| Math Club/PME |
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| Math Club |
| Math Club Officers: |
| President: Laura Shuman, Vice President: Ember Clark, Secretary: Ann Bishop, Treasurer: John Bishop, Senate Rep: David Sweeney |
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| Meeting Dates |
| The monthly Math Club meetings details can be found on posters around campus. |
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| Club News |
| The Math Club's first meeting was October 12, when Jessica Kochin of Reuters Thomson spoke to about 25 students on her career so far and the math models she uses at work. There was a movie/party on October 29 and a math competition on October 30. |
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The next speaker is November 9 at 6 p.m. in the Academic Building, room 258. Lianne Straathof will speak on internship/employment opportunities at Alticor. November 19, the Club will view the movie Pi at 8 p.m. in Albertus Hall, room 119. The last Math Club meeting of this semester is a gaming evening at 6 p.m. in the Academic Building, room 258. |
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| There must be something about being
Math Club President because our last three have had some
good math rewards in their lives recently. Former pres.
Sara Schmidt (Koster) scored a job with the Dept of Defense.
Former pres. Paul T. Wood has passed the first five Actuarial
Exams and he's with Gabriel, Roeder, Smith and Co. in
Chicago. Val Kunde, won a prestigious Miriam Schaefer
scholarship. Past president, Jeanne Gilewski, is in med school having completed her triple major of math, chemistry
and biology at AQ. |
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| Our goals for the year: attendance
at the MiCTM in October, the MAA sectional in May and
a student speaker at the next MathFest. |
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| Math Club Projects |
| We have a series of images of mostly math topics, done stereoscopically. We use AutoDesk's 3DStudio to set up virtual cameras viewing a mesh object similar to the way a person's two eyes would view the object. Using a stereoscopic viewer, one can then fool the brain into thinking the object exists and is being viewed in depth, just the way a Viewmaster works. The images below require a device to project one image onto each eye separately, unless the viewer is willing to try to focus eyes separately until the images become one. Such viewing is possible, with practice. To see a page which has some excellent stereoscopic images and has free-viewing helpers, try 3dArtist. |
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For the easiest results, get the $2 viewer (stock number 2018, $3 shipping) from Reel3D. Then, print the images you want to use, cut them out and place them next to each other while looking through the viewer. You will soon see the intended stereoscopic image. The viewer also works on the computer screen for some people; but using prints is best. |
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The image pair at left is a five-crossing knot built in a box. (There are some trivial crossings present. The knot is a "paramecium" knot, as described by Jozef Przytycki of The George Washington University.) |
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| The two pairs at right are from a model of a finite geometry. The model has 10 points, 10 lines and illustrates Desargue's Theorem. (The purple line is the polar of the lowest blue point.) |
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| Pi Mu Epsilon |
| Membership Requirements |
| Neither a math major or minor is required to be in PME; but taking the calculus sequence and beyond usually means one of these has happened. Membership is most difficult at the sophomore level, where the prospective member must be a math major with at least three math courses taken, including Calculus I. The sophomore must have a 4.0 in math and be in the top fourth of that student's class. |
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| For students above sophomore level, the requirements are more adaptable. Four math courses including the calculus sequence is the big hurdle because the calculus sequence is three courses long. The prospective member must have a B average in math and must be in the top third of the class.One further requirement for all prospective PME members: you must be a Math Club member as well. The Math Club contains the honor society as well as providing participants with mathematical activities outside the classroom. To be a member of the Math Club, all you have to do is attend three Math Club meetings! So, for you successful math students at Aquinas College, check it out! You might just be able to increase your mathematics enjoyment, boost your resume and have some fun all at the same time. |
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| Learn more about the installation of PME |
