This month, Los Alamos Director's postdoc (and former APPM PhD student) Daniel Messenger, Applied Mathematics graduate student April Tran, and Professors Vanja Dukic and David Bortz had their publication, The Weak Form is Stronger Than You Think, highlighted on the front page in the October 2024 edition of SIAM News. The article describes their work in equation learning, parameter estimation, and coarse graining using weak form sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics (WSINDy) and weak form estimation of nonlinear dynamics (WENDy).  

The article on SIAM can be found on their .

Congratulations to Daniel, April, and Professors Vanja and David for their outstanding work that awarded them this recognition!

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The Department of Applied Mathematics is thrilled to announce that Katerina Knyazeva has been awarded the 2024 Rudy Horne Memorial Fellowship. This prestigious fellowship was established to support students who, “through their presence in the department, contribute to the diversity of the Department of Applied Mathematics and of the campus, and more generally, of the community of mathematicians.”

The Rudy Horne Memorial Fellowship is a tribute to the values that Dr. Horne championed throughout his life and career. It aims to empower students who embody the spirit of inclusivity and the pursuit of excellence in applied mathematics. This fellowship recognizes individuals who are not only passionate about advancing their field but also deeply committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse community—one that flourishes through the contributions of people from all walks of life and a wide range of perspectives.

Katerina, or Kate as she is known to her peers, has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to these ideals. Her journey in mathematics has been marked by resilience and determination, overcoming numerous challenges to reach this point. She has consistently shown a strong dedication to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the department, actively participating in initiatives that encourage underrepresented groups to pursue careers in mathematics. Kate’s efforts have already had a profound impact, inspiring her colleagues and contributing to a more welcoming and supportive environment within the department.

Associate Professor and Graduate Program Chair Zachary Kilpatrick is fully confident that Kate is the most deserving recipient of this award. When discussing this year’s candidates, Zack expressed his unequivocal support for Kate, stating, “It’s Kate by a mile. Not only has she cleared incredible hurdles to be here, but she has also committed firmly in the past and will continue to commit in the future to DEI. Kate should get the Rudy Horne.”

The Department of Applied Mathematics congratulates Kate on this well-deserved honor and is excited to see the positive influence she will continue to have on our community. We are confident that her presence in APPM will be instrumental in advancing our collective goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion, enriching both our department and the broader mathematical community.

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Applied Mathematics congratulates Dr. Gorman on this exciting, ambitious new chapter after his successful thesis defense in the last year.

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Dr. Cihak was nominated by Applied Mathematics Associate Professor Kilpatrick for their paper "Multiscale Motion and Deformation of Bumps in Stochastic Neural Fields with Dynamic Connectivity" (Multiscale Modeling & Simulation, 2024). Dr. Cihak was one of three recipients of the award and will be honored at the in Spokane, Washington, from July 8-12, with a for the prize winners on July 12.

The Applied Mathematics Department congratulates Dr. Cihak on this monumental achievement and is excited to see what the future holds for the new APPM doctoral graduate.

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Friday, April 19^th, 2024

In memory of Keith Julien: June 12^th, 1965 - April 14^th, 2024

 (Passcode: r4rv$*.j)

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The Dynamics Days webpage explains that the conference is an international and interdisciplinary effort “that focuses on chaos and nonlinear dynamics. We invite contributions related to tools and techniques of investigating dynamical systems models, and related applications. Topics may include, but are not limited to, mathematical theory, specific applications, and relevant experiments.”

This year’s conference highlighted areas including “fusion ignition, machine learning, AI, control, neuroscience, climate, ecology, evolution, and social sciences.”

The Department congratulates Sabina on this momentous accomplishment!

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3:30 pm: Special Colloquium Speakers, Tomoko Matsuo and Juan Restrepo, begin talks

4:30 pm: Dinner service opens (cocktail style) and the Poster Session starts

6:30 pm: Closing

If you would like to present a poster,  

To be reimbursed for a poster you print, please:

• Only print your posters at the “Inkspot” at the UMC building. 
• Please give the Inkspot at least 3 days to fulfill your order, meaning you should send your request to eprint@colorado.edu latest anytime between Tuesday and Wednesday of the week of the Poster Session (if ordering on Thurs, please ask for a rushed order).
• Please remember to add into your subject line, “APPM SPRING POSTER SESSION on Friday, March 15th, 2024: Speedtype 11043288.”
• Please order size: 32 x 40 inches (if you really want a different size, that’s okay, but in that case, please bring your own board to the Inkspot to be printed).
• Either horizontal or vertical posters are fine.

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With this funding, Professor Bortz will use data-driven discovery methods, which use data to discover overarching model equations via machine learning, to tackle two biomedical projects. One project is to understand how cells communicate collective motion during wound healing. The second project is to use disease data to hypothesize disease infection rates, which helps predict necessary localized hospitalization resource distribution.

This achievement is published in the Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine, which has more detail about the award itself and the projects Professor Bortz will use this award for.

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The purpose of GHOST is to eliminate the possibility of external organizations using cellular network data to find cell phone user data, such as physical position, with on-device software. Anonymizing user data is critical for civilian and military usage to keep users safe from unwanted tracking and data mining.

Keith Gremban, the principal investigator of the project, notes that GHOST is “obviously important for soldiers but it’s so much more than that. A lot of companies and nonprofits operate in regions of the world that are less than stable. There have been a rash of kidnappings of corporate executives in some countries.”

NSF’s funding of GHOST is published on the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences newspage, which contains more information about the GHOST project and the team behind the product.

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Ari is a first year Ph.D. student in Applied Mathematics, who graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Mathematics and Physics. Ari explained his motivation to study applied mathematics in a graduate setting: “I started my undergraduate career primarily interested in experimental biophysics. However, my sophomore year, I undertook a computational research project (as a result of COVID restrictions) and fell in love with the applied math methods. I remain interested in building mathematical models for problems in biophysics, especially protein-protein interaction models.”

The Rudy Horne Memorial Fellowship, as stated by the Applied Math Department, was founded with the goal that fellowship recipients “would, through their presence in the department, contribute to the diversity of the department of Applied Mathematics and of the  campus, and more generally, of the community of mathematicians.” 

Ari is specifically interested in growing representation in the historically non-diverse community of applied mathematics and STEM as a whole: “There is a severe lack of visible representation in mathematics for a number of marginalized identities. Until last year, I had never met an out queer professional in STEM, making it difficult to envision how my queer identity could realistically coexist with a career in math … The Rudy Horne Fellowship is a warm reminder that I belong in the program and my perspective is valued.”

While a difficult problem to solve, fellowships like the Rudy Horne Fellowship push for diversity and bring in passionate students who are dedicated to the best interests of the field. Bringing queer researchers in for lectures, along with organizing a plethora of other diversity-focused events, is something Ari prioritized at Bowdoin, and plans to continue while at APPM. Ari explained his goals for the department in this regard: “While at CU Boulder, I plan to address the heteronormativity and lack of queer representation in math by working with organizations such as Out in STEM and Spectra to bring queer researchers to campus for lectures … I am very honored to have received the Rudy Horne Fellowship. Starting a PhD is a daunting endeavor, especially for those with identities historically underrepresented in academia.”

Ari is uniquely suited for the Rudy Horne Fellowship and to help with issues regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), having served as a Student Director of the Bowdoin Sexuality, Women, and Gender Center. Furthermore, while at Bowdoin, Ari chartered a chapter of Out in STEM (oSTEM), which, as described by Ari, “is a national organization that supports queer students in STEM personally, academically, and professionally by helping students connect with faculty mentors, prepare for grad school, find scholarships, etc.” 

The Department congratulates Ari on this momentous accomplishment and is excited to welcome him to the APPM community!

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