Jeffrey Paul Wheeler, Ph.D.
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The Spring 2015 Math 1103 - BIG Problems (Mathematical Problems in Business Industry and Government) course was one of 30 selected to participate in the Mathematical Association of America's pilot PIC Math program, Preparation for Industiral Careers in Mathematical Sciences (Funding for this project is provided by NSF grant DMS-1345499).
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Student Feedback
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"I literally knew absolutely nothing about any of this stuff before this class, so to reiterate, I wouldn't possibly trade it for anything. Pretty sure it was largely responsible for me getting my job too (which starts in July).
I will be working for Aon Hewitt (Radford division) as an Equity Valuation Consultant. Aon is an enormous risk and reinsurance company and in the job I will be utilizing VBA (Excel Coding) to create macros for manipulating big data. Some of the methods I will be using, I'm told, is the Monte Carlo for simulating (and forecasting) stocks so that way we can create an optimal stock-based compensation packages for C-level executives. If the stock values are forecasted incorrectly, the executive's pay won't necessarily be indicative of their successes or failures (which stockholders would not appreciate).
Clearly, from this class, I will be able to harness my newly acclaimed big data experience with statistical methods (which monte carlo is one). Additionally, they do much of their analysis through excel and vba macros, which I created to run the deliverable for this class. Lastly, it's heavy in consulting and dealing with clients, as such the experience I gained presenting in front of several 'executives' and classmates will be invaluable going forward."
--Andrew Lash, Pitt Math '15
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"In the spring of 2015, I enrolled in Math 1103 with Dr. Wheeler with no indications as to how the class would
be structured, taught, or graded. The things I learned in the 15 weeks that followed
(and a few extra days spent during a summer trip to Washington D.C.) eventually formed the basis
of my first real interview for a full-time position.
I was able to build a stronger resume and talking points around the team-work,
innovation, problem-solving, and client-interaction skills that I garnered through the course of Math 1103.
Consequently, my interviewers, of which there were 3, considered these new-found skills to be of great desire.
Interestingly, I whole-heartedly believe that Math 1103, a pilot-program math course
offered by the Math department in the Dietrich School, better prepared me for my career in engineering than any
other single course I took at Pitt, including the countless courses I took through the Swanson School of Engineering.
Rarely does a student get the opportunity to truly impact the business, industry, or government sectors by tackling
real-life challenges. This experience with Dr. Wheeler in Math 1103 has greatly helped to cultivate my career in
engineering, which I very much look forward to starting in January 2016."
-Michael Garver, Engineering Science (Engineering Physics)
Swanson School of Engineering, Graduating Dec 2016
Company: Delphi Automotive (Warren, Ohio)
Department: Reliability Engineering
Position: Problem Solver