Upsilon Pi Epsilon Inducts New Member

Daniel "Kees" Edwards was inducted into Ashland University's Epsilon Chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), the international honor society for the computing and information disciplines. Daniel is a junior and is double-majoring in Computer Science and Computer Art & Graphics Programming.

The initiation, led by Matthew Smithburger, chapter president, took place on February 12 in Patterson Hall.

Other UPE members are Tom Conti, Jim Huang, Marissa Uhrig, and Kenny Bogner. Marissa has been voted as president-elect for 2013-2014.


The mission of UPE is to recognize academic excellence at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in the computing and information disciplines. Ashland University’s Epsilon Chapter was formed in January 2002. Sophomore, junior and senior computer science majors who meet the eligibility requirements are invited to join this prestigious honorary.

Computer Science Students Gain Competitive Edge With Internships

In today’s highly-competitive job market, it’s important to have career-related experience to stand out among others. Computer Science majors take a variety of courses and participate in many hands-on learning experiences in class. Ashland University's computer sciences courses teach students how to think logically and how to problem-solve, which enable them to be versatile employees. Students are encouraged to complete an internship during their junior or senior year.


Thomas Conti: Automated Testing Environment Engineering Intern, AMD

Senior Computer Science major, Thomas Conti, recently completed an internship at AMD, a company that manufactures computer processors, in Austin, Texas.

As an Automated Testing Environment Engineering Intern, Thomas learned about the fabrication and testing process for microprocessors and had the opportunity to create and enhance programs used in testing different AMD processing products. He was able to easily apply the knowledge and skills he learned in classes such as Programming Languages, Computer Architecture, and Operating Systems to real-world projects.

"This internship was a great learning experience," said Thomas.

After graduation this May, Thomas would like to continue his work in the semi conductor industry or software development.

Jim Huang: Software Development Intern, Quicken Loans

Jim Huang interned at Quicken Loans as a Software Development Intern. Quicken Loans is the 4th largest mortgage lender in the United States and the largest online. In the past several years, it has been ranked as on the of the Top Best 30 Places to Work by Fortune magazine.


Jim's main responsibility was to design and improve the company's back-end loans platform - the basic technology of a computer system's hardware and software that defines how a computer is operated and determines what other kinds of software can be used. Through this position, Jim was able to learn more about the software development process and cycle in a business world environment. Jim enjoyed having the creative freedom to develop software.

"Computer Science courses, specifically, Data Structures and Computer Algorithms helped me tremendously for this internship," said Jim.

Jim plans to graduate this May and has future plans of starting his own tech-related business.






Matthew Smithburger: Interface Development Intern, Rosetta Marketing

Matthew Smithburger, a senior majoring in Computer Science, recently completed an internship with Rosetta Marketing.

As an Interface Development Intern, Matthew used front end web technologies to build interactive web pages and applications for clients. Matthew was also able to sit in on client consultations and experience how meetings function. In this position, Matthew learned the importance of setting goals, maintaining organization, and meeting deadlines.

"It's a fast-paced, challenging, and ever-changing field," said Matthew, "and this experience showed me that this is the type of work I want to do in the future."

He credits his Algorithms and Data Structures classes for helping him succeed in this position. According to Matthew, these classes gave him the knowledge to tackle difficult problems by applying different techniques to come up with efficient solutions.

Matthew will be graduating this May and is planning on returning to Rosetta as a full-time User Interface Development Associate.

Andrew Iden Passes Exam P

Andrew Iden ('12) has passed the Society of Actuaries' Probability exam (Exam P). The exam tests the candidate’s knowledge of the fundamental probability tools for quantitatively assessing risk. Exam P is one of the exams required to achieve professional status as an actuary. Andrew has already passed Exam FM (Financial Mathematics).

Andrew recently accepted a position as an Actuarial Analyst for Assurant Specialty Property in Miami, Florida.

 

Actuaries are professionals who provide expert advice and relevant solutions for business and societal problems that involve economic risk. The actuarial profession is consistently ranked as one of the top 5 careers in the United States.

 

Congratulations and good luck to Andrew.

For more information about the Actuarial Science program, contact Dr. Christopher Swanson, at cswanson@ashland.edu or visit the website www.beanactuary.com.

Welcome Dr. Maduka Rupasinghe!

Dr. Maduka Rupasinghe (Dr. Ru) joined Ashland University as an assistant professor of Mathematics in August 2012.

He received his B.S. degree in Business, Finance and Computational Mathematics from University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He went on to graduate school at the Missouri University of Science and Technology where he obtained his PhD in Mathematics with Statistics Emphasis.

His research interests lie in the areas of Statistics, especially, Time Series Analysis and Statistical consulting. Applications of bootstrap techniques in Time Series are his major research focus. As Statistics methodologies are applicable in many areas, he further offers a free Statistical Consulting service to the AU faculty and students.

His passion for Mathematical problem solving immensely facilitated him in pursuing his post graduate degree in Statistics with a GPA of 4.0/4.0.

Dr. Rupasinghe immigrated to the USA from Sri Lanka in 2007 to pursue his PhD. He has taught various Mathematics and Statistics classes from College Algebra to Applied Engineering Statistics and has won two teaching awards as a graduate teaching assistant at Missouri University of Science & Technology. He will be primarily teaching statistics classes, especially, Elementary Statistics, Intermediate Statistics, Probability and Mathematical Statistics at AU. He also plans to design new Statistics courses for the AU students.

Dr. Rupasinghe is here in Ashland with his wife, Hiroshi Abhayawickrama and his daughter, Chenuli Rupasinghe. His family is exciting about living in Ashland and this new adventure in their lives.  He enjoys working with friendly AU faculty, staff and students. He believes that the quiet environment in Ashland helps students have better concentration on their academics.

Actuarial Science Major, Candace Goodson, Passes Exam P

Candace Goodson has passed the Society of Actuaries’ Probability exam (Exam P). The exam tests the candidate’s knowledge of the fundamental probability tools for quantitatively assessing risk. Exam P is one of the exams required to achieve professional status as an actuary. Candace has already passed Exam FM (Financial Mathematics) and plans on taking either Exam MFE (Models for Financial Economics) or MLC (Models for Life Contingencies) this fall.

 

Actuaries are professionals who provide expert advice and relevant solutions for business and societal problems that involve economic risk. The actuarial profession is consistently ranked as one of the top 5 careers in the United States.

Candace transferred to Ashland University last fall. She is a senior majoring in Actuarial Science with a minor in Political Science. She plans on graduating in the spring and securing an internship or entry-level actuarial position. Having passed two exams, Candace is well on her way to become a certified actuary.

Candace credits her AU Mathematics of Statistics class and Dr. Christopher Swanson for helping her succeed in passing the exam.

For more information about the Actuarial Science program, contact Dr. Christopher Swanson, at cswanson@ashland.edu or visit the website www.beanactuary.com.

Anna Payne Gains Valuable Research Experience

Senior Anna Payne participated in the Summer Undergraduate Mathematical Science Research Institute (SUMSRI) at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Anna found the program through the Research Experience for Undergrads list on the National Science Foundation website. She was one of 17 applicants chosen for the program. SUMSRI is an intense mathematical research program that pushes students to learn more about advanced topics in math and explore different ways of solving problems. The program is an opportunity for the students to see what mathematical research is really like.

In the program, students were split into groups: Discrete Math/Graph Theory, Algebra, and Statistics, and each group had to research mathematic topics. Anna was chosen for the Discrete Math/Graph Theory group, and along with her teammates, conducted graph theory research on Tournaments. They worked to prove conjectures given in other papers about Transitive Tournaments. (In the mathematical field of graph theory, transitive tournaments are directed, complete graphs with particular properties. Their name is derived from the fact that each one of these graphs can be thought of as the results of a round robin tournament in which if Team A beat Team B and Team B beat Team C, then Team A beat Team C.) In the final week of the program, the team wrote up their results in a formal paper and made a final presentation.

"Our research was pretty successful, and we have proved several things that had not been proven before," said Anna. "The program has definitely helped me grow as a mathematician. It is great working with people who have similar interests and a passion for mathematics. Everyone here, including myself, is serious about their pursuits in mathematics." 

Anna credits AU classes such as Discrete Math I and II (proof-writing and some basic graph theory understanding), as well as Computer Programming I and II, Mathematical Software, Linear Algebra, Probability, and Calculus I, II, and III for helping her succeed in the program.

Anna acknowledged that her membership in Ashland University's Problem Solving Group (PSG) had also helped her in the program.

"PSG teaches us to think differently about problems and use a variety of methods to handle seemingly difficult problems. For me, that was very useful here because a lot of times, the method of solving a problem is not immediately obvious."

Along with the research projects, students in the program were offered short courses in Abstract Algebra, Real Analysis, Mathematical Writing, and GRE Preparation during the program. These were challenging courses, but gave the students an opportunity to to learn even more about mathematical research.

Anna plans on graduating with a double major in Integrated Mathematics and Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science. After graduation from AU, she plans to go to graduate school for Mathematics or Applied Mathematics.

Kenneth Bogner Gaining Valuable Experience in Software Engineering

Kenneth Bogner, a junior majoring in Computer Science, is interning at Bird Technologies in Solon this summer. Bird Technologies is a solution provider of radio frequency based products, systems and services that address the needs and applications of wireless OEMs, system providers and end users that are in multiple market segments that include cellular, land mobile radio, broadcast, military and semi-conductor process equipment users. (http://www.bird-technologies.com/AboutUs/MissionStatement.aspx)

As a Software Engineering Intern, Kenneth uses programming language of C and C++ to solve problems that present themselves in projects he is working on. Each project he is given is an actual Bird product, and he works with the embedded programming, the computer programming language that lives in and operates computer-controlled devices, of that product.

"I have been given the opportunity to explore the embedded programming world and have gained a greater knowledge in the process of low-level programming from design to implementation in the software life cycle," Kenneth says of his experience at Bird Technologies.

Kenneth credits AU classes such as: Computer Programming I & II, Discrete Math I & II, Computer Architecture, and Computer Algorithms in helping him succeed in this position.

During the academic year, Kenneth is the student administrator of the UNIX lab in the Mathematics and Computer Science department. He maintains the custom, student-built computers by administering virus and defragmentation scans on a regular basis, as well as keeps inventory of all the hardware and software in the lab. This fall he plans on updating and securing the computers' registries. He is also working on his own software program that will act as a helpdesk for users and will notify administrators of the lab of potential viruses, system updates, unknown errors, and downloads on these computers.

As for the future, Kenneth plans to graduate in May 2014 and obtain a position where he can work in software development.

Interested in learning more about Computer Proramming, Data Structures, Computer Networks, or Robotics? Check out the Computer Science website: http://www.ashland.edu/students/programs/computer-science. We offer a bachelor of science, a bachelor of arts, and a minor in Computer Science.