Past Distinguished Lectures

2007 Distinguished Lecture

Thursday, April 19, 2007, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 

Title: Teaching and Learning Computational Science and Engineering

Abstract

I would like to discuss (together with the audience!) how we can
go forward with computational science and engineering.  Getting students
involved has to be the key -- they will develop new ideas later (and better
use of software).  It is a fascinating and creative subject that combines
applied mathematics with scientific computing. 

     One question is how to present both of those essential parts.  My goal
is that each lecture discusses a model problem and a code to solve it.
This MIT course is popular with engineering students and their departments,
who want exposure to ideas and also to software (especially MATLAB).

     The main sections of the course are Applied Linear Algebra,
Differential Equations, Finite Differences and Finite Elements,
Fourier Methods, Analytical Methods, Large Sparse Systems, and Optimization. 
The starting point is to understand the second difference matrices (entries
1, -2, 1) that appear everywhere in scientific computing and simulation.

     The need to move beyond the older courses in engineering mathematics,
and connect directly to computing, is widely recognized. A pure
software course misses the foundations for understanding new problems. 
The combination of analysis with computational science and engineering
is powerful.
     The lecture will be less solemn than this abstract.

Professor Strang is a Professor of Mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He served as the President of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) from 1999–2000, chaired the US National Committee on Mathematics for 2003–2004, and has won many prestigious awards including the von Neumann Prize Medal of the US Association of Computational Mechanics (2005), and the 2006 Distinguished University Teacher of Mathematics of the Northeastern Section of MAA.

Professor Strang  has served as an editor for 20 mathematics journals, and has published a monograph with George Fix titled “An Analysis of the Finite Element Method” and six textbooks:

Introduction to Linear Algebra (1993, 1998, 2003)
Linear Algebra and Its Applications (1976, 1980, 1988, 2005)
Introduction to Applied Mathematics (1986)
Calculus (1991)
Wavelets and Filter Banks, with Truong Nguyen (1996)
Linear Algebra, Geodesy, and GPS, with Kai Borre (1997)

Professor Strang’s research interests include linear algebra, numerical analysis, partial differential equations, wavelets and filter banks, applied mathematics and engineering mathematics.

Admission is free. All are welcome!

Sponors: COST, and Department of Mathematical Sciences at Georgia Southern University.