M3: Mathematics Matters at ̽»¨Ö±²¥
*** Math Matters Workshops for 2026 in our new HUB! Thursday, April 23rd ***
April 23, 2026
Keynote Speaker: Dr Nathan Shank, "Red, Green, Blue: When Triangles Are Forced to Share"
Given a set of red, green, and blue points and a test point in the plane, we ask: "Can we always trap the test point inside a collection of rainbow triangles?" And, how many ways can we do it? Even better -- when does it not happen?
̽»¨Ö±²¥ will host its 23rd annual M3: Mathematics Matters at ̽»¨Ö±²¥, which is a special workshop for area high school students interested in mathematics and computer science. Each high school in the Lehigh Valley is invited to select five students and a mathematics teacher to be our guest on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. All students attending the workshop will be able to attend two of three interactive sessions. Since there are significant hands-on experiences, we must try to limit participation to five students per school. We recommend that these students be current first years, sophomores, or juniors. The entire program will be held on the Main Street campus of ̽»¨Ö±²¥. A complimentary lunch is included for all. Your students will enjoy eating in the cafeteria in the Haupert Union Building (HUB). For anyone with dietary restrictions, please read about the .
Session Abstracts
A. No Fair! The Mathematics of Voting
Presented by Professors Fraboni and Moller
Voting sounds simple, just pick a winner. But when there are more than two candidates, choosing a fair voting method turns out to be a surprisingly deep mathematical problem, with no perfect
solution in sight.
B. Pigs and Probability
Presented by Professors Curley and Farris
In this interactive session, we will play with pig-shaped dice as we explore aspects of probability and statistics.
C. Ladder Puzzles and Permutations!
Presented by Professor Talbott
Come learn about permutations and how they can be used in a ladder puzzle, where we can adjust the size of the puzzle to be as large as we want and there are multiple ways to change the difficulty
of the puzzle by slightly adjusting the rules.
Schedule of the Day
8:30 am Registration - HUB - 4tth floor, room 450A
9:00 Keynote Address, Dr Nathan Shank
9:50 - 10:50 Interactive Session I
11:00 -12:00 Lunch Break, The Star dining hall in the HUB
(A table will be reserved for Teachers to talk with ̽»¨Ö±²¥ Faculty.)
12:00 -1:00 Interactive Session II
1:10 - 1:30 Conclusion of the Workshop
Registration
Registration deadline is Friday, April 17 using our .
If you have any questions contact Erik Csikos. Watch this space for more details as we get closer to the date.