hopf algebras
san francisco state university
universidad de los andes
federico ardila
2012

I grew up in Southern California where I gained my love for hiking and surfing. I then moved to Utah to study math as an undergraduate at BYU. While in Utah, I explored the snowy mountains and fell in love with snowboarding. I am now a first year graduate student at SFSU where I am developing my interests in algebra and combinatorics.

Born and raised in several cities of Colombia, I can't but accept with great joy the fact of coming from such a wonderful country. It was not so long ago that I was there where most of you are right now (literally), having been first an undergrad in los Andes and then a master's student at SFSU, both of which I consider my academical roots. Last semester I (somehow) managed to pass my qualifying exams at MIT, so now I'm fully devoted to the thing. I work in Combinatorics, and would like to know why I feel this strange urge to learn and apply more of /Cluster/Hopf/Lie/Vertex...you name it/ algebras to my research, I hope I can cross one word out of my list after this class. On my free time (whatever that is), I can be happy with my lovely girlfriend just doing anything, playing whatever sounds like music, or doing sports...as long as I don't have a broken rib. My plan is to enjoy this class, learn a lot from all of you, and then seeing the result in the final project.

Que mas! My name's Brian Cruz, and I'm a graduate student at SFSU. I have many interests, such as music, dancing, photography, traveling (I visited Colombia just last month!), film making, politics, and of course math! As far as math is concerned, I've always liked anything discrete better, but really it's all fun. That said, in my research I'm using stochastic models (kinetic Monte Carlo algorithms specifically) to simulate viral DNA packaging motors to study how they might affect DNA knotting in bacteriophages. I'm really inspired by the actions of people worldwide who have had enough: we've witnessed revolution in Egypt, mass strikes in Greece, a los Indignados de España, the Occupy movement from NYC to LA, and really even more. Me encantaría trabajar con alguien de Bogotá. Así que si hay alguien que quiere trabajar conmigo, échame un email! Pues, hope you all have a great day!

I am a first year graduate student. I like whatever is put in front of me so far, mathematically. I enjoy playing music and fencing.

I am a first year graduate student at SFSU. I am from Mexico City. I am interested in applied partial differential equations and probability theory.

For the first 18 years of my life I lived in Delaware. Afterwards, I decided to attend college in California. After taking two semesters of combinatorics at Cal, I still hunger for learning more combinatorics. My math interests include combinatorics, algebra, graph theory, and topology. In my spare time I like to read fantasy novels and play video games.

Mathematics to me is an art similar to dance and music. I am most interested in geometry, algebra, and mathematical biology. In particular, I really want to learn about how knot theory is used to study DNA. I love to laugh, dance, and have fun. As an aside, I care immensely about things like the economy, environment, education, equal rights, modern day slavery, access to technology etc. My goal in life is to try and save the world. This might sound perhaps a bit naive or silly, but I believe we'd all live in a happier place if more people aimed to save the world.

I am Diego and I just finished my undergraduate program in mathematics at Universidad de los Andes. I double major in electrical engineering, which I am about to end. My next goal is to get a PhD in applied mathematics. I worked with Federico in my undergraduate thesis, in which we constructed a Hopf monoid of CAT(0) cubical complexes. I would be happy to discuss it with anyone interested. My main area of interest is combinatorics and I always enjoy applying mathematical theories and models to practical problems. In my free time I like watching movies and exercising.

I was born in Bucaramanga, Colombia. This is my last semester at los Andes. I'm currently working on Flow in Networks theory and applications but I like many other fields in math. I'm a drummer, making beats is my work. I have a band, we play experimental rock, whatever that is. Check our channels youtube.com/benjamincolombia - facebook.com/benjamincolombia - twitter.com/benjamincolombi

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. After three years in Bogotá, Berkeley, and Seattle, I have been in San Francisco since 2006. I am now an associate 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 am very interested in helping people of all ages and backgrounds discover their interest in mathematics -- particularly those from groups underrepresented in the mathematical community. When I am not at work, you might find me on a fútbol field, exploring the incredible cities of San Francisco and Bogotá with my wife May-Li, treasure hunting in little record stores, and sharing what I find at www.lapelanga.com.

My name is Federico. I'm from a wonderful city called Bucaramanga (but unfortunately i live in Bogota). I like math, of course, but in my free time i like to read, watch, or hear any good story (called it a book, a serie, a movie, a cartoon, etc). My math interests are basically algebra, and its combinatoric properties.

My research interests consist primarily of bioinformatics. Currently I'm trying to find structure in gene sequencing data for a highly variable and mysterious gene that plays a major role in the immune system. I have a soft spot for combinatorics and I love finding new and interesting applications of it in the world around us. When I'm not working or studying, I can be found listening to music while playing in the garden or kitchen. I love trying flavorful new recipes so send your favorites my way.

Mi nombre es Fernando Torres, soy matematico de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia en Bogota y actualmente soy estudiante de doctorado en la Universidad de los Andes. Me gusta resolver problemas en matematicas, la topología, el analisis funcional y la teoria de grupos. No me gusta la logica ni las ecuaciones diferenciales parciales. A parte de todo me gusta leer, bailar salsa, comer bien.

I have been teaching math in public schools in the SF Bay Area since 1996. I came back to study math some more and am now in the second year of the MA in Math program at SFSU. I enjoy probability and statistics but am most interested in Math Education. I live about an hour away from SF with my husband and two daughters. We play lots of different games. I also enjoy watching my daughters play basketball and softball. That is the only time I really get loud. My husband and I also like to go wine tasting in Sonoma and going on long walks, not necessarily after wine tasting. I have been to Colombia twice in my life to visit my mother's side of the family. She is from Cali.

Hello! My name is Karla Lanzas, I was born in Managua, Nicaragua but I came to the United States when I was two years old and I have been here since. I began college with a degree in Child Development and some how ended up graduating with a degree in Pure Mathematics. I want to pursue in Mathematics Education, However I enjoy Linear Algebra and Knot Theory as well. Outside of school, I am very family orientated. So I enjoy spending time with my sisters, parents, and my wonderful boyfriend. I enjoy reading novels, watching plays, and musicals. Additionally, if I could I would live out of a suitcase! I love to travel and experience new cultures.

I am interested in anything that can be visualized, and I am currently working on DNA Topology for my thesis. Outside school and work, I enjoy reading and spending time with my friends and family.

Hi my name is Michael Henley. I've lived in the San Francisco Bay area most of my life and was in the Peace Corps in Cameroon. I am in the MA program at SFSU. My main interest is in algebra.

I am from the extremely small town of Gustine, California. I received my BA in Mathematics at CSU Stanislaus (Go Warriors) and I am now a first-year graduate student at San Francisco State University. As an undergraduate, I studied the fascinating topic of Fractal Geometry. I also enjoy algebra and analysis. In my spare time, I love to be around my family and friends.

Hi, Niño here! (Yes, like El Niño.) I was born in the Philippines, moved to Guam when I was seven, and moved to the continental United States when I was 17 (more specifically, San Diego, CA, and more recently, Temecula, CA). I attended San Diego City College for my AA then transferred to Cornell University (brr, cold!) for my BA, and am now a second-semester MA Mathematics student at SFSU. I like salsa (both the dance and the chip dip, more the former), singing (both in the shower and out), chess, people-watching, meaningful conversations, jokes, trying my hand at cooking, learning new things, and going on adventures. My mathematical interests are all over the place, but algebra and graph theory seem to be the most fascinating among the destinations I've visited in my mathematical odyssey. I would ideally like to work on applying advanced-mathematical methods to questions that arise in social networks, but I'm open to a lot of different possibilities.

I am interested in anything math... minus Statistics. Among those,my favorites are Linear and Abstract Algebra. Other interests... I LOVE chess and turtles!!! I play chess online and in person with my friends when I have time. I also have two red-eared sliders that I have raised since they were literally the size of a quarter and <3 them to pieces. =)

Hi, I'm Sebastián Osorio. I finished my undergraduate studies in mathematics at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in the year of 2010, and I started my master program at the Universidad de los Andes after a 6 months break. My interests in math are algebra and topology, although I prefer algebra, particularly commutative algebra and related subjects. When I'm not studying I like to watch some movies, play squash, listen to music, read and party (not a good dancer, but still enjoying it!). You can talk to me about any of these topics or anything else.

I'm a Tapatio from Guadalajara Jalisco. I am studying Algebra and Geometry and excited to see where it leads me. Algebra completely fascinates me and its abstraction explodes my brain in the best way possible. After such explosions, I make sure to include some kind of physical activity, which may include dancing, handball or any other kind of sport. I use to dance salsa professionally worldwide during my undergrad years, which was an amazing experience, but also a very expensive. Other random things about myself: Die-hard Legend of Zelda fan(LoZ all the way!), love me some jokes and riddles, my little baby girl joins me and my wife April 2012.

My main mathematical interests are analysis, graph theory (in which I am doing my thesis), and enumerative combinatorics. Outside of math, I'm interested in science, technology, sci-fi and futurism, and public policy. I (barely) ran the Twin Cities marathon in 2008 and am trying to become a regular runner again. I tend to look angry in photos but I'm generally not. Also! I am attempting this semester to form an SFSU Origami club. If you're interested, let me know and I'll keep you in the loop.

I am a mathematics first-year master's degree student at San Francisco State University. I studied mathematics as an undergraduate in New York. On the other hand, I had a short affair with physics, but two semesters of electromagnetism as a junior convinced me, beyond any doubt, that mathematics was my call. I spent a big chunk of my life in a far away city called Armenia, in the beautiful department of El Quindio. (I guess "far away" here is really a matter of perspective.) Loosely speaking, my interests are combinatorics, algebra and topology. When I am not studying mathematics, I can be doing one of a variety of things: Playing soccer or chess, dancing to salsa music, playing the piano, reading the news, hanging out with friends, entertaining myself with puzzles or fun math problems, reading (in general), or "exploring."

I'm from Bogotá-Colombia, studying first year of master of mathematics in Universidad de los Andes. I'm interested in álgebra, recently learning about representations theory, Lie groups (Hopf algebras too off course) and enjoying both of them. I'm also interested in computer science. In free time i love watching movies, i like skating and would like to play piano and improve my english someday :)