Notes:

DR. FAILS’ research interests are in human-computer interaction (HCI).  He is very involved in the design and development of children’s technologies.  As a research assistant at UMD, he has worked with partners including the National Park Service, Microsoft, Fisher Price, and Discovery.  Mr. Fails has served as a teaching and research assistant at Brigham Young University, and as a research assistant and, most recently, Computer Science instructor at UMD.  He has presented at conferences and workshops and participated in video tutorials, presentations and demonstrations.

Notes:

DR. FULLER recently completed his dissertation in Combinatorics within the world renowned Combinatorics Group at UC San Diego.  His research interests are in professional development of math teachers involving content knowledge, student learning and pedagogy.  He has made presentations on his work at the Mathematics Diagnostic Testing project conference and the Preparing Undergraduate Mathematics to Educate Teachers conference.  He has taken various courses in mathematics education, and has taught undergraduate mathematics courses.  He has a strong disciplinary background and joins the department as Assistant Professor in Mathematics Education.

Notes:

DR. SU is a recent graduate of the University of Rochester where she began as a teaching assistant in 2004, and has since worked on numerous research projects within biostatistics and computational biology.  Her research interest lies in flexible methods for complex data and how to gain better inferences.  She has been a statistical consultant to the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, providing data analysis to researchers in the URMC, since 2004. She is the co-author of 9 articles. Prior to her graduate study, Dr. Su worked for four years as a Product Manager at Peking University Founder Group.  She joins the department as an assistant professor in biostatistics.

Notes:

DR. VAIDYA joins CSAM as an Assistant Professor of Physics.  His research focus is in applied mathematics, specifically in the applications of fluid mechanics.  After obtaining his doctorate in 2004, he held a series of post postdoctoral fellowships at Carnegie Mellon University, Florida State University and most recently at UNC Chapel Hill.  He has taught a variety of undergraduate courses in mathematics, physics and engineering.  He has 15 published articles with several in preparation and presented at numerous professional conferences.  Dr. Vaidya is a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Society of Industrial and Applied Math, and the American Physical Society.

Notes:

DR. WU is an Aquatic Ecologist whose primary focus is on the ecology and management of aquatic ecosystems, particularly coastal marsh, water and wetlands utilizing various restoration techniques to improve habitat quality.  She has many years experience directing research projects and administering grant activities, and has developed and implemented habitat monitoring and restoration projects.  Her background includes many years in classroom and laboratory teaching, including training science educators.  She has held positions as associate and assistant professor at SUNY Plattsburgh since 2000.  She has a successful record in obtaining grants, 14 articles in referred journals, contributed to two books and has a pending patent.