Mathematical problems arising in industrial applications typically embody complicated, interdisciplinary issues of formulation, analysis and solution. The resolution of these problems often have a societal impact. There are many opportunities provided by real-world problems for high-quality research, contributions to practical results, and rewarding scientific careers. A small group of graduate students and researchers were invited to attend the second in a series of workshops entitled Minorities and Applied Mathematicians - Connections to Industry and National Laboratories. This workshop was held September 17-19 at the Mathematical Science Research Institute (MSRI) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The purpose of the workshop was twofold: to illustrate how mathematicians in national laboratory settings address real world problems; and to discuss the steps needed to train future applied mathematicians, at all levels and in varied environments. The organizers were James C. Turner Jr. (Arizona State University), Raymond L. Johnson (University of Maryland), and David H. Bailey (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory).
The Program
     The workshop presented its participants with vignettes of a few of the areas of research being addressed by the speakers. For example, Tony Drummon, a UCLA professor, described the computational challenges involved in the development of an earth system weather model, and Kevin Greenaugh, a DOE engineer, delineated the modeling of accident-induced buoyancy flows in multilevel nuclear facilities. In addition, there were also special invited topical lectures. These included “A Flavor of Computational Mathematics” by Rosemary Renaut (ASU), “A View from the Front Lines: Computational Mathematics in the Real World” by David Serafini (LBNL), and “Challenges of Future High-End Scientific Computing” by David Bailey (LBNL).
Some Quotes
     Tasha Inniss, an applied mathematics graduate student at the University of Maryland, found David's talk very useful. “It was a great road map detailing what one has to do and need to know to be a more productive mathematician,” Tasha said. “He had a down-to-earth style and was very, very informative.”

Among David's pointers:
Writing software is the dominant part of computational mathematics in the real world.
Writing good software is much harder than graduate school leads you to believe.
Interdisciplinary is the name of the game.

     “We're trying to interest students in general - and minorities in particular - in exploring applied mathematics as an area of study and as a profession,” said Raymond Johnson, one of the co-organizers of the conference.
     “A workshop such as this can serve as a valuable connection to applied problems being considered by our national laboratories,” said co-organizer James Turner. The ASU professor stated that he found summer employment at Los Alamos National Laboratory a valuable experience. Thus, he has put forth great efforts to involve graduate students in conferences such as this and the “Graduate Student Forum” that he organized at ASU last April. Turner said, “mathematicians work alone or in small groups among themselves. It is my hope that through these kinds of exposures and activities, our future mathematicians will work more with teams of other scientists and engineers to solve interesting and challenging new problems.” Turner also cited that before the end of this workshop a new collaborative effort had embarked, between a junior mathematician and a senior engineer.
     Program manager Fred Howes of the Department of Energy, said he thought the speakers did a good job of connecting with the student audience. DOE hosts an ongoing series of such conferences, Howes said, as a part of a continuing effort to draw more students to the national labs.
Attendance
     The conference was well presented by ASU students and faculty. Mathematics graduate students in attendance were John Burke, Mustafa Erdem, Marguerite George, Justin R. Hernandez, and Erika Livingston. ASU faculty included Joaquin Bustoz, Rosemary Renaut, and James Turner.¦
MSRI & LBNL Hosts Second in Series of Industrial Workshops.