Awards
Professor Yael Karshon is awarded the 2009 Krieger-Nelson Prize from the Canadian Mathematical Society. 1-04-08
The Krieger-Nelson Prize recognizes outstanding research by a female mathematician.
Dr. Yael Karshon is one of Canada's leading experts in symplectic geometry. Symplectic geometry is the geometry underlying classical mechanics, and has close relations with quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. The tools of symplectic geometry appear in algebraic geometry and representation theory, and in connection with convex polytopes. Symplectic spaces arising in physics and mathematics often admit many symmetries.
Dr. Karshon's work has focused on symmetries of symplectic manifolds, formalized as Hamiltonian group actions. She has obtained deep results on the classification of such structures. One of her significant contributions is the idea of "abstract moment maps", which are maps between (not necessarily symplectic) manifolds with group actions, and which generalize moment maps on symplectic manifolds. She is the author (jointly with Guillemin and Ginzburg) of an authoritative monograph that provides new connections between moment maps, cobordisms and Hamiltonian group actions. Some of her recent work is in symplectic topology, involving symplectic capacities and symplectomorphism groups.
Dr. Karshon completed her Ph.D. in 1993 under the supervision of Shlomo Sternberg at Harvard, and then held a C.L.E. Moore Instructorship at MIT. In 1995 she moved to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she obtained tenure. She joined the University of Toronto Mississauga in 2002, and was promoted to Full Professor in 2006. In 2005 she received the University of Toronto's McLean Award, which is given each year to one faculty member in the mathematical or physical sciences or engineering, within 12 years of Ph.D. Dr. Karshon takes pride in the achievements of her Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows.
Dr. Karshon will present the 2009 Krieger-Nelson Prize Lecture at the CMS Summer Meeting in St. John's (June 2009).
SOURCE: The Canadian Mathematical Society
MCS Student wins Dean's Essay Prize 19-03-2008
Simon Elliott received the award for his essay written for CSC290H5.
Simon Elliott is a somewhat unlikely winner of this year’s Dean’s Essay Prize. The computer science major has written only one major essay all semester and his focus of study is, let’s face it, hardly a hotbed of literary activity.
“I was very surprised to find out I had won,” Elliott said. “I was up against English majors and others who write essays all the time.” The annual prize, which recognizes excellence in writing, is presented to undergraduate students from any discipline or program at U of T Mississauga (although fourth-year thesis papers are ineligible). Essays are nominated by faculty members; winners receive $1,000 and a meal with the dean.
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Simon Elliott |
Elliott’s “Reading Between the Lines: An Analysis of Beauty in the Code and its Role in the Computer Science Curriculum,” was written for the Communication Skills for Computer Scientists (CSC290) course taught by Professor G. Scott Graham. In it, Elliott took what he calls a “relativist approach” in arguing that beauty is a perspective that should not be taught.
Dean Gage Averill, one of the five judges, praised the essay highly. “It looked at a classic theme in philosophy with a philosopher’s eye…and applied it to computer science, but with an anthropological take, looking at how different communities of computer scientists think about code. Elliott touched on three major divisions of the university: the arts and humanities, the social sciences and the sciences, and crafted a stunning piece of work that transcended any given discipline.”
The multidisciplinary nature of Elliott’s essay stems from his varied academic interests and extra-curricular pursuits. After taking some engineering courses and founding an IT consulting company, Elliott completed a degree in police foundations at Seneca College. With a career goal of law enforcement, specifically in forensic computing, he then enrolled at U of T Mississauga with its top-notch computer science and forensics programs.
To round out his education, Elliott has also taken philosophy courses, including one that covered Friedrich Nietzsche, whose theory on aesthetics, or beauty, provided fodder for his winning essay. In his spare time, he enjoys creative writing, “mostly science fiction and a bit of fantasy and horror,” he says.
Elliott’s excellent writing style was another aspect that impressed Averill and the other members of the judging panel – Professors Richard Greene of the Department of English and Drama; Kirk Blankstein of psychology; and David Wolfe of political science; as well as Cleo Boyd, director of the Bob Gillespie Academic Skills Centre. For his proficiency as a communicator, Elliott thanks his grandfather. “He was an English teacher, and very strict about how we spoke. I was taught to appreciate good language skills.”
Elliott still hasn’t told his grandfather of his win, but is planning to break the news this coming Easter long weekend when he will join his family in celebrating his grandfather’s 90th birthday. “My grandfather,” says Elliott, “is going to be pleasantly surprised.”
SOURCE: University of Toronto News Release
118 Early Career Researchers Receive Prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships.
20-02-08
Dr. Valentin Blomer, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Toronto Mississauga has been named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.
The Sloan Research Fellowship awards are intended to enhance the careers of the very best young faculty members (in American and Canadian University and Colleges) in specified fields of science which include: chemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience and physics.
The Sloan Research Fellowships have been awarded since 1955, initially in only three scientific fields: physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Since then, 35 Sloan Research Fellow have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in their fields;and 14 have received the Fields Medal, the top honour in mathematics.
Source: www.sloan.org
Synergy Awards Recognize Real-world Applications of Research.
30-10-07
Luis Seco honoured by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada October 29, 2007, for his work in bringing university research to the marketplace.
Luis Seco, a faculty member of the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences won a $25,000 Synergy Award for his collaboration with Algorithmics, a risk management company. Their partnership has yeided financial software that identifies and manages the risks involved in complex financial instruments. Seco and Algorithmics were the first to apply financial engineering --the confluence of math and computer science-- to practical challenges within the financial industry.
The NSERC press release is available on the NSERC website. The UofT news story is available here.
SOURCE: News[at]UofT -- Science and Technology
MCS Student Wins National Award 23-09-07
Ramya Thinniyam awarded 2007 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Student Scholarship Award
The second annual McGraw-Hill Ryerson Student Scholarship Awards were presented to twenty college and university students who displayed Integrity, Classroom Engagement, and Initiative. Students were nominated by their professors for their contributions to the teaching and learning environment and received a $1000 award and certificate signed by the President of the Higher Education Division.
Ramya Thinniyam is 2007 graduate of MCS of the University of Toronto Mississauga and began graduate studies in statistics at the University of Toronto in September 2007. She was nominated for this award by Dr. Alison Weir of MCS.
For the second year in a row, one of our lecturers receives University of Toronto Mississauga's Best Lecturer Award. 03-07-07
Professor Arnold Rosenbloom wins University of Toronto Mississauga's Teaching Excellence Award!
In June 2007, it was announced by the Acting Vice President and Principal, Professor Cheryl Misak, that Arnold Rosenbloom was chosen as the recipient of the UofTM Teaching Excellence Award 'for oustanding teaching by a faculty member'.
This was the second year in a row that a lecturer from Mathematical and Computational Sciences won this award. This department is very proud of this well-deserved honour received by Arnold.
This award recognizes excellence in undergraduate teaching at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
Teaching effectiveness is demonstrated by the degree to which the faculty member is able to stimulate and challenge the intellectual ability of students, to communicate academic material effectively and to maintain a mastery of his/her subject areas. It also involves maintaining accessability to students and the ability to influence the intellectual and scholarly development of students.
