molecular biology. After winning a first-place award for melanoma cancer research in the Future Scientists Awards of 2019, he is now studying at Rutgers in the Biomedical PhD program.

“It’s been very meaningful to work with Dr. Molina on research as an undergrad and now as a PhD candidate,” Cirinelli says. “At the event, it was great to see that other people also understood the importance of the projects that we have going on in the lab.”

When Cirinelli was a freshman, he knew he wanted to get into research but wasn’t sure how to get involved. Dr. Molina’s research caught his eye one semester so he decided to simply ask him if he needed some assistance.

“A lot of people don’t know how to go to the professors during their office hours and just ask. The worst thing that they could say is that their lab is full,” Cirinelli says.

Once involved in the research, the students typically spend on average 16 to 18 hours of research per week while the projects take at least one or two years to complete before being presented at the annual Mario M. Casabona Future Scientists Awards competition.

Gianna Fazzini was the first ever mathematics education student to present at the Future Scientists event.

Gianna Fazzini, a senior from West Caldwell, New Jersey, was the first mathematics education student to present at the Future Scientists event. Through her research in the realm of math education, she hoped to open people’s eyes up to the world of math education, and in what direction it’s heading.

Her passion drew her toward math education research since the subject was never her strong suit. She believes that math education focuses mostly on procedures rather than on concepts and she seeks to change that with a balance of both in the classroom.

“I believe as future research goes, it’s important to study teachers in their own classroom settings in order to make the connection between the tools that teachers are providing their students, and the tools that they were provided in their teacher preparation program,” Fazzini says.

Through her research with Assistant Mathematics Professor Joseph DiNapoli, Fazzini urges students to get involved in research and spark new changes around the world.

“Being able to research something that was so meaningful to the both of us made this an enjoyable experience and I strongly urge anybody who has the chance to do research on campus to take advantage of it because it gives you the ability to view the world in a different light,” Fazzini says.

The student researchers are taking a positive approach to research, science and math in hopes of encouraging others to follow their examples and to make a decision to embark on something that didn’t seem possible.

For more information, visit the 2021 Mario M. Casabona Future Scientists Awards webpage.

Story by Rosaria Lo Presti; photos by University Photographer Mike Peters

With Associate Dean Scott Kight as MC, the event kicked off with a poster presentation by Kimberly Calix, a Biochemistry major, discussing the pretreatment of proteins using heat to optimize its structure. John Notte, a Physics major, then presented on the upcoming upgrade of the LIGO detector, the Advanced LIGO Plus project.

Our first full talk was next with Anthony Gachetti, an Earth & Environmental Science major, who discussed climate change and using the paleoclimate record to make predictions. This longer presentation was also the first opportunity for the judges to ask a full set of questions which Anthony met effectively with enthusiasm. He was rated the highest in this area by the judges in their assessment.

Following Anthony were Katherine Schaffer, a Chemistry major, and Sarah Acquaviva, a Mathematics major both presenting posters. Katherine’s presentation dove into the use of electrochemical sensors for the imaging of neurotransmitters. Then Sarah’s poster looked at the use of caps on classes as a means to control viral outbreaks. The timeliness of this presentation stood out to the judges in the poster category.

Hope Diamantopoulos, a Computer Science major, had the next five minute talk. Her work looked into the teaching of emotions to improve worker-robot collaborations as we move toward more automated production. The strength of the algorithms effectiveness and its applicability really impressed the judges.

Evelyn Visan, a Molecular Biology major, and Allison Conlon, an Applied Mathematics and Statistics major, closed out the poster presentations. Evelyn’s research looked at the development of a rapid test to diagnose Ranavirus, a disease that has the potential to quickly ravage populations of amphibians, fish and reptiles. Allison came on next to discuss the effectiveness of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Using publicly available data Allison looked at the wealth of various individuals and the effects of the TCJA on those individuals

The final presentation, and final five minute talk, was given by Paolo Turano, a Biology major. His work looked at coconut oil’s effectiveness for weight loss. Paolo also studied the effect of this dietary change on the liver, specifically its contribution to Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). His findings showed little impact from a dietary perspective, and in males, an increased risk of NAFLD.

Following the presentations, the judges deliberated and the audience casted their votes for their favorite. After a short time we had our results!

• Best Poster Award – Sarah Acquaviva
• Third Place Talk Award – Paolo Turano
• Second Place Talk Award – Anthony Gachetti
• First Place Talk Award – Hope Diamantopoulos
  Best Mentor Award – Dr. Weitian Wang
• Audience Favorite Award – Paolo Turano

Thank you to the judges for your time, input and feedback to the students. Congratulations to each of the students that participated in the event, your research and presentation of that information embodies what we hope to enable in all of our students in the College of Science and Mathematics!

Learn more about the event, the judges and the participants on the 2021 Mario M. Casabona Future Scientists Program website

“The pandemic is certainly not over,” says Professor Eric Forgoston, chairperson of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, echoing public health officials and the World Health Organization, which recently warned “the worst is yet to come.”

The models show what could happen given different scenarios as New Jersey eases restrictions.  The study was co-authored by Forgoston and Michael Thorne, research collaborator and computational biologist at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK.

Read the full article in the University News Center

The BS in Applied Mathematics and Statistics program contains a common set of core courses in applied mathematics and statistics, foundational courses in computing with the Python programming language and an application-area sequence. These courses provide students with a broad introduction to important theoretical, computational, and statistical techniques. The application-area sequence provides a base of knowledge in a particular field of study with options including: biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and environmental science, economics or physics.

Beyond the common courses, the BS in Applied Mathematics and Statistics comprises three tracks, of which students choose one:

• , composed of additional courses in theoretical and computational applied mathematics
• , composed of additional courses in statistical analysis
• , composed of additional courses in theoretical and computational financial mathematics.

Regardless of track, each student must also satisfy the experiential learning component, choosing either an internship or capstone project.

Chemistry Introducing a Business Concentration

The department is creating a B.S. in Chemistry degree with a concentration in Business. The includes the core Chemistry courses with an additional selection of Business courses. Within the Business concentration, three tracks are offered: entrepreneurship, professional selling, and management.

This new concentration is designed for students with an interest in the business aspects of the (bio)chemical and pharmaceutical industry, such as technical and chemical sales, management, logistics, and marketing. Students will receive a strong foundation in chemistry and learn the fundamentals of business. They will be well prepared for entry-level positions in the chemical industry and related fields.

Students can apply for this program after their freshman year if they have a GPA of 2.7 or higher. Interested students should contact the chairperson or Dr. Hendrik Eshuis for more information. View the new .

Data Science Programs

View the new  for the BS in Data Science, or add a Data Science minor to your current major!

A New Partnership with the Feliciano School of Business

The “4 + 1” Bachelors/MBA allows students to spend three years taking courses required for their chosen bachelor’s degree program and in their fourth year, they complete their required undergraduate program courses in addition to 6 credits worth of graduate business (MBA) coursework that count towards both undergraduate and MBA degree requirements. Approved Bachelor’s degrees in CSAM are:

• Biology
• Environmental Science
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Sustainability

Learn More about the .

Once undergraduate requirements are completed, students will receive their bachelor’s degree, and are eligible to participate in Convocation and Commencement.

The more that there is collaboration, the better results we can achieve as a worldwide community.

Read the full story,  on

We need good testing data, which unfortunately throughout this country, not just in Arizona, we don’t have — even in some of the major hot spots. We still don’t have enough to know exactly who has been infected. And that goes for both infectious individuals who are showing symptoms, as well as those who are not showing symptoms. And unless you have that data, really good data, on who’s being infected, then it’s very difficult to know what the transmission rate is.

Read the full story, ���Dz�