On April 5 at the Wentz Science Center, professors Dr. Marco V. Martinez and Dr. Katherine Heller hosted “The Unplanned Impact of Mathematics,” a presentation on how a math education can help students get ahead in the job market, as well as the impact math has on the world.
“I want you to realize mathematics, computer science and statistics, it’s very marketable. Extremely marketable,” said Martinez. “If you like (math), that makes you different. And if you are different, that makes you stand out.”
Martinez then went into some data from the Occupational Handbook of the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. “When they talk about math occupations, they don’t only mean majors in math. They mean things that require quantitative skills to do the job,” he said.
He also said that the anticipated growth in these kind of jobs will be about 28 percent in the next decade. “That’s way above other areas right now,” said Martinez. These jobs range from things like animation at Disney to ecological applications like preserving water.
Dr. Heller then presented on pure mathematics. “The goal of the pure mathematician is simply but beautifully, in my opinion, to push the boundary of knowledge forward,” Heller said. “Our goal is to solve questions that have never been solved before.”
It’s being able to find the answer to questions that haven’t even been asked yet. Examples being the discovery of quaternions centuries ago being useful today in 3D graphics, and the Eigenvalue Problem being integral to search engines like Google.
“Often, by the way, the reason real-world problems are stuck where they are at the moment, is because the math hasn’t been developed for them to be able to move forward,” Heller said.
“We’re working on it, but it’s a slow process sometimes.” But that is not the point, said Heller. “Study something for the love of the puzzle.”
“It’s nice to see my professors and how excited they are to talk to more students outside of math,” said NCC student Brandon Wallace at the event.
Dr. Martinez concluded the presentation, adding, “Either because of the love of knowledge, or because it makes you marketable, it makes a lot of sense to take one more math class. We aren’t asking you to go for a major. Take one more. That’s it.”
