Applied Mathematics

Overview

The students receive thorough training in applied mathematics and scientific computing, exposure to mathematics-related subjects in science and engineering, and experience in a group project. The graduates of the Applied Mathematics program of the University of Massachusetts Amherst have been successful in securing desirable positions with companies ranging from small, local firms to large, international corporations.

Program goals and structure

The Applied Mathematics is specially designed to prepare graduates for a successful career in today's industrial/business world. Accordingly, the program is structured into the following three components:

• a core of graduate courses in applied subjects within the Department of Mathematics and Statistics;

• a selection of advanced courses in other departments including, but not limited to, these;

• a group project in which an applied scientific problem is undertaken in a colloborative effort.

Student experiences and employment

How is student life in the program? A comradery develops naturally among the students through their common coursework and the group project class, which meets weekly as a seminar and requires joint work outside class. There are around ten students in the program in any given year. This size allows the students and the faculty to interact easily and frequently. Also, the second-year students often share their experiences and contacts with the first-year students.

Where do the graduates go? While a few find the program useful for developing their mathematics prior to pursuing other advanced degrees, most graduates find jobs in industry. Typically, these jobs are in high-technology firms, often falling under the label of software development. Some recent graduates are employed by large, well-known companies: DEC, GTE, Hewlett-Packard, MIT Lincoln Labs, Pfizer. Others work for smaller, local firms, such as Artios (Ludlow, MA) and Amherst Process Instruments (Hadley, MA).