“We owe a lot to the Indians who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could ever have been made,” said Albert Einstein less than a century ago. It is said that the study of mathematics originated in India. Mathematics forms the bedrock of science and engineering studies and at the three Amrita Schools of Engineering, separate math departments teach mathematical concepts to engineering students of all disciplines.

The Department of Mathematics at the School of Engineering in Coimbatore organized an international conference on Graph Theory this past month. (read conference report) Papers were presented on topics such as graph algorithms and graph theory applications in optimization, computing techniques, VLSI design and testing, image processing and network communications. Among international participants were professors from USA, Japan, France, Canada and the Czech Republic. Indian representation was from the IITs and ISI (Indian Statistical Institute) as well as several universities in Tamil Nadu.

That same month, the Mathematics Department at the School of Engineering in Amritapuri organized a national workshop on Stochastic Processes supported by the NBHM (National Board for Higher Mathematics). (read workshop report) Stochastic processes are random processes and their outcome cannot be determined with certainty. The field is related to probability theory and has many applications in engineering. This workshop was primarily conducted for the faculty at Amrita (as well as neighboring colleges in Kerala) to gain an understanding of this important field.

Both at Coimbatore and at Amritapuri, the Math Departments support the engineering curriculum. Classes are offered to B Tech and M Tech students. At Coimbatore, the department offers doctoral studies. At Amritapuri, research-based Integrated MSc (Maths & Physics) and M Phil programs are offered. Coincidentally, both departments are chaired by women; Dr. G. Prema is the chairperson at Coimbatore and her counterpart in Amritapuri is Dr. Ushakumari. In recent years, much emphasis has been laid on research and publications; and new books may be forthcoming from the department faculty.
 

January 31, 2009
Dept of Mathematics, ASE
Amritapuri and Coimbatore