Date: Thursday May 7, 2026
Location: Math West WMC 2800-2830
Webpage: https://www.cecm.sfu.ca/~nbruin/compday/
Registration: The event is free but registration is required. Please register by April 23 by filling out THIS SURVEY.
Organizer/contact: Nils Bruin, nbruin@sfu.ca
Description: This event consists of several presentations and tutorials that will help you to be more efficient and productive in your mathematical research.
Modern mathematical research uses computational tools in many ways: You use computers to typeset your results in the form of an article, report, poster, or presentation slides. You will also use computers to archive and keep track of your work and to share it with your collaborators and supervisor. Furthermore, there are various advanced (and some experimental!) software packages that can do advanced and complicated computations for you, in a way similar to how you used a graphing calculator for basic problems in high school. This event consists of several presentations and tutorials that show you some of these tools and how to use them. You will also have opportunities to try them yourself.
Introduction to simplicial homology by Nathan Ilten
How can you mathematically distinguish between a ball and a donut? More generally, how can you count the number of n-dimensional "holes" that a geometric shape has? Simplicial homology is a tool that provides a rigorous answer to these questions. It appears in many corners of mathematics, ranging from combinatorics and geometry to data science. I will provide a quick introduction to this fascinating subject, including several computational examples. The only prerequisite for this talk is a first course in linear algebra.
Introduction to AnyLogic simulation modelling platform by Alexander Rutherford
AnyLogic is a simulation modelling platform for discrete event, agent-based, and deterministic models. It is widely used in many industries and fields, including healthcare, transportation, and supply chains. In this tutorial you will learn how to build a discrete event simulation of a stochastic (random) model. We will begin with simple queueing theory models and move on to models of patient flow in a hospital. This will be a hands-on tutorial in which students will build models themselves on their laptop using the Personal Learning Edition of AnyLogic, which is a free download. AnyLogic has a graphical user interface that allows you to quickly build and experiment with models.
Reproducible Data Analysis and Visualization by Lars Berling
This talk presents a practical introduction to reproducible computing, with an emphasis on building analysis pipelines that are transparent, automated, and easy to maintain.
I will introduce core principles and tools, including version control with Git and workflow management using Snakemake.
In addition to the conceptual side of structuring computations, I will show how to work with (pre-)computed data and produce visualizations using pandas and seaborn.
The goal is to make reproducible workflows approachable and to provide a starting point for applying these ideas in your own work.
What are Groebner bases and what can you use them for? by Michael Monagan
Groebner bases were discovered by Bruno Buchberger in 1965.
They are a tool that we can use for computing with systems of
polynomial equations, polynomial ideals, quotient rings, and more.
They have application in all branches of mathematics.
I think pure mathematics graduate students should know
what a Groebner basis is, which is why I'm giving this talk.
In the talk I will explain what a Groebner basis is and
show some applications of Groebner bases using Maple.
Computing in Cafes: using remote computing tools to help make your programming life more flexible by Amarpreet Rattan
Do you find yourself often running programs and computing when on the go? Perhaps you are travelling, or you are simply working in a cafe or library. In any case, such fun and flexible computing environments have their drawbacks. For example, you may have access to a more powerful computer elsewhere that you would prefer to use except for the lack of flexibility. Or, when computing on the go, you may face interruption issues (you need to sleep your laptop until you are near a long term stable power source). One solution to these issues is to run programs *remotely*. In this presentation, I will explain how to use simple tools like a terminal, ssh, screen and others to allow you to do your computing more flexibly when you are on the go.
| Time | WMC 2810 | WMC 2820 | WMC 2830 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30-10:30 | Simplicial Homology | ||
| 10:30-11:00 | Coffee | ||
| 11:00-12:00 | Anylogic | ||
| 12:00-13:00 | Data visualization | ||
| 13:00-14:00 | Lunch | ||
| 14:00-15:00 | Groebner Bases | ||
| 15:00-16:00 | Computing in Cafes | ||