Student Selected for Prestigious Mathematics Research Program

A London woman is one of only eight students nationwide selected to attend a prestigious mathematics research program this summer at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Ind. Brandy Smith, a junior mathematics major at EKU, will participate in Rose-Hulman's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program, which is sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation. She and three other students, along with Dr. Allen Broughton, chair of Rose-Hulman's Mathematics Department, will explore the geometry of hyperbolic Riemann surfaces tiled by triangles. The other four students will study the combinatorics and algebra of Cwatsets. Smith, a 1995 graduate of South Laurel High School and the daughter of Ralph and Charlotte Smith, was selected in a nationwide application process on the basis of her academic record (3.98 GPA), demonstrated mathematical creativity, motivation, work habits, and recommendation letters from faculty, among other factors. A former Governor's Scholar, Smith enrolled in Eastern's prestigious Honors Program upon her arrival on the Richmond campus three years ago. She did not, however, immediately declare a major. Once she did settle on mathematics, she quickly stamped herself as a stellar performer. "Brandy is very bright," said her adviser, Dr. Ray Tennant, "but she's also very creative and very outgoing." In fact, Smith's interest in hyperbolic tilings is linked to a secondary interest in art.  "One of the reasons I'm so excited about this summer," she said, "is that I plan to do my Honors thesis on group theory in (artist) M.C. Escher's works, and hyperbolic spaces is a vast amount of his work." After graduation from Eastern, Smith plans to pursue a graduate degree and possibly go on to teach at the college level -- "she certainly is capable of getting a doctorate," Tennant said -- or work in the actuarial field. "My computer science minor will help a lot," she said. And so, obviously, will her studies at Rose-Hulman. "It'll be a great benefit for applying to graduate school because it will allow me to do individual study that most are not exposed to," Smith said. She has already gained some teaching experience, working with Calculus II and III students in Eastern's Math Excel program. The Honors Program, she added, "was a great way to fulfill general education requirements and get to know a talented group of professors." Smith is active in several student groups, serving as president of the Association for Computing Machinery, president-elect for Kappa Mu Epsilon and vice president of the Mortar Board. She will receive a stipend of $2,200 at Rose-Hulman, in addition to housing and travel funds. In addition to the technical program, participants will be engaged in a companion program to develop their oral and written mathematical communication skills, collaborative and other professional skills. The Rose-Hulman REU is, according to the Institute's web site, "very successful because of its approach to undergraduate research: participant ownership of the research work...The initial work is experimentation and discovery through computer-based calculation in finite groups, in which the participants discover for themselves what are the relevant examples to look at, what are the possible conjectures and what are the promising ways to proceed. "Participants are strongly encouraged to work on problems in teams, with the program faculty working closely with the participants on a daily basis, serving as colleagues, mentors and guides to mathematical research. This way, the participants have a strong sense of ownership and personal pride in their mathematical research and a good foretaste of what professional mathematical research is all about."