The Vertical Integration of Industrial Mathematics, the WPI Experience

Abstract

The need for modeling and simulating emerging technologies, financial products, biological, or social phenomena has dramatically increased in the recent years and thus has substantially expanded the need for mathematically trained professionals. At the same time, reports concerning 4-year college and university undergraduate mathematics programs describe a drop in the number of mathematics bachelor’s degrees in the US. Thus, the need to find new ways to attract students to mathematics is a very real challenge for educators. Several authors show how industrial problems can be used to introduce new topics in mathematics, while others motivate the need to prepare students for jobs outside academia (Benkowski 1994). The recent SIAM Report (SIAM MII 2012)gives a clear picture of the mathematics used in industry.