Festival of Mathematics and its Applications

3rd-4th July 2014

Festival of Mathematics and its Applications

Venue: Alan Turing Building, Manchester University

A major activity to celebrate the IMA’s 50th anniversary will be the Festival of Mathematics and its Applications, to be hosted in the Alan Turing Building, School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester. The event aims to bring together all elements of our broad community: academic mathematicians; mathematicians working in the corporate, industrial and business sectors; undergraduate and postgraduate students; teachers and lecturers; members of the general public with an interest in mathematics; school and college students and their families.

The IMA@50 Festival will look forward to the next fifty years with an emphasis on youth. It will be the first hands-on festival devoted to mathematics in the UK, to be held over two days on 3-4 July 2014. The venue has been chosen both for its excellent facilities and to celebrate the close links between the IMA and the University of Manchester.

The Festival will comprise interactive exhibitions, popular and academic talks, maths busking, debates, competitions and discussions, all with a theme of the fun, excitement and amazing impact of mathematics on our world both now and in the future. The Festival will be free to attend, with something for everyone, from schools and families to celebrities and from academic mathematicians to industrialists.

Public Lecture

On the evening of 3rd July 2014 there will be a major public lecture entitled ‘Sex, Drugs and Sausage Rolls‘ to be delivered by Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter OBE, FRS, Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk. This popular lecture is accessible to mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike and is open to the general public. David is a brilliant communicator of science, and is a regular presenter and interviewee on TV and radio. This will take place at 5.30 – 6.30pm in the Samuel Alexander Building and will be followed by a reception generously supported by Winton Capital Management.

“You take a risk whenever things may turn out well, or not so well, and you don’t know which it will be. So you take risks all the time, but this does not mean you have to be reckless. I will talk about how you can use the probability ideas to take daily risks apart, and how this might help decide whether you should go for it or not. Examples will include sex, drugs, sausage rolls, and Total Wipeout.”

Seminars on the Challenges for Mathematics

The seminars are intended to provide a stimulating discussion of major topics in mathematics (education, industry and research) and are open to all.

3rd July AM Maths Education and Policy, led by Professor Dame Celia Hoyles (IMA President, University of London) and Professor Nigel Steele (Coventry University)

3rd July PM What has mathematics done for us?, led by Dr Snezana Lawrence (Bath Spa University) and Dr Peter Rowlett (Nottingham Trent University)

4th July AM Mathematics in Industry, led by Dr Robert Leese (Smith Institute) and Professor Alan Champneys (University of Bristol)

4th July PM Mathematics in a Changing World, led by Professor Robert MacKay FRS (University of Warwick) and Professor Peter Grindrod CBE (University of Oxford)

Festival of Mathematics and its Applications

Downstairs in the Alan Turing Building there will be events for the general public from 10am to 4pm on both 3rd and 4th July. There will be a series of popular talks given by well-known communicators, interactive workshop sessions and popular exhibitions and stands that will include hands-on maths-focused displays.

David Acheson – Maths, magic and the electric guitar

Omar Bouamra – Outcome prediction modelling and performance comparison between hospitals

Noel-Ann Bradshaw – The Maths Arcade

Chris Budd – Eight great reasons to do maths

Chris Budd – Climate change, does it all add up?

Alan Champneys – Bumps, blips and bulges, the mathematics of localised things

Andrea Donafee – The secret world of cash

Rob Eastaway – From Pepsi to peace deals

Geoff Evatt – Applying Applied Maths

Panayiotis Frangos – Applied mathematics in the nuclear industry Simulation

James Grime – Enigma and the secret world of code breaking

Hugh Hunt – Boomerangs, Bouncing Balls and Spinny Things

Ron Knott – Food, figures and phi – The Fibonacci numbers in plants

Snezana Lawrence – Can curves be eccentric?

Steve Lynch – Brain inspired computing

Steve Mould – Weird and wonderful maths

Garrod Musto – Operation Mulbery: STEM in action 70 years ago

Dave Percy – Mathematics in Sport

Sue Pope – Folding mathematics

Makhan Singh – Careers in maths: IMA website

Katie Steckles – The Number Matrix: The Hidden Maths of Technology

Katie Steckles – The Domino Computer

Rachel Thomas – Postcards from the world of mathematics

Charles Walkden – Shuffling Around: Why you shouldn’t play cards with a mathematician

Charles Walkden – Patterns in the Unpredictable: Why random behaviour is surprisingly non-random

Colin Wright – Maths in a twist

Colin Wright – The mathematics of juggling

@IMAFest Yr10 went to @IMAFest last week at @ManUniMaths and found out about the ways maths is seen outside school! pic.twitter.com/jZwRqvyasw

— Burnage Academy (@Burnage_Academy) 9 July 2014

50 Visions of Mathematics (ed. @SamParc1) looks like a terrific book. Check out this excerpt: http://t.co/stKKX58keg

— Steven Strogatz (@stevenstrogatz) 12 June 2014

We even got to use a REAL enigma machine from WWII! #IMA50 pic.twitter.com/KD7yAfFZLq

— Broadgreen School (@BGreenIntSchool) 4 July 2014

Just learning about the social network of cows. The mind boggles #ima50 pic.twitter.com/R9KGtrwbdV

— Peter L (@systemspeter) 4 July 2014

Teachers and pupils battling against each other over strategy games in @mathsarcade @IMAFest #IMA50 pic.twitter.com/LpjRq8C90G

— Noel-Ann Bradshaw (@NoelAnn) 4 July 2014

Confessions of mathematicians! From the #IMA50 dinner! @ManUniMaths @IMAFest pic.twitter.com/wojsqBirqB

— Sophia Bethany Coban (@Sophilyplum) 3 July 2014

Our #Sierpinski triangle is coming along nicely! #IMA50 pic.twitter.com/nAVJiA96gy

— Manchester Uni Maths (@ManUniMaths) 3 July 2014

So, can anyone tell us what this one’s about? #HeresaHint #Pythagoras #IMA50 pic.twitter.com/scbxyR6Vlx

— Manchester Uni Maths (@ManUniMaths) 3 July 2014