CNAS

University of California, Riverside to host AMS meeting

The University of California, Riverside will host the fall 2009 meeting of the Western Section of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) on November 7-8. UC Riverside Professor Michel Lapidus, Associate Secretary of the AMS and meeting organizer, says this Western Section meeting will be an international  gathering of hundreds of mathematicians who will give and hear presentations.

“Scientific Computing for Movie Special Effects," by Joseph Teran of the University of California, Los Angeles, is the title of the Plenary Lecture, which is held on Nov. 7 at 11:10 a.m. in Interdisciplinary Building North, room 1020. Dr. Teran writes, "As
computers get faster and architectures evolve, simulation of the dynamics of natural phenomena is becoming an increasingly indispensable tool for creating virtual worlds in movie special effects and video games. For example, nearly all companies involved in effects have a team dedicated to simulation-based dynamics of water, fire, smoke, explosions, rigid body dynamics and deformable/elastic bodies etc. I will talk about the scientific computing techniques including computational fluid dynamics, computational
solid dynamics, rigid body simulation, collision detection/resolution, etc., used to make the viewing experience more realistic and controllable for the movie maker." Teran was featured as one of the "20 Best Brains Under 40" by Discover Magazine in December 2008 (http://discovermagazine.com/2008/dec/20-best-brains-under-40).

The Mathematics Dept Chair, Dr. Vyjayanthi Chari, the UCR CNAS Dean, Dr. Thomas Baldwin, and the UCR Chancellor, Dr. Tim White, will be giving introductory speeches before the Plenary Lecture.

There will be eighteen Special Sessions, some of which will present research conducted by students. Session organizers and co-organizers from UC Riverside are
Marta Asaeda, John Baez, Jack R. Bennett, Julie Bergner, Aviv Censor, Mei-Chu Chang, Vyjayanthi Chari, Owen Dearricott, Vasiliy Dolgushev, Wee
Liang Gan, Jacob Greenstein, James Kelliher, Michel L. Lapidus, Robert G. Niemeyer, Mohammed Ait Nouh, Yat-Sun Poon, Ziv Ran, Fred Wilhelm, Bun Wong,
and Qi Zhang.

The meeting provides an opportunity for mathematicians in all stages of their careers to connect with researchers in the field, meet colleagues,
mentors and students.

The registration desk will be located in the Surge Building, and will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, and 8:00 a.m. to noon on Sunday, November 8. More information about the meeting can be found on the web at http://www.ams.org/amsmtgs/2163_program.html .

Contacts:
Annette Emerson or Mike Breen
AMS Public Awareness Office
paoffice@ams.org
401-455-4000

UC Riverside Mathematics Department

Mona Rynders or Monica Rodriguez
http://mathdept.ucr.edu/
(951) 827-2978 or (951) 827-3019