YSU students score four awards at national MathFest

Five Youngstown State University Mathematics students presented research at the annual national MathFest, taking home four awards for excellence.

“The students gave outstanding presentations and serve as examples at this national meeting of the exceptional students in the STEM College and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at YSU,” said Tom Wakefield, the YSU Medical Mutual of Ohio Endowed Professor of Actuarial Science and the chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

The YSU team has historically been one of the most successful at the annual event, winning its first awards in 1989. MathFest is the summer meeting of the Mathematical Association of America and Pi Mu Epsilon.
YSU students receiving the Pi Mu Epsilon Best Talk Award:

• Nicholas Adduci of Hubbard, Ohio, “Visual and Geometric Representation of Primes.”
• Luke Hetzel of Boardman, Ohio, “Prisoner’s Dilemma and Cooperation.”
• Johnathan Koch of Greenville, Pennsylvania, “Defining the Cycle.” 
• Chase Reiter of Lisbon, Ohio, “Trigonometry and Spirographs”

Also presenting at the conference was Alyssa Leone of Hubbard, Ohio, “Rittenhouse’s Sum of Sines.”
Attending MathFest with the students was Wakefield, Professor Alicia Prieto and Associate Professor Thomas Madsen. Faculty who advised students included Wakefield, Madsen, Professor Thomas Smotzer and Associate Professor Paddy Taylor.