News & Achievements
University Recognition Day 鈥 Awards in Math
The David Powers Senior Award is presented to Julia Thomas. This award is given annually to the senior mathematics student who shows the greatest promise for a successful professional career. Julia has a remarkable passion for teaching鈥攁t one point, leading five discussion sessions in a single day. After graduation, she will pursue a Master鈥檚 degree in 杏吧论坛. The K鈥12 system needs dedicated, talented mathematicians and educators like Julia to inspire the next generation.
The R. Gerald Bradshaw Junior Award is presented to Aaron Cook. Aaron is a Math and CS double major. If you have ever taught Aaron or shared a classroom with him, you would notice his unwavering commitment to learning and his proactive approach to advancing his education. He is one of the most academically promising students I have had the pleasure of knowing.
The Scott Fulton Sophomore Award is presented to Natalie Wesseldine, who is Data Science and CS double major. This award is given annually to a sophomore mathematics major who demonstrates exceptional proficiency in mathematics. Natalie exemplifies this through her strong eagerness to learn and her confidence in asking thoughtful, insightful questions.
The Miller/Davis/Felland Service Award is presented to Hunter Hendry and Mark Santa Clara Munro. This award honors mathematics majors who have made outstanding contributions through service to the department. Hunter is double majoring in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and Electrical Engineering. Thanks to Hunter鈥檚 dedication, our open house events were brought to life with enthusiastic student involvement. Mark is double majoring in Math and CS. With Mark鈥檚 leadership and initiative, the Math Club has been successfully reactivated after a long pause due to COVID. Their efforts have made a lasting impact on our math community.
The Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Award is presented to Lauren Dionne. This newly established award recognizes exceptional undergraduate teaching assistants in mathematics. Lauren has led discussion sessions for Calculus III and Elementary Differential Equations for an extended period, even continuing to teach while on crutches鈥攁n inspiring example of her dedication. She is a hard working, approachable student who has made a meaningful and lasting impact on our students.
The Yazhen Jiang Graduate Student Award is presented to Olaoluwa Ogunleye. Ola鈥檚 thesis work focuses on optimizations under supervision of Dr. Guangming Yao. Since joining Clarkson, Ola has secured summer internships each year鈥攕howcasing his initiative, determination, and strong work ethic. He also stepped up to teach Introduction to STEM Math in both Fall 2024 and Spring 2025. With high enrollment numbers, Ola stood out as an engaging and effective instructor, while consistently maintaining a professional and positive presence.
The Graduate Teaching Assistant Award is presented to Nipuni Senani de Silva Rammini. This newly established award recognizes outstanding graduate teaching assistants in mathematics. In addition to her thesis work on machine learning for dynamical systems with Dr. James Greene, Nipuni has shown a deep commitment to teaching. Over the past year, she has demonstrated exceptional dedication to her Calculus students and a genuine interest in their success.
Best Graduate Poster Winners
We, Uresha Dias and Harsha Iduruwage, are graduate students in the Department of Mathematics. We received the Best Graduate Poster Presentation Award at the 2025 RAPS Conference for our work on an optimization project. Our poster, presented in the Applied Optimization category, highlighted innovative approaches to solving real-world problems through mathematical modeling and optimization techniques. The title of our poster was "Optimizing Waiting Time of Patients for Online Consultation System in Primary Care." Special thanks and acknowledgement go to Dr. Kathleen Kavanagh for her valuable guidance and support throughout the project.
Dr. Asante-Asamani awarded nearly $600K NSF/NIGMS/MIH grant
Dr. Asante-Asamani has been an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at 杏吧论坛 since 2020 . His research group is focused on the development, analysis, and numerical simulation of multiscale models of biological processes and the application of machine learning methods to quantify biological patterns. He received his PhD in Applied Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2016. Before joining Clarkson, he was postdoctoral researcher at the Hunter College campus of the City University of New York and a visiting professor at Drake University. Dr. Asante-Asamani's research group, in collaboration with Dr. Ginger Hunter's developmental biology lab at Howard University, was recently awarded a joint NSF DMS/NIGMS/NIH grant of $589,000 over three years to study the formation of complex biological tissue patterns through long-range cell-cell signaling. The project combines the quantitative precision of mathematical modeling and experimental biology to uncover new rules that govern how active cell processes contribute to the distribution and activation of biochemical signals.
Best Oral Presentation
I鈥檓 Sucharitha Dodamgodage, a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Mathematics at 杏吧论坛. My research focuses on statistical modeling for analyzing compositional data, with a special emphasis on microbiome data analysis.
I鈥檓 honored to have received the Best Oral Presentation award in the Math, Modeling, & Mathematical Modeling session at RAPS 2025! I presented my research on "Proving the Existence and Uniqueness of the Maximum Likelihood Estimator for the Dirichlet Distribution." It was such a privilege to share my work with the Clarkson community.
Special thanks to Dr. Sumona Mondal, Dr. Shantanu Sur, Dr. Nabendu Pal, Dr. Thevasha Sathiyakumar, and Dr. Daniel Fuller for their invaluable support and guidance.
Honorary National Mathematics society Pi Mu Epsilon Induction Ceremony
The Pi Mu Epsilon (PME) New York Omicron Chapter at 杏吧论坛 recently held a successful induction ceremony and officer election meeting! Congratulations to all new members and newly elected officers.
Emelyn Sullivan
This summer I was an engineering intern with The Wesson Group in their headquarters in Johnstown, NY. I worked under the estimating team on a number of projects in the pre construction phase. I got to use calculus in the real world for estimating quantities for wind turbines and solar projects! I will be returning to the same department after graduation in May 2025, and look forward to bringing what I have learned from my two majors into the field of engineering and construction.
Olaoluwa Ogunleye
This summer I did an internship as a PhD Data Scientist at IBM. During this time, I collaborated with talented and personable individuals, researching cutting-edge technologies. Specifically, I worked with IBM's Quantum Computing group, where I developed a robust user clustering model using hardware usage and event participation data. This model identified key user segments such as "Power Users," "At-risk Users," and "To Engage Users," and provided operational recommendations and actionable business insights.
Mark Santa Clara Munro
I鈥檓 a sophomore majoring in Mathematics and Computer Science. Currently, I'm conducting research with Dr. Yao and Dr. Lynch on using Lean, a programming language for formal theorem proving, to verify the correctness of fundamental linear algebra concepts like Gaussian Elimination. Over the summer, I interned with STEM Ed, where I combined my research efforts with hands-on outreach by organizing a Roller Coaster camp for students in rural areas around Potsdam. I also had the opportunity to present my research at the Research and Project Showcase (RAPS), highlighting the innovative use of Lean in mathematical verification.
Maclean Timmons
I am a senior, majoring in Mathematics and Physics. Over the summer, I stayed on campus to work on a research problem in mathematical biology. We used techniques from the mathematical subject of topology to identify differences in bristle patterns among several types of genetically mutated fruit flies. Topology tends to be highly abstract, and methods of applying it to real-world problems are relatively new. This made the project exciting, because I had to develop my own interpretation of how the math related to the biological data.
Minh-Ngoc Huynh
My major has allowed me to discover the person I really am. Instead of working hard for my parents or grades, I started to develop my own drive and curiosity. I was pretty surprised when My team made actual progress on the MCM Comap competition. Within 4 days, we had a 17 page report, citations, and 2 models.
Gianna Capoccia
During my summer 2024 internship at the Air Force Research Laboratory, I contributed to groundbreaking research aimed at enhancing Variational Auto-Encoders (VAEs) with topological awareness. This work is impactful because it addresses a significant technical gap: the inability of standard VAEs to preserve the topological features of input data. By developing innovative methods like InvMap-VAE and Witness Simplicial VAE, we aimed to improve data visualization, machine learning, and vision-centric autonomy applications. These enhancements promise to unlock new potentials in understanding complex datasets by preserving their intrinsic geometric and topological structures, thereby offering improved data reconstruction and predictive performance. The experience was exciting as it placed me at the forefront of integrating topological data analysis (TDA) into machine learning models, a rapidly evolving field with vast implications.
Gabriella Zhalov
I am a senior double majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics (on the Statistics track). During the summer of 2024, I was a Data Science Intern with HP Inc. (in Spring, Texas). Throughout the summer, I got to working on a predictive model to help make the business more efficient! I learned a lot about machine learning and AI, and how we can use it in ethical and exciting ways.
Mackenzie Dalton
During the summer, following my second year of my PhD in the math department, I completed a 10-week internship in the modeling and simulation department at Genentech. This experience deepened my understanding of the drug development process and underscored the vital role that mathematical modeling can play in the medical field. Now in my fifth year of my PhD, I am entering my second year as a part-time contractor for Genentech, where I continue to contribute to impactful solutions for those affected by various diseases. Overall, I am passionate about applying what I have learned at Clarkson to advance medical research.
Diana White
As a Mathematical Biologist, I am interested in research problems that are at the interface between Mathematics and Biology. Much of the work I do involves solving problems that directly impact human and community health, a goal which is foundational to the research projects I seek out. One of my main areas of focus involves using differential equations to explore problems in intracellular dynamics. In addition to understanding normal intracellular behavior, I also look at applications related to cancer treatment, by looking at how cellular dynamics are altered by the addition of various cancer drugs.
More recently, I've started modeling biological invasions in my own backyard (literally!). In particular, I'm developing a model to study the growth, spread and biological control of invasive watermilfoil in Upstate New York, an invasive aquatic plant that's spread through much of the US. Recently, myself and team of Colleagues (Prof. James Greene from Clarkson Math and Prof. Stefanie Kring from Biology) was awarded a $69,904 grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservations to work on a 鈥淢ilfoil Monitoring and Control Project.鈥 The main goal of the project will be to monitor milfoil growth and use math models to understand its growth, spread, and control.
In general, I love community outreach and working students. I am passionate about doing research with students in the summer on math bio related projects, and many of those projects turn into work that is published in peer reviewed journals. In Spring 2022, I was highlighted as 1 of 5 trailblazing women in mathematics, by the Canadian Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology (WISEST). This was a great honor for me to be listed amongst some of Canada鈥檚 best female mathematicians.
Sumona Mondal
In the past year, I have graduated three Ph.D. students who are either employed as faculty members or are pursuing postdoctoral research at several prestigious universities in the United States. Furthermore, we have concentrated primarily on strategically developing the MS-Applied Data Science program at Clarkson, which aims to give students the analytical and technical skills they need to succeed in the highly competitive field of data science. We have effectively expanded the program from 20 to 162 students during the past two years. India's largest festival, Diwali, brings people from all walks of life together to celebrate, share meals, and exchange goodwill and happiness. As the faculty advisor for Friends of India, the largest international student organization at 杏吧论坛, I actively participated in a cultural extravaganza that brought students, faculty, and staff from the Potsdam area together to promote unity in diversity.
Emmanuel Asante-Asamani
Emmanuel Asante-Asamani, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Ginger Hunter, Assistant Professor of Biology have been awarded a $589,000 grant from the Joint National Science Foundation (NSF)/ National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Mathematical Biology Program to support their collaborative research efforts over the next three years to understand the formation of complex biological tissue patterns through long-range cell-cell signaling. A major challenge for the organized development and homeostasis of tissues and organs is the correct spatial and temporal distribution of signaling molecules. Achieving a correct tissue organization is critical as defects in patterning can lead to human disorders and disease. This project will take both multiscale mathematical modeling and experimental approaches to investigate how the signaling receptor Notch is distributed and activated by active cell processes during lateral inhibition-mediated tissue patterning events.
The project will result in a foundational understanding of the mechanisms that drive long-range lateral inhibition during tissue patterning. We will introduce the first multiscale mechanical model of the fly dorsal thorax that allows for cell-driven dynamics of filopodia, real-time activation of Notch and tissue level patterning. The experimental work will address a major gap in our understanding of tissue development and homeostasis: how active cell processes contribute to the distribution and activation of
signals. The award will provide support for both graduate and undergraduate students from mathematics and biology to be trained in multiscale modeling, numerical simulation, quantitative developmental biology and genetics in both Asante-Asamani鈥檚 research group and Hunter鈥檚 Lab.
The award abstract can be found at
Bring Math Conference
Thanks to the Argonne National Lab (ANL) and IMSI for the support of the BRING MATH conference! Dr. Guangming Yao traveled with two of our amazing undergraduate students Mark Santa Clara Munro and Minh-Ngoc Huynh during Oct 2 鈥 Oct 5, visited by Chemical Engineering alumni Melissa Rose, we toured the Rapid Prototyping Lab, Aurora Exascale Supercomputer, Advanced Photon Source, and the Center for Nanoscale Materials. An eye opening experience! Be sure to check out ANL鈥檚 SULI Internship program to see if it is a good fit for you:
Jim Greene
The Math Department at 杏吧论坛 co-hosted The Mathematical Biology Team Science (MBioTS) REU program (NSF #2244020, 2022-2025, PI James Greene, Co-PI Susan Bailey) with the biology department. This is a 10-week interdisciplinary research summer experience, introducing eight undergraduate students per year to collaborative research at the intersection of biology and mathematics. Students will work in pairs on mentored research, with one focused on data collection in a laboratory setting and the other focused on computational and mathematical analysis. Each team was mentored by faculty from both the Biology and Mathematics Departments at Clarkson. A key component of the MBioTS REU was the close interaction between student team members across disciplines, as they collaboratively design both experiments and models to address important biological questions. The program served a grand total of 24 students selected from 170 applicants. Among all participants, there were 3 underrepresented students. As of July 2024, participants and research advisors published 2 peer-reviewed journal papers.