Institute for Mathematics IMA and its Applications 2 016 2 017 The Year in Review From the Director It has been almost organizing seminars, holding working please see ima.umn.edu/programs/annual six months since groups, and running tutorials. Many of the for program information. Participation in I assumed the long-term visitors toured the optics labs in these activities is strongly encouraged. directorship of the the University of Minnesota Department IMA, and this has of Electrical and Computer Engineering. New initiatives at the IMA been a time of rapid The timeliness of the theme was evident For 2017-18, we are beginning a multiyear change. We are from the buzz of activity in Lind Hall, collaboration in data science sponsored by charting a new course, featuring vibrant discussions that carried Target Corporation and Cargill, Inc. The and with it, new over to coffee breaks. grants fund six industrial postdocs, who sources of funding. At This past summer, we ran our second will spend half of their time working on the same time, we are continuing to apply Math-to-Industry Boot Camp which again projects directed by industrial scientists the basic principles that have served the generated a large number of applications and the other half at the IMA under faculty IMA so well over its 35-year history. I’m for the 32 spots. This six-week program for mentorship working on their research delighted to report that these efforts are Ph.D. students in mathematics provides program. Augmenting this program are succeeding, thanks in large part to the seeds the technical and interpersonal skills that semester-long focus periods that include sown by our prior director, Fadil Santosa. students need in order to transition into workshops, long-term visitors, and training But before we look ahead, I want to step industry, along with experience working in programs. Our first thematic program back and review a successful and exciting teams on industry-sponsored projects. Our begins this spring 2018 and will focus on 2016-2017 academic year at the IMA. third boot camp will run again this June. Spatial-Temporal Data Science. Plans We also held a number of hot topics for the fall 2018 semester are currently workshops, including Transdisciplinary Mathematics and Optics underway and will be announced in the Foundations of Data Science in September Since its founding in 1982, the IMA near future. 2016, which focused on the mathematical structured its programming around a central The IMA has had a long history of ties underpinnings in this growing field, and research theme each year that brought to industry, and we are excited by this novel Mathematical Modeling of 2D Materials in together leaders in the field. The 2016- and diversified funding model for the IMA. May 2017. 2017 year was the last such annual thematic These interactions also bring us closer program, focusing on Mathematics and to the mathematical challenges that are Optics and organized by Gang Bao, Shanhui A more responsive IMA bubbling up in the private sector. Fan, Graeme Milton, Shari Moskow and After the NSF’s decision to ramp In addition to the consortium, we are Michael Weinstein. It brought together down funding of the IMA, we decided to building further connections with the a diverse group of experimentalists, change format to a broader scope of yearly U.S. Department of Energy, exploring engineers, mathematicians, and physicists programming that could address the rapidly mathematical foundations of problems interested in emerging technologies arising evolving landscape of applied mathematics originating in the national labs. Finally, in optical science, including plasmonics, and to more directly address the needs of our Participating Organization program metamaterials, and advanced optical our academic and industrial partners. After remains vital to the IMA, providing imaging. The close connection between a call for proposals to the community, a numerous opportunities for support and theoretical scientists and experimentalists group of five major activities were formed, engagement at the IMA, and we continue created an exciting collaborative and many of these programs will run to explore new ways to deliver more value atmosphere throughout the year. through the spring and summer of 2018. to our partners. We selected six postdoctoral fellows While only half complete, they’ve already On behalf of the mathematical sciences to participate in the annual program. In provided valuable insights into effective community, I would like to express deep addition, several long-term visitors spent collaboration models. The major programs gratitude to Fadil for his vision and positive a semester or the entire year at the IMA, are listed on the back cover of this issue; energy over the last decade. In particular, his cultivation of connections to industry has laid the groundwork for future new directions. He will continue to impact activities as the director of special projects. 1 2016-2017 Annual Program Year The Year in Review Finally, having served as deputy director FISCAL YEAR of the IMA for two years and now as 2 Collaboration July 1, 2016, to June 13, 2017 director, it has been striking how many 4 Public Lecture Series PROGRAM YEAR colleagues have expressed their strong September 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017 5 IMA Prize Winner affection for the IMA, especially in its 6 Hot Topics Workshops Exploring www.ima.umn.edu ability to nurture the formative stages Cutting-Edge Research Areas of many careers. This sense of collective Institute for Mathematics ownership of the IMA remains a powerful 8 Data Science Fellowship IMA and its Applications force in the community and will help to 9 Research Experience ensure that the IMA continues as a center 10 In Memoriam Hans Weinberger of excellence in the mathematical sciences. We look forward to a bright future. 10 Support the IMA 2016–2017 Annual PRogram Workshops Mathematical and Physical Models of Nonlinear Optics Mathematics and Mathematical and Numerical Modeling in Optics Optical Imaging and Inverse Optics Problems Novel Optical Materials Optics and photonics are technologies that impact Emerging Topics in Optics society in a multitude of areas, including information and Other IMA Programs communications, imaging and sensing, healthcare, energy, HOT TOPICS WORKSHOPS manufacturing, and national security. September 14–16, 2016 • Transdisciplinary Foundations of Building upon impressive progress in fundamental optical science and in Data Science nanotechnology in recent years, optics and photonics have become drivers of May 16–19, 2017 • Mathematical technological innovation and economic growth. Modeling of 2D Materials The growing importance of the field is highlighted in the recent National Research Council report on Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for SPECIAL EVENTS Our Nation, and the 2015 International Year of Light focused on raising global January 23–March 10, 2017 • IMA awareness of light-based technologies. Additionally, 2016 marked the 100th Data Science Fellowship anniversary of the The Optical Society. February 03, 2017 • Women in Data The field of optics and photonics encompasses the fundamental science of Science (WiDS) Conference light and its applications, and the long history of the field’s interactions with May 15, 2017 • Smart Urban mathematics covers topics ranging from ray optics to the classic theory of the Transportation Forum electromagnetic spectrum to the quantum nature of light. June 19–July 28, 2017 • Math-to- The IMA thematic program addressed a wide range of questions that have Industry Boot Camp II developed from the study of optical phenomena and connected mathematicians June 26–30, 2017 • IMA-MathCEP with the interdisciplinary community of scientists working in the field. Workshops Math Modeling Camp for High participants ranged from pure and applied mathematicians to physicists and School Students computer scientists. Workshop themes introduced participants to related June 29–July 01, 2017 • Recent applications, tools, and new techniques. Advances and Challenges in “The presence of many experts in the physics of optics and electromagnetics Discontinuous Galerkin Methods gave me an outstanding opportunity to gain an insight into the physical aspect of and Related Approaches themes related to my research. This will allow me to pay an increasing attention to July 24–August 11, 2017 • Industrial the physical properties of the models I analyze in my research,” said a Mathematical Mathematics Workshop and Clinic: and Numerical Modeling in Optics workshop participant. Collaboratively Tackling Emerging Problems in Industry The IMA thematic program also served to highlight the importance of topological insulators, a subject that was recognized by the 2016 Nobel Prize in August 14–18, 2017 • Phaseless Imaging in Theory and Practice: Physics, with talks on the topic arising at many of the workshops. Realistic Models, Fast Algorithms, “Not only did this introduce many mathematicians to the subject, but also and Recovery Guarantees the workshop on Novel Optical Materials served to forge links between people August 21–25, 2017 • Sage Days: working on topological insulators in mechanics and those working on it in optics,” Opening Workshop for a Year of said organizer Graeme Milton (University of Utah). “That workshop also helped Coding Sprints forge links between people working on materials and inverse problems with ‘time- interfaces,’ or the material properties switch at given times, and people working Annual Program Organizers in the somewhat closely mathematically-related area of ‘hyperbolic materials’ that GANG BAO / Zhejiang University received attention due to their capacity for subwavelength resolution.” SHANHUI FAN / Stanford University Mathematics and Optics was the 35th, and final, annual thematic program held GRAEME MILTON / University of Utah by the IMA, with more than 25 long-term visitors and 10 postdoctoral fellows SHARI MOSKOW / Drexel University in residence. As one of the first two math institutes in the country, the IMA is MICHAEL WEINSTEIN / Columbia pleased to have set such high standards for how to run programs and workshops University of this scope.