RIT School of Mathematics and Statistics

Saturday, 14 March - Happy 147th Birthday to Einstein and happy Pi[e] Day! :D

A holiday devoted to a math constant might not sound exciting. But Pi Day, celebrated every March 14 (3/14) in the United States, is an exception. The day usually starts with activities celebrating pi (π) — the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter (about 3.14). But it almost always ends with a tasty slice of pie.

The fun tradition is credited to Larry Shaw, a physicist at San Francisco’s Exploratorium. On March 14, 1988, he convinced colleagues to walk around the museum's "Pi Shrine"— a circular plaque inscribed with the first 100 digits of pi — and enjoy fruit pies.

The Babylonians were the first to estimate pi about 4,000 years ago. They gave it a value of 3.125. A few hundred years later, the ancient Egyptians refined it to 3.1605.

Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 BC) was the first to calculate pi mathematically. He gave it a range of between 3.1408 and 3.1429. Considering these early mathematicians did not even have calculators, their precision was truly impressive. Today, with advanced computing, pi has been calculated to trillions of digits. But for most, 3.14 — or even a slice of pie — is enough to celebrate!

Fifteen years ago, DataFest was founded when 30 UCLA students gathered for 48 intense hours to analyze five years of data provided by the L.A.P.D. DataFest is now sponsored by the American Statistical Association (ASA) and hosted by several of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the country with over 2,000 students participating country-wide.

ASA DataFest is a 3-day data analysis competition where undergraduate teams dive into a large, complex dataset provided by a real-world organization. Hosted by the American Statistical Association, the event brings together students from the Rochester area to tackle data challenges, collaborate, and grow professionally.

For more information or to register to participate, please visit https://www.rit.edu/science/datafest

RIT College of Science

https://www.rit.edu/graduateschool/blog/getting-started-academic-publishing-rit

Dr. Adam Giammarese, graduate of RIT | COS Mathematical Modeling Ph.D. program.

RIT Alumnus Adam Giammarese Wins Edward N. Lorenz Early Career Award | RIT College of Science posted on the topic | LinkedIn RIT alumnus Adam Giammarese has received the Edward N. Lorenz Early Career Award from Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, an international honor recognizing exceptional early career researchers in nonlinear science. The award recognizes Giammarese’s work using chaos theory an...

SMS faculty members Lucia Carichino, Kara L. Maki and David Ross (emeritus), along with RIT College of Science students Riley Supple (PhD candidate) and Evan Rysdam (RIT class 2022), developed a mathematical model to study the mechanical interaction between a contact lens and the eye. The model predicts ocular deformation and stresses due to contact lens wear, to aid lens manufacturers and clinicians by theoretically predicting the performance of a lens design without having to try the lens on the patient.

Quantifying ocular surface changes with contact lens wear Over 140 million people worldwide and over 45 million people in the United States wear contact lenses; it is estimated that $ 12\% $–$ 27.4\% $ contact lens users stop wearing them due to discomfort. Contact lens mechanical interactions with the ocular surface have been found to affect the ocular ...

Mathematical Modeling Seminar Series Presents:
Dr. Pancy Thein Lwin, 2021 graduate of RIT College of Science's Mathematical Modeling Ph.D. program, returns to give a talk on her research work at University of Rochester Medical Center titled: Blood Digital Twins Developed Using Dynamic State Modeling Of Single-Cell RNA-seq. Data

https://www.rit.edu/science/MathModSem

For more information or to register yourself or your team, please visit: https://www.rit.edu/science/datafest

Happy International Pi Day, everyone! 😃

How Computational Math Set the Stage for a Startup | RIT February 24, 2025 At RIT, Luis Andino ’20 developed the problem-solving mindset that now powers his work as founder of Ditch, a fintech startup built on his computational math skills. Luis Andino ’20 took an unconventional path to RIT. While working full-time at a hedge fund in the Dominican Rep...

Have a wonderful winter break everyone!