The Preparation for Industrial Careers in Mathematical Sciences (PIC Math) course is part of a program sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).  The program aims to:

• Increase student and faculty awareness about non-academic career options.
• Provide research experience working on real problems from Business, Industry and/or Government (BIG).
• Prepare students for industrial careers in mathematics.

The PIC Math course pairs students with a BIG entity and challenges them to apply what they have learned in their other courses and employ their problem solving, critical thinking, independent thinking, and their communication skills to work in groups and solve a trimester-long mathematics research problem that their BIG partner has provided.

In previous years, the USAO PIC Math program has partnered with HSI Sensing, DEKA Research and Development, USW Utility Group, and Neptune and Company, Inc.  

This year, the USAO PIC Math course is partnered with Weather Decisions Technologies (WDT) out of Norman, OK.  Their project involves the estimation of precipitation using a variety of observational platforms: rain gauge, radar, and satellite. It’s a difficult problem because, while each of the sources of information are generally quite accurate (particularly so for gauges and radar), they suffer from various limitations. For instance, gauges will not report accurately in freezing conditions, while radar beams can be blocked by terrain or significantly overshoot surface locations in between radars.

USAO students enrolled in this course have been invited to present the results of their research at the 2017 MAA MathFest in Chicago, Illinois. We are trying to raise funds so that every student enrolled in the PIC Math course can attend this national math conference and present their research.