Cofactor Genomics

This week, we have a guest speaker: Ian Schillebeeckx. He is a recent SLU Math/CS graduate and computational scientist who will be talking to us about Cofactor Genomics: a study in de novo assembly of Spider Dragline Silk Genes.

He will talk about a project he is actively working on that involves sequencing spider silk genes. He ran some in silico simulations and did research to formulate an application of next-generation sequencing techniques for discovery experiments. This is sure to be a fascinating talk!

You are welcome to join us in the Ritter Hall Lobby from 4-5 on Wednesday! Refreshments will be provided.

Art & Randomness

The SLU Math & CS Club will meet again tomorrow, Wednesday, April 11th. Dr. Clair will be running a workshop at the art museum next week so he’ll show us some of what he’s going to present. We will be making art using random processes!

Please join us in the Ritter Hall Lobby from 4-5. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Mathematical Music of Bell Towers

Later today Daniel Bossaller, a mathematics graduate student at SLU, will talk about change ringing.

Abstract.
Change ringing is the historic method of ringing different arrangements of some number of bells without repetition (subject to 4 rules). After developing the mathematics of these rules, we’ll do an example of one method of ringing six bells.

Join us in the Ritter Hall Lobby from 4:00pm to 5:00pm to enjoy refreshments and an interesting talk.

Aperiodic tilings

This week, we will be looking at APERIODIC TILINGS! Most tiles can cover the plane (or your floor) in simple ways that repeat themselves. Led by our very own Dr. Clair, we’ll investigate some tiles (and sets of tiles) that tile without repetitions, such as the Penrose kite and dart tiles.

Join us in the Ritter Hall lobby on Wednesday from 4-5! Refreshments will be provided!

New Officers

The votes have been counted and your Math/CS Club officers for 2012-2013 are

President: Jon Pilla
1st VP: Wesley Gardner
2nd VP: Nick Walker
Secretary: Andrew Yang
Treasurer: Matt Genova

Congratulations to the officers on their victories! We all look forward to helping you keep the club going strong!

Hundred Prisoners Problem

One hundred prisoners are offered a deal: Their names are placed into 100 jars, and if each prisoner can find their own name, they will go free.

The catch? They go one at a time, and cannot change the jars or communicate after each turn. Each prisoner is only allowed to look in 50 jars.

Come to Math/CS club for a surprising discussion, led by Dr. Bryan Clair, involving permutations and the harmonic series! We will meet in the lobby of Ritter Hall this Wednesday, from 4-5. Light refreshments will be provided

Officer elections

Elections for new officer will be held in the lobby of Ritter Hall on Wednesday, 4:00pm – 5:00pm. Please come share your ideas for improving the Math/CS Club with the candidates and faculty.

Catenary curve finished

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Catenary curves continued!

Last week, we started construction on a catenary curve. We were pretty close to finishing by the end of the meeting, but there is still some work to be done. Come help us put the finishing touches on our cardboard masterpiece tomorrow in the lobby of Ritter Hall from 4pm – 5pm! See you there!

Catenary curves

This Wednesday from 4-5pm, we will look at catenary curves, like our own Gateway Arch. The equation for a catenary curve is of the form

But they look so much like parabolas! How are these curves like parabolas? How are they different? Come find out about all sorts of these types of curves in the lobby of Ritter Hall from 4-5pm tomorrow! Refreshments will be provided. Bring your friends!