JIdeJoshua's Story

NAME: Joshua Ide
HOMETOWN: Tunkhannock, PA
MAJOR: Mathematics  

FAVORITE THING ABOUT SHIPPENSBURG:

My favorite thing about Shippensburg University is most definitely the faculty.  In particular, the faculty members of the mathematics department have provided me with an invaluable learning experience during my time at Shippensburg.

TWO INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT ME:

For the past two summers, I have had the privilege of competing in the U.S. National Collegiate Mathematics Championship.  Also, I have been a mathematics tutor at the Learning Center since December of 2009.

CAMPUS ORGANIZATIONS/SPORTS/ACTIVITIES:

I am the president of the Shippensburg chapter of Kappa Mu Epsilon, a national mathematics honor society; I am the secretary of the math club and the Shippensburg chapter of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.  Also, I am involved in the Problem Solving Club on campus and a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Advisory Board.

SCHOLARSHIP:

I receive four scholarships from the university: the William F. Morris Scholarship for Math and Sciences, the Shippensburg University Foundation Scholarship, the Benjamin S. Nispel Scholarship, and the Dr. Paul F. and Elizabeth Hoffeditz Cauffman Scholarship. All four have aided in lifting the tremendous financial burden associated with higher education, and I am enormously grateful for their support.

STUDENT RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:

I have been involved in three separate undergraduate research experiences while a student at Shippensburg. The first was with Dr. Marc Renault, where we investigated Fibonacci sequences in the modular setting. This project resulted in a research article that was recently submitted to a mathematics research journal for publication. The second research project was with Dr. Doug Ensley, where we used the Google PageRank algorithm to model college football rankings. Finally, I am currently working with Dr. Lenny Jones and we are looking to enumerate invariant subspaces of finite dimensional Euclidean spaces. Each undergraduate research project has allowed me the opportunity to give talks at both regional and national conferences.

MOST MEANINGFUL LEARNING EXPERIENCE AT SHIP:

Although I feel that I've learned a tremendous amount in my mathematics classes, I feel each of my undergraduate research projects has provided me with supplementary learning that cannot be found in the classroom setting.  I am grateful for having had the opportunity to participate in them.

COMMUNITY SERVICE/VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES:

In the past, I have volunteered to tutor secondary students in mathematics at the Shippensburg Public Library.

WHAT I DO FOR FUN:

During my spare time, I enjoy working on recreational mathematics problems and spending time with friends and family.

MY PLANS AFTER GRADUATION:

I am currently in the process of applying to graduate programs in mathematics. I hope to eventually obtain a Ph.D. in mathematics with the goal of teaching at the collegiate level.