Eric J. Rawdon

Department of Mathematics
University of St. Thomas
St. Paul, MN 55105
(651) 962-5558
Email: ejrawdon [at] stthomas.edu
http://george.math.stthomas.edu/rawdon

Education

• Ph.D., University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa (1997)
  Specialty: Topology and Computational Mathematics (Physical Knot Theory)
  Dissertation: Thickness of Polygonal Knots / Advisor: Jonathan Simon
  
  
• B.A. Cum Laude, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota (1992)
  Major: Mathematics
  Concentrations: American Racial and Multicultural Studies, African Diaspora
  
  

Teaching Experience

• Assistant Professor, University of St. Thomas (2006-present)
  Taught Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Multi-Variable Calculus, Finite Math, and Linear Algebra and Differential Equations. Research advisor to 3 students. Advised undergraduates.
  
  
• Associate Professor, Duquesne University (2005-2006)
  Assistant Professor, Tenure Track, Duquesne University (2001-2005)
  Taught Calculus 1, Honors Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Discrete Math, Numerical Analysis (undergraduate and graduate level), Linear Algebra (graduate level), Logic and Proof (graduate level), Problem Solving, Topology, and Topics in Math. Research advisor for 17 students. Mentored students.
  
  
• Assistant Professor, Tenure Track, Chatham College (1997-2001)
  Taught Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Multivariate Calculus, Linear Algebra, Discrete Math, Advanced Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Knot Theory and C++ Programming. Lead five students through their year-long senior tutorial projects. Advised traditional and transfer students. Lead academic courses in Eastern Europe and Greece. Oversaw adjuncts. Coordinated student graders. Head of one-person Mathematics Department.
  
  
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Iowa (1992-1997)
  Taught Elementary Algebra, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Engineering Calculus 1, and Engineering Calculus 2. Held recitation sessions in Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Business Calculus, and Linear Algebra.
  
  

Grants

• National Science Foundation Grant, Structure of Entanglement in Macromolecules, DMS #0810415 (2008-2011)
  Awarded $150,000 to conduct independent research and collaborative research with undergraduate students.
  
  
• Long Term Visitor, Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (Spring 2008)
  Participated in yearly program Mathematics of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Supported for a two course release.
  
  
• University of St. Thomas Research Assistance Grant, Understanding the Shape of Circular Polymers (2007)
  Awarded one course-release to work on project.
  
  
• National Science Foundation REU Supplement Grant, Characterizing Energy-Minimizing Knots, DMS #0621903 (2006)
  Awarded $28,550 to support five undergraduate students working full-time in the summer, including some travel costs.
  
  
• Supercomputing Grant, Analyzing Entanglement in Physical Systems (2005-2006)
  Awarded 4000 unit starter grant for work in collaboration with undergraduate students.
  
  
• National Science Foundation Grant, Characterizing Energy-Minimizing Knots, DMS #0311010 (2003-2006)
  Awarded $151,303 to conduct independent research and collaborative research with undergraduate students.
  
  
• Supercomputing Grant, Massively Parallel Computation of Geometrically Optimal Knots, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (2002-2003)
  Awarded 450 unit starter grant for work in collaboration with Jason Cantarella and REU students.
  
  
• National Science Foundation Grant, Instrumentation Grant (2003)
  Listed as senior personnel on the $325,000 grant for a large computer cluster.
  
  
• National Science Foundation Grant, Knot Complexity and the Structure of Knot Space, DMS #0074315 and DMS #0296098 (2000-2003)
  Awarded $73,202 to conduct independent research and collaborative research with undergraduate students.
  
  
• ICM Travel Grant, American Mathematical Society (2002)
  Awarded $2250 to participate in the International Congress of Mathematicians 2002 in Beijing, China.
  
  
• Mathematical Challenges Grant, American Mathematical Society (2000)
  Awarded $2000 to participate in the Mathematical Challenges for the 21st Century conference.
  
  
• Project NExT Fellow, Mathematical Association of America (1998-1999)
  Participated in sessions at the Mathfest 1998 in Toronto and the Mathfest 1999 in Providence. Topics included pedagogical issues, finding your niche, undergraduate research projects, reform calculus, and balancing research and teaching. Partially supported by Project NExT.
  
  
• Central Research Funds Award, Chatham College (1998, 1999, 2000)
  Received competitive grants for research.
  
  
• Workshop Participant, Program for Mathematics and Molecular Biology (1998)
  Participated in the two-week workshop, Mathematics and Molecular Biology: Science For The 21st Century. Participants included biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers, and mathematicians ranging from undergraduates to professors and included some from industry. Fully funded by PMMB.
  
  
• Workshop Participant, Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (1996)
  Participated in a one-week workshop on Topology and Geometry in Polymer Science followed by a one-week conference. Participants included biologists, chemists, physicists, and other mathematicians. Visit funded by IMA.
  
  

Publications

• "Error analysis of the Minimum Distance Energy of a polygonal knot and the Moebius Energy of an approximating curve". Eric J. Rawdon and Joseph Worthington. Submitted, 2005.
  
  
• "The effect of knotting on the shape of polymers". Eric Rawdon, John Kern, Michael Piatek, Patrick Plunkett, Andrzej Stasiak, and Kenneth Millett. Macromolecules, to appear, 2008.
  
  
• "Scaling behavior and equilibrium lengths of knotted polymers". Eric Rawdon, Akos Dobay, John Kern, Kenneth Millett, Michael Piatek, Patrick Plunkett, and Andrzej Stasiak. Macromolecules, 41(12): 4444-4451, 2008.
  
  
• "Polygonal knot space near ropelength-minimized knots". Kenneth C. Millett, Michael Piatek, and Eric J. Rawdon. J. Knot Theory Ramifications, 17(5): 601-631, 2008.
  
  
• "Total curvature and total torsion of knotted polymers". Patrick Plunkett, Michael Piatek, Akos Dobay, John Kern, Kenneth Millett, Andrzej Stasiak, and Eric Rawdon. Macromolecules, 40(10): 3860-3867, 2007.
  
  
• "Polygonal approximation and energy of smooth knots". Eric J. Rawdon and Jonathan K. Simon. J. Knot Theory Ramifications, 15(4): 429-451, 2006.
  
  
• "Visualizing the tightening of knots". Jason Cantarella, Michael Piatek, and Eric Rawdon. In VIS '05: Proceedings of the 16th IEEE Visualization 2005 (VIS'05), pages 575-582, Washington, DC, USA, 2005. IEEE Computer Society.
  
  
• Physical and Numerical Models in Knot Theory. Jorge Alberto Calvo, Kenneth C. Millett, Eric J. Rawdon, and Andrzej Stasiak, editors, volume 36 of Ser. Knots Everything, Singapore, 2005.
  
  
• "Universal characteristics of polygonal knot probabilities". Kenneth C. Millett and Eric J. Rawdon. In Jorge Alberto Calvo, Kenneth C. Millett, Eric J. Rawdon, and Andrzej Stasiak, editors, Physical and Numerical Models in Knot Theory, volume 36 of Ser. Knots Everything, pages 247-274, Singapore, 2005. World Sci. Publishing.
  
  
• "Ropelength of tight polygonal knots". Justyna Baranska, Piotr Pieranski, and Eric J. Rawdon. In Jorge Alberto Calvo, Kenneth C. Millett, Eric J. Rawdon, and Andrzej Stasiak, editors, Physical and Numerical Models in Knot Theory, volume 36 of Ser. Knots Everything, pages 293-321, Singapore, 2005. World Sci. Publishing.
  
  
• "Length of the tightest trefoil knot". Justyna Baranska, Piotr Pieranski, Sylwester Przybyl, and Eric J. Rawdon. Phys. Rev. E, 70(5): 051810, 2004. Also cross-listed in the Virtual Journal of Biological Physics Research in the December 1, 2004 issue (volume 8, issue 11).
  
  
• "Role of flexibility in entanglement". Gregory Buck and Eric J. Rawdon. Phys. Rev. E, 70(1): 011803, 2004.
  
  
• "Can computers discover ideal knots?". Eric J. Rawdon. Experiment. Math., 12(3): 287-302, 2003.
  
  
• "Energy, ropelength, and other physical aspects of equilateral knots". Kenneth C. Millett and Eric J. Rawdon. J. Comput. Phys., 186(2): 426-456, 2003.
  
  
• "Upper bounds for equilateral stick numbers". Eric J. Rawdon and Robert G. Scharein. In Jorge Alberto Calvo, Kenneth C. Millett, and Eric J. Rawdon, editors, Physical knots: knotting, linking, and folding geometric objects in R^3 (Las Vegas, NV, 2001), volume 304 of Contemp. Math., pages 55-75, Providence, RI, 2002. Amer. Math. Soc..
  
  
• Physical knots: knotting, linking, and folding geometric objects in R^3. Jorge Alberto Calvo, Kenneth C. Millett, and Eric J. Rawdon, editors, volume 304 of Contemporary Mathematics, Providence, RI, 2002. Papers from the AMS Special Session on Physical Knotting and Unknotting held in Las Vegas, NV, April 21--22, 2001.
  
  
• "Moebius energy of thick knots". Eric J. Rawdon and Jonathan Simon. Topology Appl., 125(1): 97-109, 2002.
  
  
• "Approximating smooth thickness". Eric J. Rawdon. J. Knot Theory Ramifications, 9(1): 113-145, 2000.
  
  
• "Thickness of knots". R. A. Litherland, J. Simon, O. Durumeric, and E. Rawdon. Topology Appl., 91(3): 233-244, 1999.
  
  
• "Approximating the thickness of a knot". Eric J. Rawdon. In A. Stasiak, V. Katritch, and L. H. Kauffman, editors, Ideal knots, volume 19 of Ser. Knots Everything, pages 143-150, Singapore, 1998. World Sci. Publishing.
  
  

Research Presentations

Invited Talks

• "The Effect of Knotting on the Size and Shape of Polymers". Special Session on Knotting and Linking of Macromolecules, Western Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Vancouver, Canada (October 2008).
  
  
• "The Effect of Knotting on the Size and Shape of Polymers". Knots and Soft Matter Physics: Topology of Polymers and Related Topics in Physics, Mathematics and Biology, Kyoto, Japan (August 2008).
  
  
• "The Effect of Knotting on the Size of Polymers". Knots and Macromolecules, Venice, Italy (March 2008).
  
  
• "Asphericity of Random Equilateral Polygons". Special Session on Physical Knots and Links, Southeastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Murfreesboro, TN (November 2007).
  
  
• "Equilibrium Lengths of Random Equilateral Polygons". Mathematics of Knotting and Linking in Polymer Physics and Molecular Biology, Banff International Research Station, Banff, Canada (May 2007).
  
  
• "Moebius Energy of Smooth Knots Inscribed in Polygons". Special session on Physical Knotting and Linking, Central Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Cincinnati, OH (October 2006).
  
  
• "Tight Knots and Links". Special session on Physical Knots, MathFest, Knoxville, TN (August 2006).
  
  
• "Hydrodynamics of Ideal Knots". Special session on Knot Theory and its Applications, Southeastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Bowling Green, KY (March 2005).
  
  
• "Equilibrium Lengths of Random Equilateral Knots". Special session on Knot Theory and its Applications, Southeastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Bowling Green, KY (March 2005).
  
  
• "Introduction to Ropelength of Knots and Links". Workshop on Random Knots, Tokyo, Japan (February 2005).
  
  
• "Upper Bounds for the Minimum Ropelength of Knots". Special session on Knots and Macromolecules, Eastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Pittsburgh, PA (November 2004).
  
  
• "Polygonal Knot Space Near Ropelength-Minimized Knots". Special session on Knot Theory and its Applications, Southeastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Tallahassee, FL (March 2004).
  
  
• "Tying Knots with Stiff Rope". Special session on Knots, Links, and Embedded Graphs, Southeastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Chapel Hill, NC (October 2003).
  
  
• "Polygonal Ropelength". Conference on Knots, Random Walks and Biomolecules as a part of the 2003 visitor program in Mathematical Modeling of Biomolecules at Bernoulli Institute of EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Les Diableretes, Switzerland (July 2003).
  
  
• "Computational Methods for Minimizing the Ropelength of Knots". Supercomputing Science Consortium, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (July 2003).
  
  
• "The Effect of Flexibility on Minimum Ropelength Conformations". Special session on Numerical Methods, Calculations, and Simulations in Knot Theory and its Applications, Western Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, San Francisco, CA (May 2003).
  
  
• "Smooth and Polygonal Ropelength". Special session on Physical Knotting and Unknotting, Western Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Las Vegas, NV (April 2001).
  
  
• "The Conformal Energy of Thick Knots". Special session on Physical Knot Theory, Southeastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Charlotte, NC (October 1999).
  
  
• "Computing the Thickness of Polygonal Knots". Conference on Computational Methods in Topology, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, CA (March 1997).
  
  

Contributed Talks

• "Asphericity of Random Equilateral Knots". Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, CA (January 2008).
  
  
• "Smallest Containers Enclosing Random Equilateral Polygons". Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, Minneapolis, MN (September 2007).
  
  
• "Scaling Behavior, Equilibrium Lengths, and Probabilities of Knotted Polymers". Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Antonio, TX (January 2006).
  
  
• "Upper Bounds for Equilateral Stick Numbers". Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD (January 2003).
  
  
• "Upper Bounds for Equilateral Stick Numbers". International Congress of Mathematicians, Beijing, China (August 2002).
  
  
• "Spatial Characteristics of Optimal Polygonal Knots". Joint Mathematics Meetings, New Orleans, LA (January 2001).
  
  
• "Thickness of Polygonal Knots". Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, CA (January 1997).
  
  

Colloquia

• University of St. Thomas, Statistics Seminar, St. Paul, MN (May 2008)
  
  
• Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, St. Paul, MN (April 2008)
  
  
• University of St. Thomas, Math Club, St. Paul, MN (April 2008)
  
  
• Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN (November 2007)
  
  
• University of St. Thomas, Statistics Seminar, St. Paul, MN (November 2006)
  
  
• University of Georgia, Athens, GA (July 2003)
  
  
• Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA (February 2002)
  
  
• University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC (October 2001)
  
  
• University of Georgia, Athens, GA (October 2001)
  
  
• Duquesne University, Department of Chemistry, Pittsburgh, PA (September 2001)
  
  
• Duquesne University, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Pittsburgh, PA (September 2001)
  
  
• St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN (October 2000)
  
  
• Chatham College, Pittsburgh, PA (September 2000)
  
  
• Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA (April 2000)
  
  
• Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA (October 1999)
  
  
• Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH (June 1999)
  
  
• Marshall University, Huntington, WV (May 1999)
  
  

Other Invited Talks

• "Physical Knots". Program for talented female high school students, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (April 2006).
  
  
• "Physical Knots". Program for talented female high school students, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (May 2005).
  
  
• "The Shape of Space". Program for talented female high school students, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (April 2004).
  
  
• "A Module-Based Course on Current Mathematics for Science Majors". MAA Mathfest, Boulder, CO (August 2003).
  
  
• "Introduction to Polygonal Thickness". REU on Massively Parallel Computation of Geometrically Optimal Knots, University of Georgia, Athens, GA (June 2003).
  
  
• "The Shape of Space". Program for talented female high school students, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (December 2002).
  
  
• "Physical Knot Theory". Two-hour workshop at Texas Section of the MAA Spring Conference, Mesquite, TX (April 2002).
  
  
• "An Introduction to Knot Theory". Program for talented female high school students, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (December 2001).
  
  
• "Computing and Optimizing the Energies of Polygonal Knots". VIGRE Seminar, University of Georgia, Athens, GA (October 2001).
  
  
• "Project MUSE: An Interdisciplinary Program for Improving Teaching". MAA Mathfest, Madison, WI (August 2001).
  
  
• "Knots? No, What is He Really Going to Talk About?". Banquet to honor talented high school students, Evansville, IN (April 2001).
  
  

Student Project Advisor

• Brett Brakefield, "Signature curves for DNA and polymers", 2008-present.
  
  
• Hoang Van, "Generating wormlike chains using Monte Carlo methods", 2007-present.
  
  
• Vy Tran, "Analyzing the hedgehog method for generating random polygons", 2006-present.
  
  
• Chase Smith, "Analyzing the symmetric energy", 2005-2006.
  
  
• Caleb Astey, "Determining the ropelength of tight links", 2004-2007.
  
  
• Matt Fredrikson, "Improving the HOMFLY calculation program", 2004-2007.
  
  
• Patrick Plunkett, "Random link analysis", 2004-2007.
  
  
• Jeromy Sivek, "Analyzing tight suture knots", 2004-2007.
  
  
• Michael Beran and Jason Wood, "Computing the holding strength of knots", 2005-2007.
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Parallelization and algorithm analysis in TOROS", 2001-2005.
  
  
• Lucy Spardy, "Asymptotic behavior of polygonal ropelength", 2003-2005.
  
  
• Thomas Wears, "Thickness and biarcs", 2002-2005.
  
  
• Dawn Interthal, "Measuring the breaking strength of knots", 2003-2004.
  
  
• Kevin Metz, "Database for knot data and data mining", Spring 2004.
  
  
• Lawrence Udeigwe and Zak Zibrat, "Error analysis of the MD-energy of polygons and the Moebius energy of a smooth knot", Spring 2004.
  
  
• James Sweeney, "A program for knot manipulation", 2001-2003.
  
  
• Holly Hickling, "The strength of mathematical knots", 2003.
  
  
• Matthew Hershberger, "Database programming for knot data", Fall 2003.
  
  
• Jennifer Lewis, "Asymptotic analysis of polygonal ropelength-minima", Spring 2003.
  
  
• Elizabeth Hill, "Measuring knot complexity using physical experiments and computer simulation", 2000-2001.
  
  
• Yuko Shimoda, "Ropelength and energy: theoretical modeling predicting physical behavior of knots", 1999-2000.
  
  
• Carmen Thomas, "Knot energy and ropelength in relation to knot mobility", 1999-2000.
  
  
• Caryn Moyle, "The battle against the millennium bug", 1998-1999.
  
  
• Sandra Downer, "The emerging science and art of fractals", 1997-1998.
  
  
• Mara Jones, "Nonlinear dynamics: the mathematics of chaos and fractals", 1997-1998.
  
  

Student Presentations

• Brett Brakefield, "Random Knots and Polymers", Center for Applied Mathematics Student Talk Sessions, St. Paul, MN (August 2008).
  
  
• Vy Tran, "Graphical Models of Random Knot Generation", Inquiry at UST Poster Session, St. Paul, MN (September 2007).
  
  
• Vy Tran, "Random Knot Generation", Center for Applied Mathematics Student Talk Sessions, St. Paul, MN (August 2007).
  
  
• Patrick Plunkett, "Curvature and Torsion in Random Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Erie, PA (April 2007).
  
  
• Caleb Astey, "Minimal Knots on Three Dimensional Graph Paper", MAA MathFest, Knoxville, TN (August 2006).
  
  
• Matthew Fredrikson, "Homfly Calculation: A Comparison of New Techniques", MAA MathFest, Knoxville, TN (August 2006).
  
  
• Patrick Plunkett, "Small Enclosing Ellipsoids of Random Knots", MAA MathFest, Knoxville, TN (August 2006).
  
  
• Jeromy Sivek, "The Symmetric Energy of Knots and Polygonal Approximations", MAA MathFest, Knoxville, TN (August 2006).
  
  
• Chase Smith, "Symmetric Energy of Smooth Knots Inscribed in Polygons", MAA MathFest, Knoxville, TN (August 2006).
  
  
• Jason Wood, "The Physics of the Holding Strength of Knots", MAA MathFest, Knoxville, TN (August 2006).
  
  
• Jeromy Sivek, "Holding Strength of Tight Knots", Departmental Seminar, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (April 2006).
  
  
• Caleb Astey, "Scraping for 11 Crossing Links", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA (April 2006).
  
  
• Michael Beran, "Modeling Tension Distribution within a Polygonal Knot", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA (April 2006).
  
  
• Matt Fredrikson, "New Techniques for Fast Calculation of the HOMFLY Polynomial", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA (April 2006).
  
  
• Patrick Plunkett, "Probabilities of Random Links", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA (April 2006).
  
  
• Jason Wood, "Analytical Study of Tension in Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA (April 2006).
  
  
• Pat Plunkett, "Detecting Symmetry in Knots", Departmental Seminar, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (December 2005).
  
  
• Lucy Spardy, "Describing the Shape of Ropelength-Minimized Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Slippery Rock, PA (April 2005).
  
  
• Tom Wears, "Warning: Biarc Construction Ahead, Smooth Curves Expected Shortly", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Slippery Rock, PA (April 2005).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Visualizing the Tightening Flow of Physical Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Slippery Rock, PA (April 2005).
  
  
• Caleb Astey, "Methodology in Creation of Trivially Linked Tight Knots and its Applications on the Prediction of the Existence of New Gluon Balls", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Slippery Rock, PA (April 2005).
  
  
• Pat Plunkett, "Detecting Symmetry in Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Slippery Rock, PA (April 2005).
  
  
• Jeromy Sivek, "Volumes of Tight Sutures", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Slippery Rock, PA (April 2005).
  
  
• Matt Fredrikson, "Improving Computational Methods for Calculating the HOMFLY Polynomial", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Slippery Rock, PA (April 2005).
  
  
• Lucy Spardy, "Describing the Shape of Ropelength-Minimized Knots", Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics, Lincoln, NE (February 2005).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Numerics issues in ropelength minimization", Special Session on Knots and Macromolecules, Eastern Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Pittsburgh, PA (November 2004).
  
  
• Dawn Interthal, "The Physics of Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Buckhannon, WV (March 2004).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Beyond Secure Shoelaces: Tightening Mathematical Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Buckhannon, WV (March 2004).
  
  
• Lucy Spardy, "Describing the Shape of Ropelength-Minimized Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Buckhannon, WV (March 2004).
  
  
• Tom Wears, "A Brief Introduction to Thickness and Ropelength of Mathematical Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Buckhannon, WV (March 2004).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Optimization in Knot Space", guest lecture in CPMA 571 graduate course on Optimization, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (March 2004).
  
  
• Tom Wears, "A Brief Introduction to Thickness and Ropelength of Mathematical Knots", guest lecture to combined class of MATH 315 (Linear Algebra and Differential Equations) and MATH 420 (Introduction to Complex Variables), Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (March 2004).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Implementing the Gradient of Ropelength", Special session on Knot Theory and its Applications, Southeastern Sectional Meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Tallahassee, FL (March 2004).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Implementing the Gradient of Ropelength", Pi Mu Epsilon Conference, Youngstown, OH (February 2004).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Evolving Ideal Knots, Part II", MAA MathFest, Boulder, CO (August 2003).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Getting Knotty in Parallel", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, DuBois, PA (April 2003).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "A Gradient Flow for the Rope Length of Knotted Strings", Joint Meetings, Baltimore, MD (January 2003).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "High Performance Shoelace Tightening", Departmental colloquium, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (October 2002).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "High Performance Shoelace Tightening", MAA MathFest, Burlington, VT (August 2002). Student presenter award winner.
  
  
• Leanne Hindman, "The Breaking Strength of Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, West Liberty, WV (April 2002).
  
  
• Michael Piatek, "Tying Your Shoelaces with Twenty Computers", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, West Liberty, WV (April 2002).
  
  
• James Sweeney, "Knots and Computer Graphics", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, West Liberty, WV (April 2002).
  
  
• Leanne Hindman and Jolene Riches, "Measuring Knot Complexity with Physical Experiments", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA (April 2001).
  
  
• Elizabeth Hill and Amanda Newport, "Understanding the Complexity of Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA (April 2001).
  
  
• Yuko Shimoda and Carmen Thomas, "Physical Experiments on Knots", MAA Allegheny Mountain Section Meeting, Meadville, PA (April 2000).
  
  

Masters Thesis Advisor

• Joseph Worthington, "Error Bounds Between the Minimum Distance Energy of an Equilateral Knot and the Moebius Energy of an Inscribed Smooth Knot", 2005.
  
  

Scholarly Activities

• Special Session Co-Chair, Western section meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Vancouver, Canada (October 2008)
  Co-chair of special session on Knotting and Linking in Macromolecules.
  
  
• Panelist on Grant Writing, Joint Math Meetings, Project NExT Session, San Diego, CA (January 2008)
  Discussed experience with grant writing.
  
  
• Conference Co-Organizer, Banff International Research Station (May 2007)
  Co-organizer of one-week workshop on The Mathematics of Knotting and Linking in Polymer Physics and Molecular Biology.
  
  
• Special Session Co-Chair, Central section meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Cincinnati, OH (October 2006)
  Co-chair of special session on Physical Knotting and Linking.
  
  
• Content Expert, Westat National Science Foundation Grant, Denver, CO (November 2005-present)
  Assessed teaching trainer program.
  
  
• Special Session Co-Chair, Eastern section meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Pittsburgh, PA (November 2004)
  Co-chair of special session on Knots and Macromolecules.
  
  
• Panelist on Undergraduate Research, MAA Allegheny Mountain section meeting, Pittsburgh, PA (October 2004)
  Discussed designing and implementing undergraduate research programs at non-Ph.D. granting institutions.
  
  
• High School Science Fair Advisor, Andrew Meyer (2003-2004)
  Advised project on tying knots with stiff rope. Andrew was chosen as the Florida state representative for mathematics from his region. He was awarded a prize for the most unique project at the regional fair and given honorable mention at the state fair.
  
  
• Special Session Co-Chair, Western section meeting of the American Mathematical Society, San Francisco, CA (May 2003)
  Co-chair of special session on Numerical Methods, Calculations, and Simulations in Knot Theory and its Applications.
  
  
• Contributed Papers Session Co-Chair, Mathematical Association of America, Mathfest, Madison, WI (August 2001)
  Co-chair of session on Innovative Program to Improve the Teaching of Mathematics.
  
  
• Special Session Co-Chair, Western section meeting of the American Mathematical Society, Las Vegas, NV (April 2001)
  Co-chair of special session on Physical Knotting and Unknotting.
  
  
• Summer Post-Doc, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (June, July 1998, June 1999, June 2000)
  Analyzed knot energies, thickness, and knot symmetries. Analyzed viability of catheter use for treating aorta aneurysms. Salary supported by NSF.
  
  
• Conference Participant, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (October 1999)
  Participated in two-day workshop, Transformation through Academic Restructuring.
  
  
• Workshop Participant, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Pittsburgh, PA (January 1999)
  Participated in the three-day workshop, Parallel Processing on CRAY MPP Systems.
  
  
• Book Reviewer (1999)
  Reviewed a Linear Algebra text.
  
  
• Mathematics Department Summer Research Assistant, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (1996, 1997)
  Conducted research with Jonathan Simon on knot energies.
  
  
• Topology Seminar Speaker, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (1995-1997)
  Presented on Vassiliev Invariants, Knot Energies, and the Thickness of Knots.
  
  
• Section American Mathematical Society Meeting, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (March 1996)
  Participated in the meeting including a special session conducted on Physical Knot Theory.
  
  

Activities at Duquesne University (2001-2006)

• Advisor to Lambda Sigma (2002-2006). Awarded honor status each year.
  
  
• Participated in Commuter Student Association's PB&J lunches four times.
  
  
• Developed and taught Topics in Math course for science majors.
  
  
• Member of department's graduate admissions committee, mathematics colloquium committee, and student awards and recognition committee.
  
  
• Met with prospective students and had some attend classes.
  
  
• Recruited speakers for colloquium series and helped advertise talks.
  
  

Activities at Chatham College (1997-2001)

• Raised enrollments 75% in advanced mathematics courses.
  
  
• Served on the standing committees - Academic Policies Committee and Executive Committee.
  
  
• Served on the pro tem committees - Proficiencies Task Force, Committee to Write a New Computing Major, and Hiring Committees.
  
  
• Active in student activities including sporting events, lectures, student recruiting, first-year orientation, campus contests, and math events.
  
  

Honors and Awards

• Mentor Award, Allegheny Mountain Section of the MAA (2006)
  For mentoring undergraduate students, in particular for encouraging student participation at MAA meetings and being active in guiding undergraduate research projects.
  
  
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, University of Iowa (1994)
  One of twenty-five $1000 cash prizes awarded campus-wide from a pool of 1300 teaching assistants.
  
  
• Tuition Fellowship, University of Iowa (1992-1995)
  
  
• Mathematics Departmental Distinction, St. Olaf College (1992)
  
  
• American Mathematical Society Student Membership Prize, St. Olaf College (1991)
  
  

Course Development

• Developed and taught Topics in Math (with two colleagues), a module-based course on applications of mathematics in the sciences required of all science majors at Duquesne.
  
  
• Enhanced and taught the Problem-Solving Seminar, a one-credit course for mathematics majors at Duquesne.
  
  
• Integrated Maple and Blackboard into several classes at Chatham.
  
  
• Integrated use of graphing calculators into Calculus 1, Calculus 2, and Linear Algebra in 1998-1999 at Chatham.
  
  

Computer Skills

• Run computations on a 40-node departmental cluster.
  
  
• Utilize Maple and MATLAB in Multivariate Calculus, Linear Algebra, and personal research.
  
  
• Program in UNIX, Windows, and Macintosh environments.
  
  
• Write Perl scripts to automate data collection and web page production.
  
  
• Compose documents using LaTeX.
  
  
• Wrote program to implement research on SGI and Linux workstations in C++.
  
  
• Taught an introductory C++ programming course.
  
  
• Attended workshop on the use of SYBYL, a molecular modeling application for the SGI workstations.
  
  
• Studied programming, data structures, and algorithms.
  
  

Affiliations

• American Mathematical Society
  
  
• Mathematical Association of America
  
  
• Project Kaleidoscope
  
  
• Project NExT
  
  

This cv was generated using a series of Perl scripts I wrote. If you are interested in using the scripts, let me know. It might take a little hacking on your part to get everything the way you like it, but it beats doing it from scratch. It also creates a LaTeX cv with the same information. Basically, to update your cv you just need to update a few files and the rest happens magically (including the web linking).