matroid theory
san francisco state university
universidad de los andes
federico ardila
2007

I'm in my first year of the math PhD program at Berkeley. Prior to this I lived and did my undergraduate studies in Calgary, Canada. My interests within mathematics are fairly diverse (I have no good idea what I'll eventually specialize in). Combinatorics is a significant one, enough to inspire me to cross-register in this matroid theory course; others are number theory and many parts of algebra, including algebraic geometry. My other undergrad degree besides math was in computer science, where I retain interests as well. I'd find it particularly neat to tussle with an open problem for the final project.

I was born and grew up in Bogotá, Colombia. In this moment I am finishing my master of mathematics at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. I am interested in representation theory, algebraic topology, algebraic geometry and combinatorics. For the project I want to work in Coxeter matroids.

I wasn't 6 when I realized I loved math, I was 23. I was working in an education non-profit in Oakland and I heard a song. The name of this song is "Mathematics". Its by Mos Def. He says. . . " Young bloods can't spell but they can rock you in PlayStation this new math it whippin m&8%er@*^#ers ass you wanna know how to rhyme you better learn how to add It's mathematics". (Read all the lyrics.)
Its a great song, you too should love it, too. Anyway, 5 years was enough to get over the trauma of my secondary education in Huntington Beach, CA, and I allowed myself to embrace mathematics, previously only known to me as a subject you have to put up with in high school. I left Orange County (also known as the orange curtain, for its repressive and conservative culture) to go to college at UC Berkeley (the best school ever) and in rebellion to all things that could be considered high school subjects, I created my own major, called "social change and social control." This led me to my first job as a college graduate, which I mentioned already. Then that led to teaching high school math, which led to burning out and wanting nothing more than to go back to the good ol' days of being a student. So I went back to school. My goal, to get a 2nd bachelors degree in Math, led to my goal of getting a Masters degree in math, which I just started working towards this semester. So here I am. Drawing 5D cubes for fun. It's still a young budding romance, but Math and I are really hitting it off; we don't always get along, but we always get through it. I think we are an odd couple, but one that will last.
Every once in a while I like to do things without math. Like play soccer, trade good music, travel, kick it with my cat Kenya, and relax with good friends. But math gets jealous when I spend too much time away, so I only get one day a week. Oh yeah, my interests for the project include topics that don't rely on my learning a whole new (non-matroid) field of mathematics, since I haven't been exposed to too much yet. I think 1,2,4,5 look interesting, as does 10 and 14.

I was born in Bogota. I live in Bogota an study math at Los Andes. I like to paint, listen Music like Jazz and Rock ... I also like to read Manga and watch Anime. I woul like to work in somethig like Matroids and Topology or Knots, i also like Mader matroids.

I was born in San Francisco and grew up in Northern California before going to study archaeology at U.C. San Diego. After I received my B.A., I worked for a few years as an editor at a computer magazine in Colorado. To earn extra money, I also worked part-time tutoring college students and discovered I really enjoyed teaching math. After my husband and I moved back to California, I decided to change gears and go back to school to get my M.A. in math so I could teach at a local community college. The best thing about being a student again are having long semester breaks, which give my husband and me the chance to take vacations to other countries. Our most recent trip was to India, where we toured around the state of Rajasthan with a side visit to the Taj Mahal and to the Hindu holy city of Varanasi. WeÕre currently in the process of planning our next adventure, which will be to visit Mayan ruins in Guatemala and Belize.

I was born in Bogotá 22 years ago and this year I've begun the master at Los Andes... About things I like are sushi (I love seafood), and I enjoy cooking too (someday I have to do it more serious). When I'm not studying I'm playing some game (board games) or practicing some sport, mainly volleyball... or I'm simply playing with my nephews or in the cinema or hearing music like funk, progressive rock and others... In the project I'm working on Coxeter matroids...i don't have any background on this, so it becomes more exciting.

I was born in Cali,Colombia. I'm 19. Last year I finished my undergraduate in mathematics at Universidad del Valle (in Cali) and this year I began the master's program at Los Andes. I get very excited doing maths and dancing salsa music (most with maths)....ah! with women too. My classmates said I'm the most flirt of the master's program. (I think they're wrong.)

I was born here in the bay area, and have lived here all of my life, in a town no one has heard of called Belmont. I am in my third year here at SFSU double majoring in Math and Computer Science. Outside of school and work, I spend a lot of time programming. Programming is a big part of my life. I originally taught myself to program the TI-83 back in 8th grade, and now I mainly use C/C++. Mostly I make games, but I enjoy almost any type of programming. Thus, when picking projects for math classes, I tend to lean towards programming related ones, as I will probably do with this class' project as well. I also enjoy traveling with my family, and have visited such places as London, France, Australia, New Zealand, and China. As my picture suggests, I enjoy listening to heavy metal (mainly thrash metal), including such artists as Dark Angel, Slayer, Flotsam and Jetsam, Testament, and many many others.

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. Matroids keep appearing in my work, and I have posted several short-term and long-term related projects that I would like your help with!
When I am not at work, you might find me on a fútbol field, looking for and learning about music I haven't heard before, or exploring the incredible cities of San Francisco and Bogotá with my wife May-Li.

I was born in Bogotá, Colombia. I have liked science, specially mathematics, since I was a child. I participated in several math olympiads when I was in highschool, and that's how my love for this art started to grow. I have studied math at Universidad de los Andes for 6 years, and I'm right now finishing my master's studies.
During this time I have become interested in several areas such as algebra, topology, combinatorics, logic, and set theory. I am planning to start my doctorate studies on this year, possibly at Berkeley (if I can overcome the sadness of leaving this beautiful country).

My name is Jack Carlos Abad. My father, Carlos, was born in Spain and both my mother's parents were born in Spain. My father came to this country when he was 18 and worked as a free-lance gardener. I was born in San Francisco in 1934 and have lived here all my life. I majored in mathematics at the University of San Francisco and taught mathematics in the San Francisco public schools. I did graduate work during several summers in programs sponsored by the National Science Foundation during the post-Sputnik era. I left the classroom to do administrative work in the San Francisco public schools. At different times, I was a high-school principal, contract negotiator, and head of the human resources division. I have been married twice and have four children, ages 44, 41, 28, and 22. After I retired in 1992, I was a part-time mathematics teacher at USF for a few years.
I love to solve puzzles of all kinds -- crosswords, double acrostics, crypitics, sudoku. I like mathematics because it has the coolest and most intricate puzzles. I subscribe to a number of mathematics journals and work on the problems in their problem sections, mainly those in combinatorics.
I play tennis three or four times a week when my body doesn't break down. My wife and I baby-sit our two grandchildren one day a week. But studying mathematics and doing mathematics is my primary hobby.

I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, but I have lived in California for about ten years now. I have been at San Francisco State for four years now, I received my BS one year ago, and plan to finish my MA one year from now. I have been working in the field of functional analysis for the last several years, and have recently been making some good progress (finally). I never knew about matroids before this class, but I find the subject quite captivating. When I am not doing math I like to make electronic music, and maybe someday I'll start playing an instrument again.

Things I take: Pictures, found money, criticism, risks, you seriously, bike paths, one for the team, the road less traveled, it to the limit.
Things I make: New math, new songs, fun of myself, long Frisbee throws, poignant observations, food disappear.
Things I shake: Pulpy orange juice, maracas, the bag of Scrabble tiles, what my mother gave me, it up.

I grew up on the North East coast of the United States, in Washington D.C. and Bethel, Maine. I spent college in Boston and then I moved to San Francsico to teach high school math and hang out in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. After I met my husband, I moved across the bay to Berkeley, where I have worked for Lawrence Hall of Science for 5 years as a professional developer for math teachers. Last year I began the masters program in Math at SFSU and got back in touch with my own love of math. I have found that I have a particular interest in Algebra and Polytopes, and now Matroids. I am currently working on my thesis project using polytopes to develop expressions for the growth series for root lattices. I am also quite interested in optimization problems and would like to explore how these fit with matriods. When I am not busy "counting", I love to play baseball or basketball with my sons, Benjamin, age 6, and Nathan, age 3.

My name is Laura Escobar. I was born in Medell’n, Colombia, but I grew up in Bogotá. I'm studying mathematics at Universidad de los Andes, and I'm currently on my sixth semester. So far I have liked algebra and topology. Matroids have been very interesting too. For the project I would probably like to work on polytopes because last semester I learned a little about them.
I like learning about different cultures in the world. Because of that I like to learn languages and travel. I'm currently studying japanese and I would love to go there. I'm also beginning to study french.

I was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1986. Nowadays I'm coursing fifth semester of Mathematics at the Universidad de los Andes. I have always lived in Colombia. From the things I've study in mathematics I like algebra, geometry and of course combinatorics. For the proyect I'm interested in a topic that involves these, as, polytopes, proyective geometry, knot theory and/or topology.
I enjoy most of the sports, specially volley-ball and once in while futbol.

While growing up in Taiwan, I had a dream, an American dream. My dream was to go to America and study, then find a job and stay there. I made the first step to this dream come true when I moved out to San Francisco 7 years ago, and took english classes at City College of San Francisco. I made the move seem more permanent when I adopted my two cats. I spent 3 years at City College before I transfered to SFSU as a graphic design major. But I switched majors to Computer Science before I settled in on Math. I graduated with my bachelors in math on 2006, and this is my first year as a graduate student. When I graduate with my masters degree, I have hopes of getting a job with a company and creating something new and cool. I think that would be sweet as radish.

I was born, grew up, actually live and die in Bogotá. I`m actually studying in Los Andes two careers Mathematics and Economics. I hope to use math to help people some way, may be at the central bank. Next year may be and going Australia to study a semester there (and dive!!). As I have said in the forum I would like to study aplications of matroids to real life problems, so may be I will do my project on optimization.
When I'm not studying, I'm probably traveling. My goal is to visit Colombia's 52 National Parks. I have been in 16, and have never get tired of the most beatifull country of the world. I also like to travell around the world, I have visit 5 continents, and plan to complete the 7th with Africa, going there for the soccer world cup of 2010.

I spent my childhood in Michigan and Ireland and received a BA in Journalism from the University of Michigan sometime around the "Summer of Love." Of course, I had to check out California and have been here ever since. I live in Sonoma County, a hefty commute to SFSU. I have two young cats, Ada and Cauchy. My son, daughter-in-law, and granddog, Jesse, Sarah, and Ripley, respectively, live in Bozeman Montana where Jesse is currently working on his doctorate in Mathematics at Montana State University. I love to read good fiction and history and am active politically active and regularly outraged. I garden, hike, and swim. Hooray for springtime once again! Evidently, mathematics is a second or third career for me. I spent ten years teaching math to high school students and now teach at Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University. Studying mathematics makes me happy. I love algebra and am not so thrilled with analysis. As for final project ideas, I am interested in graphical and transversal matroids and several of the more recent topics involving both algebraic and geometric representations for matroids. Suggested topics 2, 3, 8, 12, 15, and, 17 look interesting. It would be fun to work with someone to from Bogota. (Sorry, I don't speak Spanish but have a translator on my computer that might be helpful.)