combinatorial commutative algebra
san francisco state university
universidad de los andes
federico ardila
2009

My math interests are probability and combinatorics, particularly with applications to population genetics and phylogenetic trees. Lately I've been working with Markov Chain Mote Carlo simulations using a coalescent model. I'm a graduate student in the math department at SFSU but I also work in a biology lab doing the population genetics stuff. Besides doing all that, I teach math classes, take ballet, salsa, and yoga classes, knit socks with algebraic structure, cook healthy food and play with my cat named Epsilon Great Than Zero. I'm from Sebastopol, California - the first city in the USA to have a green party majority on its city council.

I was born in the central valley, California. I moved to San Francisco last August and am a first year grad student at SFSU. Mathematically my interests tend toward real analysis. I don't have a specific interest in our final project but I will be keeping my eyes open and am open to ideas. A few of my non-mathematical interests include: climbing,, biking, hiking and chess. If you're interested in playing let me know.

Voted "most likely to be wearing shorts and sandals even when it's actually pretty cold" and "most likely to be pulled aside by random carousers to have a picture taken of his hair". (Number of respondents n=1.)
I'm in my third year at Berkeley and my first real year with Bernd Sturmfels as supervisor and Federico as co-supervisor, playing with matroids and tropical geometry in hopes that in not too many more semesters' time I'll have enough shinies to put a thesis together. My mathy interests range all over the algebraic and discrete sides of math and into computer science. Outside of math I'm still constructing languages and (sadly) no longer writing any Google puzzle hunt. And I've got a two for two record for publishable papers from Federico's previous courses, so looking forward to this project.

I call myself Amanda Ruiz. I am a born again American. I was reborn on January 20, 2009 when the Bush regime finally ended and President Barack Obama took office. I have to relearn to have a some faith in my country's democratic process, and its administration. But not too much. They say, "se es viejo cuando se tiene mas alegria por el pasado que por el futuro." Entonces... I'm looking forward to this semester, finishing my thesis and graduating, and doing whatever I end up doing next year (PhD?) And I'm looking forward to traveling and visiting Bogota again and dancing at el Goce again some Friday, and seeing what Obama has in store for us, and playing soccer on Sunday. Mathematically, I have been working with Federico since I took his matroid theory class. The research we have been working on involves matroids on directed graphs. It's fun. I hope to find a project which is relevant to my previous work. If you are in Bogotˆ and are interested in pairing up, I think can convince you that it's a fun project to work on.

Hello my name is anita, and i like the pachanga. I'm interested in complex analysis and combinatorial analysis. I also like to read Virginia Woolf and Edgar Allan Poe. My hobbies are playing tennis and hanging out with my friends. I would like to learn more about the fascinating world of mathematics through this nurturing course. XoXo

I was born in Bogot‡, and have lived here my whole life, although I like traveling a lot. I love studying math and computer science and I spend most of my time on my computer. I also watch a lot of movies and I enjoy comics and science fiction books. My math interests are mostly in algebra and number theory, and I'm currently very interested on elliptic curves.

I grew in Southern California, in Riverside County (America's Armpit). On a whim, I moved to the central valley for a year, where I learned that retail management had little to offer me. After a year there, I was enrolled in SFSU on my way to completing my undergraduate work. I discovered that I greatly enjoy math, and am currently working on a way to make my passion profitable.
In particular I enjoy analysis, but I will be attempting to enjoy algebra nonetheless.
Outside of the academic world, I'm interested in politics, religions, traveling (spring break=Hawaii), and music. I have no musical talents, but with a moderate amount of imbibing, I can be convinced otherwise.
I average four yards per carry, can tread water for three days at a time, and can leap over tall miniaturized buildings in a single bound.

I'm in my last undergraduate semester here at los Andes. I look forward to apply to graduate school soon while exploring until then a bit more about life out of school. I love math, specially discrete or applied stuff, with combinatorics somewhere in between them, surely on top of the hill. Last year's project with Alex Fink was very nice and succesful. I want to do something very interesting this year, please let me know if you know such a thing.

Things I'd like to be when I grow up:
A carpenter, airplane pilot, painter, cook,wandering Buddhist Monk, farmer, teacher, long distance runner, writer, philosopher, truck driver, musician, composer.

I was born in Bogota. I live in Bogota an study math at Los Andes. I like to listen Music like Jazz , Rock and Metal... I also like to read Manga and watch Anime. I woul like to work in somethig like number theory, in particular, algebraic number theory.

I was born in Bogota, i live in Bogota.I am studing magister in mathematics in Andes university.My interests are mathematical analysis, specialy: functional analysis , Fourier analysis; but also i like some topics in algebra. I like the rock ( metal and some gotic), I like reading, some of my favorites are "Gracias por el fuego","Marte rojo (verde y azul)"...When i have free time i like play video games or watch some good movie.

I grew up around Chicago, Illinois, moved to the middle of Ohio for a few years to learn about math and brains, and finally came out to California a couple years ago. I enjoy biking, reading, frisbee, and math. Lots of different types of math interest me. I've always loved combinatorics, and lately I've been working on connections between optimization and algebra.

I was born and raised in Northern California, and have traveled enough to know that it's paradise here! As an undergraduate, I double majored in Applied Mathematics and Economics. I've worked as an institutional bond portfolio manager and a high school math teacher. My intention is to return to teaching when I'm done with the MA program at SF State. I'm the mother of three boys, and enjoy reading, gardening, jogging, and hiking in my free time.

IÕm Diana Montoya, IÕm 23 and I was born in Arauca (Colombia). Last year I finished my undergraduate studies in mathematics at National University, immediately I began the MasterÕs program in Andes University; my interests in math are principally set theory, forcing, large cardinals and independence results, also I like model theory and algebra. Among other things I love animals and spent my free time listening music (especially rock), watching movies, reading or simply resting at home.

I am a graduate student in Los Andes University. I am 22 years old I live in Bogot‡ with my parents. I like to run and to play soccer. I am a very nice person.

I was born in San Francisco and raised in Hayward. Currently, I am working on my Masters at SFSU. My mathematical interests include Dynamical Systems and Logic.
Enamored with mathematics since childhood, I have given up trying to understand why I like math. I just do. Other things that I like (for no reason whatsoever): trees, painting, Ryan (my husband), 20th century British poetry, non-profit administration, and traveling. In my past lives (i.e. before grad school), I worked for a museum and as freelance writer.
I'm looking forward to some great discussions:)

This is my fifth year in San Francisco; I am from Taiwan originally. My name is Fang?I.(The dash is important, please do not mispronounce it as Fan?gi). I didnÕt realize that I should be a math major until 2.5 years ago, and doing math makes me really happy. Even thoughthe more math I learned, the more I acknowledged that everyone can be retarded at some point; luckily, I enjoy my math life quite a lot. I like Probability Theory, Statistics, Combinatorics, graph theory and knot theory; LOVE food and cooking (and then make people finish the food); travelled a lot, like to meet different people and explore new things. My life goal is to make everyone as hjokes or just Òbeing a jokeÓ. LOL?

I was born and grew up in Bogotá, Colombia. I spent 9 great years studying mathematics at MIT and braving the extreme Boston winters and summers. (Even a Colombian has heard of "fall" and "spring" - why haven't they?) After three amazing years in Bogotá, Berkeley, and Seattle, I have been in San Francisco since 2006. I am now an assistant professor at San Francisco State University and an adjunct professor at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá. My main mathematical interest is to study objects in algebra, geometry, topology, and phylogenetics by understanding their combinatorial structure. I have several projects that I would like your help with!
When I am not at work, I'm usually on a fútbol field, treasure hunting in little music stores, learning to play the congas, or exploring the incredible cities of San Francisco and Bogotá with my lovely wife May-Li.

I was born in Bucaramanga, Colombia, 'just' 18 years ago. I began studying math in Los Andes only a year ago, highly motivated by some math competitions I attended during high school. My main interests are combinatorics and number theory.

I was born in Bogot‡, Colombia. I have liked science, specially mathematics, since I was a child. I learned some math at Universidad de los Andes for 6 years, and I'm right now a graduate student at UC Berkeley, California. During this long time I have become interested in several areas such as algebra, algebraic geometry, combinatorics, logic, and set theory.

I was born in Bogot‡, I study math. My favorite topics are algebra and logic and my passion is the music, IÕve been playing the violin most of my life.

My name is Jose Alejandro Samper and IÕm on my fourth semester of mathematics. IÕm very interested in algebra, theoretical computer science, combinatorics, number theory and complex variables functions. I think topology will be added to the list after this semester. Besides mathematics I like to play bridge, play the guitar, hear music and taste beers from around the world.

Well I'm doin' the master's program at Los Andes, my interests in maths are model theory and algebra ( specially, universal algebra) and I would like to know what is the relationship between logic and combinatorial or (and) universal algebra and combinatorial, that's the reason why I'm here. In other hand I'm a harmonica player, I love to play blues, rock and sometimes arabian songs, and also record videos for youtube with my harps! All my life turns around between maths and harmonicas.

Julian Salamanca (born april 4, 1984) is a Colombian mathematician from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, actually he study a mathematics master program at the Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) and his principal interesting areas are universal algebra, group theory, categories and things like that. He likes to play electric guitar in his free time and he wants to be a good rock/metal guitar player, for now he is a member of the bands crash override (metalcore band) , human drain (death metal band) and beginning a new death metal project with some old friends. He wants to get some experience playing music to found a progressive rock/metal band.

I chose this picture of me and my son because he is my inspiration, as well as my little interrupter! I enjoy studying DNA knots using knot theory every chance I get.

I came from Tokyo with my wife,Chiyo and three kids,Kie,Kazune, and Hide about 10 years ago. I am a househusband,a student and a teacher. BUSY is a word for me. My interest is Math education.

I completed my undergraduate studies at Los Andes and am currently a graduate student at SFSU. I have spent this year learning lots of math, teaching, exploring SF, but most of all enjoying the delicious food in the bay area. My research interests are still vague, I still like topology, logic, set theory, algebra and combinatorics. However, I recently discovered I would really like to learn more about algebraic geometry.

I'm an undergraduate mathematics major in my last semester at SFSU. I'm going to pursue my PhD in Berlin, Germany, as I've been accepted at the Berlin Mathematical School. I am still very unsure what field I want to specialize in, and combinatorics is something I'm strongly considering. This is the reason I'm taking the seminar on combinatorial commutative algebra this semester. In addition to mathematics, I am passionate about acting, especially in improvisational theatre, play the piano, the game of Go, and greatly enjoy computer programming. That should about sum it up.

I was born in Bucaramanga, Colombia. I'm in my last year in mathematicsin Universidad Nacional de Colombia, I'm extension student in LosAndes. My area of interest include model theory, combinatorics, settheory and algebra, when i'm not studying i do exercise and sleep.

I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and moved to California at 17 with my parents and younger brother. My first several years of college I studied music without any success and then switched and studied mathematics without much more success, but at least I finished my bachelor's degree. In my two years at UCLA I was mostly interested in set theory and logic. During my senior year I spent most of my time working as a staff photographer for the school newspaper and after graduation I made a living as a photographer, photo assistant, math tutor and a paralegal assistant. My paralegal work required me to learn some statistics, and it seemed interesting, so I decided to get a masters in mathematics with an emphasis on stats. My main interests are dancing tango and charleston and running an independent music label I cofounded with my father this year.

My name's Ralf Youtz. I grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. I moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Reed College. I dropped out after three semesters. In my 20s, I was a janitor and I played lots of music. Then I went back to school, first Portland Community College, then Portland State University. I earned my BA in mathematics last spring. I like simplicial complexes. Before I moved to San Francisco to start working on my MA at SFSU, I recorded an album. It's me performing songs by my favorite Portland musicians. It's free to download at http://pcal.net/ralf/ralf%20mp3s.zip

I like to ride my bike around the city when it's warm and sunny; I like to read at home when it's cold and rainy. My favorite quote about semicolons comes from Kurt Vonnegut Jr: "First rule: Do not use semicolons. ... All they do is show you've been to college." Well, true enough, I went to college.
I like doing mathematics, but I haven't decided on a particular area that I'm more interested in than others. Outside of mathematics, a recent obsession has been listening to seminars from The Long Now Foundation. Past, and always current obsessions, include: chocolate, typos, and donuts (which is arguably a subset of the chocolate obsession).

I was born in Bogot‡, Colombia in July 1989. I live in Bogot‡ and am currently studying mathematics at Universidad de los Andes. My math interests are mainly Number Theory and Modern Algebra. I was first captivated by math for problem solving during my last high school years, and after a couple of years am currently VERY happy with all the things I have learned so far. On my free time I like to pley some sports, specially volleyball, see movies, play video games, and hang around with my friends.

I did my undergrad at Berkeley and worked as an actuary and high school math teacher for a few years. After college, I began reading books on the history of math and biographies of mathematicians. My two favorites are: "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers" and "Men of Mathematics." The first book is a biography of Erdos and the second is a collection of mini-biographies of dozens of famous mathematicians. So regarding the Erdos biography, I was inspired by the man's life-long dedication to math. And I guess that's what a mathematician is. It's not the math degrees attained, per se, but a deep dedication to this art. This was around my mid twenties, where I began questioning my life's purpose. Some people call it a quarter life crisis, though that's too melodramatic. Anyways, I knew for me, that conventional and material forms of success only yield fleeting contentment. When I read about these mathematicians and their deep obsessions with such abstract objects of the mind, I knew that's what I want to be involved with. Something to occupy my mind lest I drive myself crazy.

My name is Tomas Restrepo and I'm a Math Major and Literature Minor from Universidad de los Andes. Currently I'm doing an internship in a firm that does financial consulting and advicing. I'm also writing my thesis. I spent the Fall semester of 2007 on exchange at the University of Arizona, in Tucson, Arizona. I enjoy going to the movies, reading, and practicing sports: particularly ultimate frisbee, soccer and basketball. I also like to travel, especially by car and following a map, although I can't do it too often.

Hello C.C.A. class participants! My name is Zoe and I am excited about how excited everyone is about this class. I am new to Combinatorics and look forward to learning a lot from everyone. Here are some current facts about me: I like math, I really like doing modern dance, I am a really good once a year surfer, and President Obama makes me smile. Suavecito!