History and mission statement
Fields Institute for Mathematical Sciences:
Founded in 1992, the Fields Institute plays a central role in ``promoting
contact and collaboration between professional mathematicians and
the increasing number of users of mathematics". It supports
research in pure and applied mathematics and statistics. Thematic
programs of international interest, academic workshops, and prizes
are organized by the Institute.
Of specific interest to the business community is the Commercial
and Industrial Mathematics program. This program seeks to develop
synergistic links between mathematicians and industrial partners.
The Fields-MITACS Industrial Problem-Solving Workshop (FMIPW) is
a new initiative in this direction.
MITACS
MITACS leads Canada's effort in the generation, application and
commercialization of new mathematical tools and methodologies within
a world-class research program. The network initiates and fosters
linkages with industrial, governmental, and not-for-profit organizations
that require mathematical technologies to deal with problems of
strategic importance to Canada.
MITACS helps link academia, industry and the public sector, with
a view to developing cutting edge mathematical tools vital to a
knowledge-based economy. It sponsors research partnerships, industrial
interchanges, workshops, and training programs.
MITACS (Mathematics of Information
Technology and Complex Systems)
What the workshop is about:
Objectives:
The objective of the FMIPW is to connect industries with faculty,
postdocs and graduate students who have expertise in industrial
case-studies. This interaction is fostered in the specific context
of a problem-solving session over 5 days. The case-studies in
question have a significant mathematical or statistical content.
The interaction between industry and academia has many potential
benefits for both. Academics learn about interesting potential
research problems and find application for their existing tools.
Industries get access to some of the most experienced mathematical
modellers and problem-solvers on the continent.
Format:
The FMIPW will occur over 5 days. Participants will include
between 36-50 academic experts (including mathematicians and statisticians),
and experts from industry. On the first day, the industrial sponsors
will present their problem statements. The academic experts will
divide into teams of 6-10 people each, with one team assigned
to each problem. The teams spend the next 3 days collaborating
on solutions to their problem, and present their solution on the
final day of the workshop.
Deliverables:
At the end of the week, the academic experts make a presentation
consisting of the problem restatement and their solution. This
is a summary of results; the teams also prepare reports for the
industrial sponsors.
Proposed Problems:
Proposed Problem 1 - Calidus-Fathom.
Position Sensing Problem
Proposed Problem 2 - Mapleridge
Capital Corporation
Irreversibility of Financial Time Series
Proposed Problem 3 Farouk
Eshragi Acculogic Inc.
Optimization Problem, Two Dimensional Linear Motor based Flying
Probes Testers with Articulating Probe Modules
Proposed Problem 4 J.L. Perez Velazquez,
Adam Teitelbaum, Vera Nenadovic
Neuroscience and Mental Health Programme, Brain and Behaviour
Centre,Hospital for Sick Children,
-Bounds in the variability of brain coordinated activity in health
and disease
Proposed Problem
5 - Andrew JE Seely, Alexandre Iolov, Andre Longtin
Fractal Variability Problem
Earlier Industrial Problem Solving Workshops:
June 22-26, 2009
OCCAM-Fields-MITACS,
Math-in-Medicine Study Group
Biomedical Problems Solving Workshop
August 11-15, 2008
Fields-MITACS Industrial
Problem-Solving Workshop (FMIPW)
August 14-18, 2006
Fields-MITACS Industrial
Problem-Solving Workshop (FMIPW)
What's in it for the participating company:
The intellectual dedication of many expert problem-solvers during
the workshop to the phenomenon of interest to the company yields
many benefits. These range from partial or complete solutions to
the problem of interest, to long-term collaboration between the
companies and the participating academics. The forum is an informal
but intensive opportunity for companies to take advantage of the
mathematical and scientific computing expertise of participating
researchers.
Often the academic reformulation and solution of the problem enables
the company to find inexpensive in-house strategies. Similar workshops
in Europe and North America have saved participating companies hundreds
of thousands of dollars.
In addition, the academic experts typically use state-of-the-art
scientific and technological tools, which may prove useful to the
company in other contexts as well.
The workshop also serves as a mechanism for recruitment of talented
graduate students; the company sponsors can watch this pool of potential
employees in action!
Why do academic experts participate?
The potential benefits of the FMIPW to professional mathematicians
involved are myriad. They range from an exposure to interesting
mathematical problems arising outside the confines of academia to
an opportunity to try new scientific tools in novel application
areas. Previous workshops have seen such involvement turn into long-term
collaborations, often leading to journal publications and new research
directions.
Commitment of FMIPW:
The Fields Institute and MITACS will provide the academic expertise
and infrastructure for this workshop. The recruitment of appropriate
faculty and graduate students to best meet the needs of the problems
will be done by the Fields Institute.
Commitment of industrial sponsors:
Each participating company contributes a problem with mathematical
or statistical content for discussion during the workshop. They
also commit a representative to participate in the workshop during
the problem-solving phase. The company may sponsor part of the FMIPW
through a one-time or ongoing financial contribution.
List of Participants as of August 11, 2010:
| Full Name |
University Name |
|
| Anvari, Vahid |
York University |
|
| Arabzadeh Esfarjani, Sanaz |
University of Toronto |
|
| Baddour, Natalie |
University of Ottawa |
|
| Beckett, Brian |
Calidus-Fathom Machinery Inc. |
|
| Bohun, C. Sean |
University of Ontario Institute of Technology |
|
| Bose, Chris |
University of Victoria |
|
| Breward, Chris |
University of Oxford |
|
| Butt, Nabeel |
University of Western Ontario |
|
| Chang, Dong Eui |
University of Waterloo |
|
| Chen, Stephen |
York University |
|
| Chen, Tian |
University of Ontario Institute of Technology |
|
| Claridge, Jonathan |
University of Washington |
|
| Dhote, Rakesh |
University of Toronto |
|
| Dhote, Sharvari |
|
|
| Eshragi, Farouk |
Acculogic Inc. |
|
| Foxall, Eric |
University of Victoria |
| Fuerst, Carlton |
General Motors |
| Gustafsson, Jonathan |
McMaster University |
| Hamedani, Hamideh |
Shahid Beheshti University |
| Huang, Haohan |
York University |
| Huang, Huaxiong |
York University |
| Iolov, Alexandre |
University of Ottawa |
| Jadallah, Hala |
|
| Kavazovic, Zanin |
Université Laval |
| Ketelaar, Christiaan |
Southern Methodist University |
| Kloosterman, Matt |
UOIT |
| Kohandel, Mohammad |
University of Waterloo |
| Lewis, Gregory |
University of Ontario Institute of Technology |
| Mahmood, Asif |
State University of New York at Buffalo |
| Majumdar, Apala |
University of Oxford |
| Marcotte, Odile |
Université de Montréal |
| Melnik, Roderick |
Wilfrid Laurier University |
| Miasnikof, Peter |
University of Toronto |
| Miscoi, Gheorghe |
Free International University of Moldova |
| Morfin Ramírez, Mario |
University of Toronto |
| Ng, Eddie |
Mapleridge Capital Corporation |
| Nigam, Nilima |
Simon Fraser University |
| Perez Velazquez, Jose Luis |
University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children |
| Phipps, Colin |
University of Waterloo |
| Pourziaei, Bobby |
York University |
| Pugh, Mary C. |
University of Toronto |
| Seely, Andrew |
University of Ottawa |
| Sivaloganathan, Sivabal |
University of Waterloo |
| Stoica, Cristina |
Wilfrid Laurier University |
| Tan, Yongji |
Fudan University |
| Teitelbaum, Adam |
Sick Kids |
| Westbrook, Rex |
University of Calgary |
| Worku, Hailemichael Metiku |
University of Hasselt |
| Zia, Amin |
University of Toronto |
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