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Applied Mathematics |Прикладная математика

LESSON 3

Read the text: PRESIDENT APPLIED MATHEMATICS, INC.

William Browning is president of the technical consulting firm, Applied Mathematics, Inc., located in Gales Ferry, Connecticut. Since starting the company in 1980, he has worked in the area of operations research, primarily, developing custom software for real time decision systems. About 85% of his work is for the government and about 75% of that is for the United States and United Kingdom Submarine Force. The office in Gales Ferry currently consists of nine technical people, including three with Ph.D. degrees in mathematics and two with Ph.D. degrees in physics.

The systems he develops must perform as quickly as possible in real time and depend heavily on the mathematical areas of optimization, probability, and numerical analysis. These systems make recommendations based on the most recently available data, and update frequently based on new incoming data. For instance, Bill recently worked with the Coast Guard on systems they use to perform search and rescue operations. When someone is lost at sea either due to a ship wreck or to falling overboard, a distress call is received by the Coast Guard. The person may be drifting in the water or in a raft and the Coast Guard needs to know the ocean surface currents to determine likely places to search. They fly to the last known position and drop buoys. The Coast Guard systems use data collected by satellite from the buoys to determine drift rates. Since there is a premium on time, the systems must work with poor first estimates to give a good idea of where to begin the search. Although better information may develop over time, these first estimates are critical. The mathematical techniques used include optimization, statistical interpolation and filtering.

Bill has a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mathematics from Purdue University. When he finished his Ph.D. in 1974, he considered academic employment until he met Burgess Rhodes, who at that time was with Wagner, Associates, at an AMS meeting. Bill's thesis advisor, Leonard D. Berkovitz, had worked at RAND, and gave Bill good advice on careers in industry. Bill worked at Wagner, Associates for six years before starting his company.

Working for a consulting firm requires a broad breath of mathematical and computer knowledge, as well as good written and oral communication skills. It requires working in an interdisciplinary group and it is useful to have some exposure to how non- mathematicians use mathematics. He sees a continuing need for technically trained people who can work on interdisciplinary projects. Clients of consulting firms are usually the government or large firms, who don't want the expense of developing the expertise in- house that is needed on certain technical problems.

1. Match the left part with the right:

2. Complete the sentences with the suggested words: drifting , position, surface, wreck

When someone is lost at sea either due to a ship _________or to falling overboard, a distress call is received by the Coast Guard. The person may be _____________in the water or in a raft and the Coast Guard needs to know the ocean______________ currents to determine likely places to search. They fly to the last known_____________ and drop buoys.