Mathematics 5410 Fall 2002 Profiles

Nathan Spencer

Degrees Sought: MS in Mechanical Engineering and recently
developed Computational and Engineering Science (CES) program.
Area of Research: Mechanical characterization of thin films for
use in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).

matt masarik

Degree Plans: i plan to graduate with a degree from U of U in
              mathematics and meteorology.
Previous Math: i just finished my lower division requirements
               this summer.. so this class and 5610 (Num Ana I)
               are my first upper division classes.
Foreign languages: none
Computer languages: course work in both: C, C++
                   exposure to: Fortran
                   exposure to: Perl
                   exposure to: Maple
Places i've lived: Boise, Idaho
How i spend my time: in reality: working in the meteo. dept.
                                studying
                    when i have more time to spend: i like
                    outdoor activities like running, hiking,
                    snowboarding. i also enjoy music.

Lisa Andrews

Hi, my name is Lisa Andrews and I am at the University of Utah
trying to finish two degrees.  I am working on a general math
degree and a math teaching degree.  This year is my first year
of being able to choose my own math classes and not taking
classes that are required and pre-outlined. This means I have
taken calculus, ODE's, linear algebra, analysis, statistics,
Foundations of Geometry and foundations of algebra. As for any
other language computer or verbal I am lacking in these skills
and am limited to English.  I grew up living in the same house
in Tooele Utah, until I moved up to Salt Lake three years ago
for school. When I am not in school, at work, or doing homework
I love being in the outdoors, sitting down and reading a book
for pleasure, and going any style of swing dancing.

Aaron Dewell

I plan a BS in Math by the end of Spring, or possibly Summer.
I've had math previously up to the beginning ODE class.  French
is the only language I could say I speak, but I'm very rusty and
can't hold a conversation. I've also worked on learning German
and Mandarin Chinese, but have not gotten very far in either.
The computer languages I know best are C/C++ and Perl, and I've
used scheme, elisp and Pascal before. I have lived in Utah,
Alaska, New York City, and Virginia, before returning to Utah.
I spend my time messing with computers, operating systems, and
networking hardware for employability; rock climbing and cycling
for recreation.

Thomas Anderson

I sometimes feel like the eternal student. I have received a BS
in Electrical Engineering from the University of Utah, complete
with a Business minor. I also am just completing a ME in
Bioengineering, and I expect to finish a second ME in
Computational Engineering and Science by this next Spring.
Afterwards, it's off to law school to study patent
law/intellectual property. Then, I suspect I'll be done with
school--or at least my wife will tell me that I'm done with
school. I've taken several math courses, including a previous
ODE class, PDEs, complex variables, probability, and, most
recently, mathematical physiology. I expect this ODE class to be
a good review of concepts and techniques that I have long since
forgotten. My native language is English (I'm from Utah and have
lived here all of my life). I also speak Tagalog, the national
language of the Philippines. As for computing languages, I am
fluent with MATLAB and Mathematica, I can program in C++,
LabView, and MPI, and I am currently learning OpenGL. I spend my
free time...well, what free time? In my spare moments I play
with my dog, a Jack Russell Terrier, spend time with my wife, do
yard work, read, and play computer games.

George Ouzounian

My name is George Ouzounian, I speak Armenian and am learning
Mandarin. I'm working towards my first degree: BS Mathematics:
emphasis in scientific computing.  I work and go to school full
time, so progress has been slow (but there is light at the end
of the tunnel--hopefully Spring of '03).  The computer languages
I'm familiar with are: Informix 4GL/SQL, Perl, C/C++, sed/awk,
Shell (korn, bourne), Pascal, PHP.  After I graduate, I would
like to work in Bermuda or Hong Kong, and eventually work
towards another degree or a masters.

Cori Givan

I'm a Mathematics major with an emphasis in Statistics.  I will
be graduating this December.  Spanish was my previous major, but
I'm not fluent like I used to be.  I don't know any computer
programming languages, but I work a lot in SAS.  I've lived in
Utah all my life, but I did spend one summer studying in Spain.
I like to read and I'm a huge hockey fan, but right now most of
my free time is spent planning my wedding this January.

Cameron Harris

My degree plans involve a degree in Mathematics, hopefully with
an emphasis in Scientific Computing, but I'm waiting to see if I
can fit the requirements into my schedule.  I currently meet all
of the requirements for this degree short of 5610 (currently
taking), 5620, 5410 (currently taking), 5420, an Allied Course
(don't know what would count), a Special Project (don't know
what I would do), Physics 2210 (currently taking), Physics 2220,
and completing the department comprehensive examination.  If I
can't determine an effective, or easily plausible, Allied Course
and Special Project then I will simply take a couple more upper
division Math courses and complete the general degree. I don't
know any foreign languages.  I am familiar with Visual Basic,
C++, C, C#, Java, HTML, JavaScript, XML, and a few more less
notable web related markup languages.  I've lived in Salt Lake
City, Parowan (UT), Riverside (CA), Big Bear (CA), and Hemet
(CA). I spend my time doing homework and working as a software
developer for Medicity, Inc., a company that deals in delivering
medical labs to physicians securely via the internet.

Dave Novom

My name is Dave Novom, and I am a first year graduate student to
the mathematics program.  I plan to pursue a Ph. D., where I
would like to study and research geometry ? more specifically,
Riemannian geometry. My educational background includes earning
my B.S. in mathematics at the University of Miami ? Florida,
coupled with studying three years of physics at Case Western
Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.  I have a one-semester-long
acquaintance with each of the following computer languages: C,
Pascal and Basic.  Having lived in Miami and just moved from Los
Angeles to Salt Lake City, I have an intermediate grasp for the
Spanish language, which I consider to be a funny quality for
anyone having grown up in the Midwest ? Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
As far as how I spend my time: I am an avid tennis player; I
love to ski; I enjoy chess; and as a pianist and guitarist I
take the utmost pleasure in all kinds of music, especially the
classical music of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Jennifer Clark

I am a math major. I plan on graduating this spring and then
attending graduate school here next fall. The only computer
language I know is C++. I live in Bountiful, where I enjoy
spending time with my two dogs.

Eric Cook

so, i just finished my first year of graduate study in the math
department. i completed my undergrad in `99 with a double BA in
mathematics and russian, which has allowed my MS here to become
an MA. when i'm not teaching or studying, i try to find some
time to get outside. i do a little climbing and biking (short
hikes on down days) in the warmer times and ski and climb when
there is snow and ice.  i moved to utah just over a year ago,
but had spent the winter of 99-00 working up at alta.  before
and after that winter i lived in maine (where i did my
undergrad) and new hampshire, where my family had moved when i
was twelve. prior to that i had lived in michigan and overseas.
so needless to say, i keep my hands pretty full with school and
having a good time.

Mason Kjar

I am majoring in Mathematics with a minor in Physics.  I plan to
graduate in May of 2003, and I am on track to do so.  I am a
transfer student and I have attended 1 and 1/2 years at the
UofU. I have had most of the common math classes that lead up to
this point, certainly nothing out of the ordinary.  I speak
fluent Spanish, which I learned in Honduras while serving an LDS
mission. I have previously lived in Michigan, Minnesota and
Honduras, as well as Utah.  I am married to an angel and I have
a beautiful 11 month old son.  I enjoy ceramics, chess, Tae Kwon
Do, computer games, television and homework-free weekends, since
they are so rare.  If I could have anything I wanted it would be
to live in a cabin on a lake in Montana, teach math and physics
to high schoolers, and not have to worry about money.

Alex Petersen

My name is Alex Petersen, I'm an aspiring senior hoping to
graduate this spring with a Math and Physics degree. I would
like attend graduate school in New York City because i'm a big
Yankees and Mets fan. I also like the anonymity associated with
big cities. I first became attuned to this liking in New Orleans
where i did my first two years of undergraduate study at Tulane
University. I would like to study either medical physics or
bioengineering and am not decided between industry and academia
for my career. I was born in Colombia and am semi-fluent in
spanish, have been to Peru several times and hope to make it my
second home when the time/money comes. I enjoy math because
there is so much symmetry and so many vantage points to approach
its problems. I'm big into skiing and hope that I can get a car
by first snow since my ski-buddy from years past left, and so
did my ride.