The Center for Industrial Mathematics and Statistics at WPI organized a Mathematics in Industry Institute for Teachers program.

For additional information on the Institute and an on-line application form, go to MII

The goal of the program is to motivate women and underrepresented minorities to take advanced mathematics courses while in middle and high school and to pursue careers in mathematics, engineering, information technology or finance/economics.

A pilot Mathematics in Industry for Teachers Workshop was tested in June 2000 at WPI, with support from SIAM, through a grant from NSF. Thirty-eight teachers from twenty-six school districts took part. In addition to working on real industrial projects and developing versions of industrial projects for their own classes, the teachers listened to speakers describe new directions in math curricula, how colleges are introducing applications of real-world mathematics, the ways real applications can motivate students, as well as the many career paths that are open to students well-trained in mathematics. The original workshop provided them with research activities they could and did take back to their classrooms, increasing their awareness and that of their students (and their students’ parents) of the demand for mathematics in industry, business, and government.

The Institute will further develop the set of tools that enable teachers to introduce their students to the excitement of industrial mathematics and, at the same time, provide an impetus for discussing existing and future curricular changes in the targeted school districts.

The Mathematics in Industry Institute for Teachers is made possible through a grant from the GE Foundation.

For more information, please contact:

Mathematical Sciences Department
Phone: 508-831-5241

Professor Arthur Heinricher
Phone: 508-831-5397
Email: heinrich@wpi.edu

Professor Bogdan Vernescu
Phone: 508-831-5242
Email: vernescu@wpi.edu