Randolph student wins award for research at regional math conference

Taylor Samuels ’18 (left) and mathematics professor Jia Wan

Last weekend, Taylor Samuels ’18 earned second place in poster presentations at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) MD-DC-VA sectional meeting, held at Washington & Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute. Her poster was one of 18 presented, and she was one of 85 students participating in the conference.

Samuels presented work from a Summer Research project she conducted with mathematics professor Jia Wan last year. Over the course of the eight-week program, they met with College staff and faculty and worked to make the class scheduling software for first-year seminars more efficient and intuitive. First-year seminars are classes that new students choose each summer based on a survey about their interests. The updated system will help advisors check class time conflicts, control total credit hours, spread out courses across the disciplines, and verify prerequisites for any classes automatically.