MATH 380 Introduction to Mathematical Modeling


Instructor: Hemanshu Kaul
Office: 125C Rettaliata Engg Center.
E-mail: kaul [at] iit.edu

Time: 3:15-4:30pm Tuesday and Thursday.
Place: Hermann Hall 007

Office Hours: Tuesday at 12:30pm-1:30pm, and Thursday at 4:30pm-5:30pm. And by appointment in-person or through Zoom (send email).
TA Office Hours: There is no TA assigned to this course. However, you are allowed and encouraged to ask for help at the Math Tutoring Center in RE 129. In particular, Alaittin Kirtisoglu, Wednesday 2pm-5pm.

ARC Tutoring Service: Mathematics tutoring at the Academic Resource Center.


|Course Information| |Advice| |Announcements| |Examinations| |Project| |Weekly Class Log & HW| |Supplemental Readings| |MATLAB/ Mathematica|

Course Information:

The Course Information Handout has extensive description of the course - topics, textbook, student evaluation policy, rules for HW, as well as other relevant information. Read it carefully!

The official MATH 380 course topics.



Advice for students:

Excellent advice by Francis Su on good mathematical writing.

On a more abstract note, here is a discussion by Tim Gowers on Language and Grammar of Mathematics - which is part of what you are learning in a course like this.

Excellent advice for math majors, especially those planning to go on to graduate school, by Terry Tao, 2006 Fields medallist. Excellent reading.

Read this book on a variety of experiences in the journey to learn mathematics: Living Proof

Some of the primary sources of information/discussion for careers in Mathematical and Data Sciences:
MAA - Careers
SIAM - Careers
INFORMS - Careers
AMS - Careers



Class Announcements:



Examinations:



Project:

Instructions: The project is an important part of this course - not just in terms of the grade, but for the sake of comprehensive, practical understanding of how to apply the modeling framework to an open-ended real-life problem. This is why the problem statements that I have given to you are just short and open-ended descriptions of the certain real-life situations. You have complete freedom in mathematical interpretation of the problem and how you "solve" it. The only requirement is that you use the mathematical modeling process, and justify your model and its conclusions as they apply to the problem. Its a test of your creativity in formulation of models and solution methods, and your ability to find and understand relevant mathematical knowledge.

Read carefully through this list of instructions and advice for your project.

Look through the example project report given at the end of this SIAM report in Appendix B on page 50 of the pdf file for an example on how to format and write your project report. The pages 1-50 of this pdf file are also useful as a detailed overview of how to approach the modeling process for a project. Also, look through SIAM Computing and Communicating Handbook for further technical suggestions for working on your project and the report.

Deadlines for the semester project (unless announced otherwise in class):
Third week of February: I will send you the list of project topics by email.
2/23: Email me with project team members (2 per team)
2/28: Email me with your choice of project topics among the project descriptions sent to you by email.
3/10: Each project team shares with me a 1-2 page document of your project plan to get started.
3/31: Discuss the initial draft and model(s) of your project with me in person. All members of your team must be present.
4/15: Email me the status of your project report and the current draft of your Project report.
5/1: Final submission of Project report and associated materials/programs/etc. Email me the PDF file of the report and other related programs/files before 10pm, Friday, 5/1. This Email should list in detail the contribution of each member of the team.



Weekly Class Log with HW:


Supplemental Reading:

For an alternate point-of-view and for additional applications, refer to the following books and articles:



MATLAB Information:

Mathematica Help:

Octave and Scilab, two (FREE) alternatives to MATLAB and Mathematica




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