Rice University Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research

Congratulations to Adrian Celaya and Arshia Singhal, doctoral students in the Department of Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research, for being selected to participate in the 11th Heidelberg Laureate Forum next week in Heidelberg, Germany.

Selected from a competitive pool of international applicants, Adrian and Arshia are recognized for their excellence in mathematics and computing research for medical applications.

Rice doctoral students to join Heidelberg Laureate Forum | George R. Brown School of Engineering | Rice University Adrian Celaya and Arshia Singhal, doctoral students in the Department of Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research (CMOR), have been selected to participate in the 11th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) Sept. 22–27, 2024 in Heidelberg, Germany.

Undergraduates, present your discoveries at the Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium on Nov 9!

One of the longest-running and most prestigious undergraduate research conferences in the southeast, GCURS is open to students from all universities. Students will have the opportunity to give their talk and engage with faculty members, researchers, and their peers in the field from all over the world.

Deadline to apply is September 29. https://gcurs.rice.edu/about

Attention all undergraduate majors in CMOR (CAAM and OPRE majors):

Mark your calendars for a lecture by University Professor Richard Tapia on September 11 at 4pm. He will share his expertise on the art of giving good talks, with a focus on STEM colloquia.

Co-sponsors of the lecture include the Tapia Center, Ken Kennedy Institute, and the Rice University departments of Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research, Statistics, and Computer Science. https://events.rice.edu/event/361792-the-art-of-giving-good-talks https://events.rice.edu/event/361792-the-art-of-giving-good-talks-with-a-focus-on-stem

The School of Engineering and the Rice Engineering Alumni board have announced Cassandra McZeal ’98 ’99 as the recipient of the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.

We are thrilled to honor Cassandra at the George R. Brown School of Engineering Alumni Awards Celebration on September 12 for her dedication to Rice Engineering and for the impact she has made on the energy sector at ExxonMobil.

Cassandra McZeal ’98 ’99 receives Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award | George R. Brown School of Engineering | Rice University The George R. Brown School of Engineering and the Rice Engineering Alumni board recently announced Cassandra McZeal ’98 ’99 as the recipient of the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.

More than 110 students from grades eight through 12, hailing from around the world, attended the 2024 Tapia STEM Camps at Rice.

The Tapia STEM Camps, led by Richard Tapia, University Professor, the Maxfield-Oshman Professor of Engineering and professor of computational applied mathematics and operations research, encourages students from underrepresented communities to pursue STEM careers. This year marks more than seven years of collaboration between ExxonMobil and the Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity in Education at Rice.

Students find inspiration at Tapia STEM Camps The Tapia STEM Camps, founded by and named after Richard Tapia, aims to encourage students from underrepresented communities to pursue STEM careers.

Congratulations to CMOR faculty member, Beatrice Riviere who has received the 2024 Fellows Award from the International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM)!
For more information, please read the following:
https://engineering.rice.edu/news/beatrice-riviere-receives-iacm-fellows-award

Thanks to Bayzhan Mukatay, a senior in operations research, Rice University now has a student operations research club.

Bayzhan, along with a group of other seniors in the leadership team, launched the student chapter of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the largest operations research professional organization in the world.

Senior brings first operations research student club to Rice Engineering | George R. Brown School of Engineering | Rice University Since he was a little boy in Kazakhstan, Bayzhan Mukatay has been an optimist by nature: he assumes every problem has a solution.

We are excited to share that beginning in the fall, Rice undergraduate students will be able to major or minor in operations research, a mathematical discipline emphasizing models for decision-making in complex systems.

Operations research expertise is highly sought-after in the industry, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasting a 23-percent growth in demand by 2031.

Rice Engineering launches new degree programs in operations research | George R. Brown School of Engineering | Rice University Beginning in the fall, Rice students will be able to minor in operations research (OR), a mathematical discipline emphasizing models for decision-making in complex systems, or earn a B.A. or B.S. in the subject.

Congratulations to CMOR faculty members; Shiqian Ma for promotion to full professor and Jesse Chan for promotion to associate professor with tenure.

Provost announces newly promoted and tenured faculty Provost Amy Dittmar announced Rice faculty member promotions who demonstrated excellence in scholarship, teaching, mentoring, service and leadership. Promotions are effective July 1.

As an undergraduate at Rice, Chawit “Poom” Kritpracha ’23 devised computational models to help children recovering from heart surgery. His research was recently published in Medical Engineering and Physics.

Congratulations to Poom on this accomplishment! https://bit.ly/3JXwffK

Rice-designed computational models help children recover from heart surgery | George R. Brown School of Engineering | Rice University As an undergraduate at Rice, Chawit “Poom” Kritpracha ’23 devised computational models to help children recovering from heart surgery, and now his paper describing that work has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Congratulations to Illya Hicks, CMOR professor and department chair, for receiving the 2024 Blackwell-Tapia Prize.

He is recognized for his many contributions to applied mathematics and for being a “role model for mathematical scientists and students from underrepresented groups.”

Illya Hicks awarded Blackwell-Tapia Prize | George R. Brown School of Engineering | Rice University Illya Hicks, professor and department chair of computational applied mathematics and operations research (CMOR) at Rice, is the recipient of the 2024 Blackwell-Tapia Prize.

Congratulations to the 2024 Blackwell-Tapia Prize winner, Illya Hicks!

Illya Hicks awarded Blackwell-Tapia Prize | George R. Brown School of Engineering | Rice University Illya Hicks, professor and department chair of computational applied mathematics and operations research (CMOR) at Rice, is the recipient of the 2024 Blackwell-Tapia Prize.

On April 22, 2024, CMOR’s annual Putcha Lecture was presented by Dr. Alper Atamturk of the University of California, Berkeley.

Title and abstract of the talk and bio of speaker may be found here: https://events.rice.edu/event/359468-cmor-putcha-lecture-series-alper-atamturk

More information on the Putcha Lecture Series may be found here:
https://cmor.rice.edu/news-events/putcha-lecture-series

Below is a picture of the speaker, Alper Atamturk, Mr. Mallik Putcha (donor), Putcha family members and CMOR Chair, Illya Hicks.

Join us Monday, April 29 at 3 p.m. for a Special CMOR Lecture by Chrysafis Vogiatzis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who will discuss teaching practices in OR and a culturally relevant case study.

CMOR Special Lecture: Chrysafis Vogiatzis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Teaching practices in OR and a culturally relevant case study In this talk, I will provide a list of my teaching experiences and plans during m...

April is Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month, and what better way to highlight it than sharing a recap of the Seminar on Stochastic Processes?

Rice recently hosted the premier conference on stochastic processes in North America. Researchers from around the world came to discuss stochastic processes, probability theory and its applications. https://bit.ly/3UoPMMe

Rice hosts Seminar on Stochastic Processes | George R. Brown School of Engineering | Rice University Some 150 scholars in mathematics, statistics and related disciplines, mostly doctoral students and postdocs from across the U.S., came to Rice to attend the annual Seminar on Stochastic Processes (SSP), a conference series sponsored by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

CMOR Senior Design Projects - Five teams made presentations of their design projects on April 17, 2024.

In CMOR 492 (Fall) and CMOR 493 (Spring) students engage in team-oriented year-long design projects that utilize modeling, analysis and scientific computing skills to solve problems motivated by an application in engineering, physical, biological or social sciences.

On April 22, the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES) will host the 11th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets. Join us for a panel discussion on the dynamic insurance climate with thought leaders Paolo Bocchini, professor civil and environmental engineering, Lehigh University; Stephanie Johnson, assistant professor of finance, Rice University; Stephan Sain, senior director, Geospatial and Data Sciences, Jupiter Intelligence; and Frederi Viens, professor of statistics, Rice University. https://bit.ly/4a0gYpc

Please join us for the next CMOR Putcha Lecture Series on April 22! Alper Atamturk from University of California at Berkeley will deliver a talk titled, “Sparse Estimation: Closing the Gap Between L0 and L1 Models.”

CMOR Putcha Lecture Series: Alper Atamturk, University of California at Berkeley Sparse Estimation: Closing the Gap Between L0 and L1 Models Sparse statistical estimators are prevalent due to their ease of interpretability a...

There's still time to make your gift to the Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research Department Excellence Fund and be counted in the 24-Hour Challenge! Donate by midnight to support future innovations in computational applied mathematics and operations research. https://bit.ly/4agRrZG

The 24-Hour Challenge is TODAY! Now is the time to rally in support for the Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research department.

Help us reach 250 donors to unlock a $100K gift from the Engineering Advisory Board for the Dean's Fund for Engineering Excellence! https://bit.ly/4agRrZG

Tomorrow is the day of the 24-Hour Challenge! Join the Rice Engineering community in supporting our outstanding CMOR faculty and students as we are solving for better models, algorithms, and decisions through computational applied mathematics and operations research.
https://bit.ly/4agRrZG

Thank you to Richard Tapia, University Professor and Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering and professor of computational applied mathematics and operations research, for 50 extraordinary years of service at Rice.

Because of his leadership, Rice is recognized as a national leader in the preparation of women and underrepresented minority doctoral degree recipients in science, engineering and mathematics.

Richard Tapia celebrated for 50 years of service at Rice National Medal of Science winner Richard Tapia, a University Professor, the Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering and professor of computational applied mathematics and operations research at Rice University, was celebrated for five decades of service to the university April 3 at Rice’s Faculty...

On April 22, the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES) will host the 11th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets. The one-day conference will bring together thought leaders to discuss the future of real estate and investment risk and opportunities.

Featured speakers for the first session on real estate investing include Josh Childress, Chief Executive Officer, Landspire Group; Justin Davis, Chief Operating Officer, Landspire Group; Omar Thowfeek, Senior Managing Director, Hines; Paul Wasserman, Managing Director, KKR; and Matthew R. Werner, CFA, Managing Director, REIT Strategies, Chilton Capital Management. https://bit.ly/4a0gYpc

Applications now open for the Future Faculty Fellows 2024-25 cohort!

Rice Engineering Ph.D. Students and postdocs, if you are planning to apply to faculty positions next fall, the Future Faculty Fellows program is designed for you.

Fellows participate in tailored events, mentoring opportunities, and receive a travel stipend to support their faculty position application process. https://bit.ly/3PTyGmU

Early giving starts today for the 24-Hour Challenge! Your gift to the Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research Department Excellence Fund supports student awards, academics, research and programs so we can educate leaders and tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. https://bit.ly/4agRrZG

Mark your calendars for April 11 to make a positive impact through Rice University’s 24-Hour Challenge! When the university reaches 4,000 donations, Walt Greenberg ’78 will donate $300,000 to the university.

And this year, when 250 donors give to ANY engineering fund, it will unlock an additional $100,000 gift from the Engineering Advisory Board for the Dean’s Fund for Engineering Excellence. Stay tuned for 24-Hour Challenge giving opportunities!

Join us April 1 for the next CMOR Colloquium Series, featuring Haizhao Yan from UMD Department of Computer Science. He will share insights about finite expression method as it relates to scientific machine learning.

CMOR Colloquium Series: Haizhao Yan, University of Maryland College Park Finite Expression Method: A Symbolic Approach for Scientific Machine Learning Machine learning has revolutionized computational science and eng...