PAMS Focus  -  September 2006

PAMS Focus is a periodic e-mail newsletter about activities, achievements and other news from the NC State College of Physical & Mathematical Sciences (PAMS). If you have any suggestions or comments, please share them with us by e-mailing pams_info@ncsu.edu.

Register now for PAMS Alumni & Friends Weekend

Join us for the second annual PAMS Alumni & Friends Weekend, Oct. 13-14.  In addition to an afternoon of engaging classes on timely, intriguing topics, the program includes a dinner with a keynote presentation by Dr. Peter J. Webster, who has stirred international controversy with his findings that global warming is causing an increase in the number of severe hurricanes.  The topic was the #1 science story of 2005 in Discover magazine, which cited Webster’s work.

Also included in the schedule is a groundbreaking ceremony for the new mathematics and statistics building, a brunch celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Statistics Department, and a gathering at Player’s Retreat to watch the NC State/Wake Forest football game.

To review the program and to register, visit: http://www.pams.ncsu.edu/weekend/. The early registration deadline is Sept. 22.

Aneja leads first international workshop on agricultural air quality

Scientists from around the world recently gathered in Potomac, Md., for the first global discussion on the complex issue of agricultural air quality. Dr. Viney Aneja, Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, is a recognized leader in this evolving field of research.  In collaboration with Dean William Schlesinger of Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Aneja developed the workshop in response to agriculture’s increasing impact on air quality. Attended by 350 people from 25 nations, the four-day workshop addressed issues of identifying airborne pollutants produced by agriculture, and suggestions for mitigating these emissions.  Conference information may be reviewed at: http://www.esa.org/AirWorkshop/.

NC State hosts largest-ever biomath conference in US

The Mathematics and Statistics departments recently hosted the largest biomathematics conference in the nation’s history, attracting 553 participants from around the world.  More than 500 papers were submitted for the conference, which was co-sponsored by the SIAM Activity Group on the Life Sciences and the Society for Mathematical Biology. Conference information may be found at http://www.siam.org/meetings/ls06/.