Phillipson honored at math meet
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008 8:47 AM CST
For the Herald - Three mathematics seniors at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire won a poster award at the annual Joint Mathematics Meeting Jan. 6-9 in San Diego, Calif. The annual joint meeting brings together members of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America.
Christopher DeCleene, Appleton, and Eric D. Weber, Rochester, Minn., made the presentation for the poster “Deformations of Two Dimensional Associative Infinity Algebras,” which showcased research done by DeCleene, Weber and Mitch Phillipson, Chippewa Falls, the third contributor, who was presenting on another poster at the conference.
The students conducted their research in collaboration with professor of mathematics Dr. Michael Penkava.
“It is a pretty significant event for undergraduates to win a poster presentation at the Joint Mathematics Meeting,” Penkava said. “One mathematician stopped by the poster and suggested to Mitch that he could hardly believe that undergraduates were doing this kind of work.
Mitch then explained the results to him, and the mathematician said, ‘It is clear you understand this material a lot better than I do.’ These three students worked very hard and did some excellent research, and I am quite proud of their work,” Penkava said.
“Working with Dr. Penkava has been an eye-opening experience, not just to the mathematics, but to the possibilities we have because of doing research,” Weber said.
“The Joint Mathematics Conference allowed us to see what professors and other students are working on across the country, and our success at the poster competition has made us more confident in our level of research ability,” DeCleene said.
Weber said the conference experience and UW-Eau Claire’s support of his undergraduate research played a large part in his decision to pursue a doctoral degree.
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