FRS 001X — Sec. 001 — (1 unit) — CRN 73844— W 11:00-11:50am — 451 Kerr
The Black Art of Mathematical Programming: Proverbs and Illustrations

Instructor: Hong Xiao, Department of Mathematics, College of Letters and Science

Description: Modern mathematical software packages (such as Mathematica, Maple, MATLAB) provide powerful tools for mathematical derivation, verification, and visualization. Successful utilization of such software will enable students to understand mathematical materials better, and solve problems faster. This course will introduce students to Mathematica, and illustrate certain principles of good programming practices while teaching problem solving in Mathematica. No prior knowledge of Mathematica is required.

Format: The seminar will meet for fifty minutes weekly during the ten week quarter. Each meeting will be held in a computer lab in a tutorial setting, where programming techniques will be taught through in-class programming sessions and case-study discussions. Reference materials will be recommended to students to assist with their after-class group assignments, which will be given weekly to exercise the principles learned in class and practice Mathematica programming. Grading: A letter grade will be given. The final grade will be determined by the students' in-class programming and discussion participation, and the quality of their weekly assignments.

About the Instructor: Professor Hong Xiao received her Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from Yale University in 2001, with a specialization in scientific computation. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics. Her research interests include computational mathematics, and application of mathematics in engineering problems. She has written thousands of lines of code, and has used Mathematica extensively in her research.