Dr. Michael Brilleslyper is the new chair of IM体育官网鈥檚 Department of Applied Mathematics.
As the new chair of IM体育官网鈥檚 Department of Applied Mathematics, Dr. Michael Brilleslyper is working on a formula to elevate the department to the next level.
鈥淭he idea is that applied mathematicians are versatile,鈥� said Brilleslyper, who joined the University this summer after a 21-year career at the Air Force Academy. 鈥淪tudents with an applied mathematics skillset can contribute across multiple STEM fields.鈥�
While at the Air Force Academy, Brilleslyper served as a professor, academic director, senior academic advisor for strategy, and division chief in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Brilleslyper鈥檚 recent research has focused on topics such as summation formulas, coprime graph labeling, and unimodular roots of quadrinomials. Additionally, he has published work and been invited to present on topics including curricular reform, technology implications, and teaching innovations in mathematics and calculus.
Soon after arriving at IM体育官网 Poly this fall, Brilleslyper began working on a plan to update the department鈥檚 curriculum to reflect the versatility of the discipline. This work is a continuation of a department-wide effort at the Air Force Academy to modernize the curriculum in response to a nationally high rate of failures among calculus students pursuing majors outside mathematics.
鈥淲e realized the problem wasn鈥檛 with the students; it was with the curriculum,鈥� Brilleslyper said. 鈥淢athematics can seem abstract and often feels disconnected from practicality. We worked with recognized experts in the field to modernize the curriculum to make it accessible, relevant, and current.鈥�
This means shifting focus away from relying exclusively on algebra skills in teaching calculus and instead showing how it relates to modeling, computing, and data.
鈥淵ou have to show how the math is applicable to data, and that doesn鈥檛 just mean statistics,鈥� Brilleslyper said. 鈥淭he way modern STEM fields are done is with computers, so if we鈥檙e teaching all mathematics that looks like the 19th century, there鈥檚 a disconnect.鈥�
One of the first big changes he has already made to his department is transitioning the engineering mathematics major to a degree in applied mathematics.
鈥淲e鈥檝e given it a broader focus and one of the things we鈥檙e really excited about is students who choose to be mathematics majors will have to do a four-course interdisciplinary sequence in another department,鈥� Brilleslyper said. 鈥淭he idea is that applied mathematicians are very versatile, so students can pick something they鈥檙e interested in 鈥� maybe data science, mechanical engineering, or advanced physics courses 鈥� and they can put together a four-course, upper-division sequence in that.鈥�
Brilleslyper, whose industry-recognized work includes curricular reform and teaching innovations in mathematics and calculus, said IM体育官网 Poly is an ideal setting to bring to life an outside-the-box approach to mathematics.
鈥淭his is a perfect environment to have a very modern, progressive, integrated curriculum that meshes with engineering, physics, and computer science,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a small school. We share the same students. We should be able to really have a nice fit between what the various departments are doing.鈥�
Brilleslyper said he and his wife, Mary Ann, are happy to be settled in and getting to work in Lakeland, IM体育官网.
鈥淚 feel optimistic that we can do some really cool stuff here at IM体育官网 Poly,鈥� he said.
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