The Mathematics Department has maximized the function for fun with its annual Math Formal and Math Day, both formulated to strengthen the math community.
Last Friday’s Math Formal integrated the induction ceremony for the Pi Mu Epsilon honor society with the much-anticipated Rubik’s Cube competition.
This year, junior Zack Reed set the lower bound for solution time at one minute, seven seconds to beat Professor Brian Fisher and take home the Rubik’s Cube champion title.
“A couple times a day, during small groups or during Sig Ep club convo, I would just pick up the cube, mess it up and solve it,” Reed said of his practice regimen. “You just get into a rhythm.”
A “Casino Royale” themed dinner and ballroom dancing complemented the celebration of the honor society inductees and senior Math majors’ accomplishments.
Additionally, the department invested in the Malibu community by hosting Pepperdine Math Day on Saturday, Oct. 29. Approximately 225 local high school students gathered on campus for Math Day, which seeks to promote interest and excellence in mathematics and increase Pepperdine’s involvement with local high school students and faculty. Guest speaker Dr. Anita Sengupta, an aerospace engineer from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, shared her work on the Mars mission of the Rover “Curiosity.”
“It’s meaningful to me because I care a lot about math, and these students are interested in math but may not know about the opportunities for math in college. So it’s important to cultivate that interest at young age,” said senior Math major Darlena Kern.
Math Day also challenged attendees with a competitive 45-question math exam, for which the average score was 24.9 questions correct and the high score 40. Students competed for calculators, math software, and scholarships totaling $15,000.
