Institute participates in UCLA program for high-achieving math undergrads

Students' research suggests new opportunities to utilize geographic data in the testimonies

For the second consecutive year, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute was selected to participate as a sponsor organization in the UCLA Institute for Pure & Applied Mathematics’ Research in Industrial Projects (RIPS) Program.

The RIPS program “provides an opportunity for high-achieving undergraduate students to work in teams on a real-world research project proposed by a sponsor from industry or the public sector.” This year, a team of students from around the world used the Visual History Archive to study “geo-semantic mining and knowledge discovery for a large collection historical narrative.”

Participating Students

• Anna Kuznetsova, Mathematics Major, Duke University; international student from Russia
• Rodrigo Mendoza Smith, Applied Mathematics Major, Instituto Tecnológico Autonomo de Mexico; international student from Mexico
• Margo Smith, Mathematics Major, Kenyon College
• Peter Sugihara, Mathematics and Computer Science Major, Bard College (transferring to Columbia University this academic year)

On August 23, the students presented their findings at the Institute. (view photo gallery)

Other industry participants in the 2011 RIPS program included the Aerospace Corporation, Areté Associates, Disney/Pixar, HRL Laboratories, IBM, the Los Angeles Police Department, Standard & Poor’s, and Symantec Corporation.