Earlier this year, Western Connecticut State University sent a contingent of students, alumni and Professor of Mathematics Dr. Xiaodi Wang to the Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) in San Francisco, California. Hosted by the American Mathematical Society, the annual conference draws students, professors and researchers interested in mathematics from around the world. The JMM provides attendees the opportunity to present research, share insights on the teaching and learning of mathematics, explore a wide range of exhibitors, and network.

Mason Kelsey

Mason Kelsey, a December 2023 WCSU graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, was not at the conference, but his research conducted with senior Samuel Miller, of Newtown, who is pursuing a B.S. in Applied & Computational Mathematics, was accepted.

“For JMM I conducted research with Sam Miller on the geographical expansion of the Spotted Lanternfly,” Kelsey, of Bethel, said. “We hypothesized that there may be a connection between historic weather patterns and the expansion of this newly introduced invasive pest; however, after analysis it seemed that the lanternfly was going to continue to expand at a steady rate, without regard for weather conditions. Our research was titled ‘M-Band Wavelet Based Time Dependent Machine Learning Model for Analyzing Spotted Lanternfly Expansion.’”

While Kelsey was unable to attend the JMM Conference, he said he was at the High Performance Computing Day conference at UMASS Dartmouth in November with other students from WCSU’s Math Department. “The conference was very insightful on what it would be like to have a career in mathematics research, and provided inspiration for methods of my own research on the Spotted Lanternfly,” he said. “I had a great time spending the day with likeminded people in my department, and learned a lot about the direction my field was headed in.”

Peter Bigica

Graduate student Peter Bigica, of Naugatuck, was in attendance in San Francisco. He will obtain a Master of Arts in Mathematics, Theory Option, in May. “The name of my research was ‘Wavelet Based Ensemble Forecast Featuring Hybrid Quantum Classical LSTM Model,’” Bigica said. “This research aimed to showcase a variety of different machine learning techniques for stock prediction and using Wavelets to maximize the performance of our models. It also featured a hybrid quantum-classical long short-term memory (LSTM) model to explore the world of quantum computing and its potential in the field for stock price prediction.” Bigica added, “This was not my first conference. In addition to this one, I attended Boston JMM in 2023, and MAA Mathfest Tampa in the summer of 2023 on behalf of the university and Student Government Association.

WCSU’s Mathematics department was well-represented in San Francisco. Submitted research and/or presentations included: Peter Bigica, “Wavelet Based Financial Forecast Ensemble Featuring Hybrid Quantum-Classical LSTM Model,” presented at AMS Contributed Paper Session on Game Theory and Operations Research at Joint Mathematics Meetings; Mason R Kelsey, Samuel R Miller, “M-Band Wavelet Based Time Dependent Machine Learning Model for Analyzing Spotted Lanternfly,” accepted for presentation at AMS Contributed Paper Session on Mathematical Biology, JMM; Daniel Nicholas Li, Luke Peng: “Wavelet Transforms of scRNA-seq Data Enhance Early-Stage Lung Adenocarcinoma Separation in Lung Tumor Microenvironment Ecotyping Analysis,” presented at AMS Contributed Paper Session on Mathematical Biology, JMM; Frederick Li , Ronald Feng: “Wavelet Based Machine Learning Methods for Wildfire Prediction,” presented at PME Contributed Session on Research by Undergraduates, IV, JMM; Alejandro Mayorga-Author; Letian Wang: “Prediction of Credit Defaults based on Weight Dimensionality Reduction Neural Network and M-Band Discrete Wavelet Transform”; Stephanie Chang, Adeethyia Shankar: “A Wavelet-Based Multi-omics Approach Reveals Host-Cell-Type-Specific Networks in Inflammatory Bowel Disease,” presented at Undergraduate Research Poster session, JMM; Peter Bigica, Xioadi Wang: “Wavelet-Based Financial Forecast Ensemble Featuring Hybrid Quantum-Classical LSTM Model,” presented at  International Conference on Mathematical Modelling, Computational Techniques and Simulation for Engineering, December 28, 2023; will appear in “Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences.”

Bigica said he values experiences like this. “The Math department at WCSU has been nothing but exceptional,” he said. “All the faculty in the department care about their students, and explain math material in a way that is easy to follow, while also making math fun and enjoyable. My favorite thing about the department is the faculty always makes an effort to get opportunities for students, whether it be grad school, having an outside speaker come in, or going to conferences such as this one.”

Kelsey agreed, “My experience with the Math Department at WCSU was absolutely spectacular,” he said. “I began my college experience at UConn, where I felt like the professors did not particularly care about their students. I felt like another number in the great money-making degree machine — it felt deeply impersonal and artificial. I had the complete opposite experience at WCSU. I felt like my professors were chiefly interested in the success of the students in their department. All of my professors not only knew me by name, but also knew and appreciated me as an individual. I felt appropriately challenged and supported in all of my endeavors; and that while my experience was my own to fashion, my department was always going to have my back. I made many lifelong friends in the Math department and enjoy coming back to visit and attend Math Club meetings. I hope I can help inspire others to pursue their passions at WCSU.”

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