Students win contest
The 2005 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Award in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling went to a team of RPI undergraduate students. RPI students Meral Reyhan ’05 and John Evans ’06 competed in the competition with 663 other teams representing institutions from Harvard and MIT to others around the country and the world.
In the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, students were given four days to solve one of two problems using the mathematical resources at their disposal. The RPI team took on a problem involving a model to determine the optimal number of tollbooths in a toll plaza. Their solution was titled “A Quasi-Sequential Cellular Automation Approach to Traffic Modeling.” Along with only seven other schools, Reyhan and Evans’ solution was deemed “outstanding.”
As the winners of the SIAM award, Reyhan and Evans will present their findings to the SIAM annual meeting in July in New Orleans, where they will receive a monetary award at an award luncheon.
RPI at FIRST nationals
Robotics teams from Colonie, Hudson, and Shenendehowa High Schools, with help from RPI students and faculty, attended the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition in Atlanta, Ga., April 22-23.
The 2005 FIRST game, Triple Play, featured alliances of three teams operating their robots on a field with nine goals shaped like tetrahedrons. During the initial 15-second autonomous mode, the robot can utilize a system to find goals that have been marked for the system and can be scored autonomously to gain points. This year’s competition also featured a new autonomous scripting system and a pre-designed transmission for team assembly.
Rensselaer faculty, students, and President Shirley Ann Jackson attended the event after all three teams won awards at the regional competition and advanced on to the national level. This year’s competition in Atlanta featured 2,000 high school students on 1,000 teams in 30 regional competitions. The competitions foster interest in math, science, and engineering careers.
Shuttles planned
Parking and Transportation Services, in cooperation with the Capital District Transit Authority, will be providing shuttles to Albany Airport, Amtrak, and Greyhound at the close of the semester.
On Friday, May 13, from 11 am-8 pm, the bus will leave the Armory at 11 am for the Albany Airport. At 12 pm, there will be a run to the airport, Amtrak, and Greyhound. It will then continue to go to Amtrak and Greyhound on odd hours and to the airport on even hours. The last trip will service all three.
On Saturday, May 14 from 6 am-3 pm, shuttles will also be offered. The bus will leave the Armory at 6 am for the Albany Airport. At 7 am, there will be a run to the airport, Amtrak, and Greyhound. It will then continue to go to Amtrak and Greyhound on odd hours and to the airport on even hours. The last trip will again service all three stops.
At the beginning of the fall semester, August 26-28, the shuttles will operate from 11 am-9 pm. The odd-hour trips will depart from Amtrak and Greyhound to the Armory, while the even hour shuttles will leave Albany Airport for the Armory.
