Students attend Mathematical Association of America meeting

Two Westminster College students presented their undergraduate research at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting at Fairmont State University in West Virginia in the spring.

Asia Morgenstern, a mathematics and computer science double major, presented her research, “Leaky Power Domination: Solving the 1–Leaky Tree.”

“Attending the MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting was an impactful experience for me. Not only did it build upon my general oral communication skills, but it also introduced me to a wide range of mathematical subfields and research topics,” Morgenstern said. “As I was setting up to present my research to an audience of established professors, undergraduate students and graduate students, I felt more nervous than I had anticipated being. However, I needed to overcome this anxiety in real time and by the end, I felt more confident in my presentation skills. Finally, listening to all the other talks allowed me to narrow down the subfields of math that I find to be the most interesting.”

Morganstern, a rising senior, is from New Wilmington.

Zachary LaFrankie, a mathematics and physics double major, presented “Directed Graph Burning” at the conference.

“My experience at the MAA meeting propelled my interest in mathematics and pursuing a graduate degree,” said LaFrankie. “The ability to present my own research and listen to others helped me gain confidence and a deeper curiosity about mathematics research. Additionally, the opportunity to converse with other undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate researchers gave me the chance to learn more about subfields of math I may want to go into. This conference also bolstered my presentation and listening skills that are necessary for a researcher. Overall, this experience helped me to grow as an academic and gave me a large step towards my post graduate academic goals.”

LaFrankie is a rising junior from Monongahela, Pa.

Travel funding to the conference was provided by the Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research. Drinko promotes and provides students with various research, scholarly and creative opportunities in all academic disciplines through support and resources for undergraduate work.

For more information about Westminster’s mathematics major, please visit www.westminster.edu/math.

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