By Laura Nelson

Four Sul Ross State Univ. Rio Grande College mathematics scholars recently attended the Mathematical Association of America Texas Section meeting at the Univ. of North Texas in Denton.

Led by Dr. Michael Ortiz, RGC Professor of Mathematics, Darissa Cervantes of Del Rio and Jonas De Los Santos, Ashley Quinones, and Cody Santos, all of Eagle Pass, attended undergraduate student talks that covered a variety of topics including outer billiards, moneyball, the Pythagorean cult, N95 masks, arithmagic squares and furniture coupons as well as faculty presentations on card tricks, torus knots, machine learning, teaching dual credit and cheap real estate in the hyperbolic plane. Ortiz gave a talk entitled “On Ramp to the Fourth Dimension” about a graduate course he teaches on regular polytopes for students earning a master’s in education.

Coming from small communities, the RGC math scholars enjoyed the opportunity to meet peers and learn about perspectives from other universities that prepare teaching professionals. Ortiz said, “The RGC students came away inspired by the richness of the mathematical culture they experienced, as lived by a diverse community of scholars and students from across the state. They are eager to prepare their own presentation next year.”

RGC representatives at the conference included from left to right Jonas De Los Santos, Darissa Cervantes, Dr. Michael Ortiz, Ashley Quinones, and Cody Santos. Courtesy photo