The American Mathematical Society recently published an article written by Carol E. Fan describing ways to succeed as a mathematician entering industry work. Carol E. Fan earned her doctorate in hyperbolic geometry from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She worked as an academic before transitioning to supply chain research at the RAND Corporation. She has... Continue Reading →
Long Day’s Journey into Industry
by Dr. Sam Ferguson, Research Mathematician at Metron, Inc. Visions of Cover LettersDuring my fourth year of graduate study at the University of Iowa, the herculean effort that older students were putting into job applications became apparent. The stress wrinkling their brows and the stacks of cover letters that crowded their offices gave telltale signs... Continue Reading →
From Mathematician to Electricity Trader
by Brian N. Maurizi, PhD; Electricity Trader, Saracen Energy Advisors ~ I received a PhD in Theoretical Mathematics, but I had always been interested in energy and commodity markets. Toward the end of graduate school, I knew that I wanted a career outside academics, and I was most interested in the energy industry. Immediately upon... Continue Reading →
Are you thinking of working in industry? – AMS Blogs
By Sharon Arroyo and Les Button Opportunities in industry for people with hard-core mathematical skills can be very rewarding. In this article, we give our perspective on how to search for a job in industry. We first discuss how to match your skills and career goals with a role. We then give information about the... Continue Reading →
Alternative Career Paths in Research Development and Institutional Data
By Holly Zullo, PhD; Associate Director, Research Development, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah ~ “Use your skills in a new way” began a job ad that caught my attention and then altered the course of my career. The position was Associate Director of the Office of Scientific Writing and Institutional Data at Huntsman Cancer... Continue Reading →
Inside Out: A Value-Based Approach to Industry Job Hunting
Dr. Vrushali Bokil, Professor, Mathematics Department, Oregon State University ~ Students looking for jobs in industry are often advised to develop soft skills, effective communication abilities, cross-disciplinary collaborative techniques, and interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary training. What jobseekers do not typically hear about is the need to understand who they are, what they want, and their core values, strengths, and... Continue Reading →
From Set Theory To Self-Driving Cars
By Zachariah Tyree, PhD (Research Scientist at General Motors R&D) ~ I have a PhD in Pure Mathematics. A common sentiment within this field is that Pure Mathematics sits somewhere above Applied Mathematics and quite a distance above other scientific disciplines. The ranking is even implicit in the name “Pure Mathematics”, as opposed to “Adulterated... Continue Reading →
A Winding Path from Complex Analysis to Computational Biology
by Robert Thurman, Principal Computational Biologist, Seattle Genetics, Bothell, WA ~ Computational biologists come in two types: those who were originally trained mathematically or computationally and then gravitated towards biological problems, and those who were formally trained on the biological side but couldn’t stay away from computers. That generalization is slightly dated, because many colleges... Continue Reading →
How I became a Data Scientist
by Bolor Turmunkh, PhD, Data Scientist at Uptake Technologies Inc., Chicago, IL ~ First Steps At the beginning of my fifth year of graduate school at the University of Illinois, with thoughts of impending graduation, I started thinking for perhaps the first time in my life about who I wanted to be. I had lived... Continue Reading →
