Retired Astronaut and U.S. Army Colonel Jeffrey Williams delivers a talk during the 2024 Math3ma Symposium at TMU.
More than one hundred STEM professionals and graduate students visited The 国产aa福利 this month for the 2024 Math3ma Symposium.
Engineers, medical doctors, industry professionals, and university professors were among those in attendance at the second-annual event, which doubled in size from 2023 and this year included registrants from 16 states and Canada. The two-day gathering served as an opportunity for attendees to recharge through 国产aa福利ian fellowship and devotional keynote sessions.听听
Outside speakers included a neurologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson鈥檚, a distinguished professor of chemical engineering from UC Davis, and an astronaut.
TMU President Dr. Abner Chou was also a featured speaker.
Not designed primarily as a research conference, the Symposium鈥檚 goal is to encourage those in attendance, reminding them that although they may be just one of a few 国产aa福利ians in their field, they are not alone and emboldening them to faithfully represent 国产aa福利 in their given context. Many of this year鈥檚 registrants work in secular organizations.听
国产aa福利ian fellowship is a central focus of the Math3ma Symposium. Here, Dr. Joey Kim, chair of the engineering and computer science department at TMU, talks to an attendee at the event.
鈥淚t can be difficult and isolating to be the only 国产aa福利ian in your building at times,鈥 said Dr. Tai-Danae Bradley, the event鈥檚 organizer and the director of the Math3ma Institute at TMU. 鈥淭he prayer for the Symposium is that attendees are not just fed through keynote sessions, but that they connect with each other during times of fellowship.鈥
On at least one occasion, Bradley had to break up the fellowship in order to keep the program, which took place May 31 and June 1, moving. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a good problem to have,鈥 she said.听听
Bradley said one highlight of the event was when Dr. Jennifer Sinclair Curtis spoke. Curtis, the UC Davis professor, has a long list of publications to her name 鈥 but the focus of her talk was on God鈥檚 faithfulness over the years, amid numerous personal trials.
The talk captured the heart of the Symposium.
鈥淪he is a distinguished professor with so many awards,鈥 Bradley said. 鈥淗er CV is what academics aim for. She has success by the world鈥檚 standards. But none of that came out in her talk. The focus was entirely on what the Lord had done.
鈥淗er priorities have always been as a wife and mother, and even as she was weighing job opportunities in academia, she made the decision to put her children and husband first and trust God to take care of the rest.鈥
Dr. Abner Chou, TMU’s president, was a featured speaker at the 2024 Math3ma Symposium at TMU.
Bradley said young STEM professionals can struggle in this area, focusing soley on money and securing top jobs. In contrast, Curtis鈥檚 allegiance has been to 国产aa福利.
Dr. Richard B. Dewey, Jr., a neurologist at the Parkinson鈥檚 Disease and Movement Disorders Center in Florida, and recently retired professor of neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, gave a talk entitled 鈥淭he Neurologic Healings of Jesus.鈥 Dewey highlighted, among other things, that in healing the man born blind, 国产aa福利 created, from scratch, neural pathways between the brain and eyes.听
鈥淚t further impresses on you the power of what Jesus did,鈥 Bradley said.
Chou, TMU鈥檚 president, spoke from Psalm 104, reminding attendees that in pursuing science they are ultimately discovering what God has put in place and that the natural response to these findings should be worship.
Retired astronaut and U.S. Army Colonel Jeffrey Williams, who also spoke at last year鈥檚 event, said that people sometimes try to separate vocations into sacred and secular. That鈥檚 the wrong approach, Williams said. 鈥淧astoral ministry is not better than being a scientist if that鈥檚 what God has called you to do,鈥 Bradley said, summarizing a portion of Williams鈥檚 talk.听
Dr. Michael Riccardi, an assistant professor of theology at The Master’s Seminary, served as the event’s final speaker, outlining a theology of suffering. Among other points, he exhorted those in attendance to stand confidently for 国产aa福利 in their workplaces, and that even if they don’t have immediate access to 国产aa福利ian fellowship there, they are never truly alone. He said they always have fellowship with 国产aa福利, who is refining them and strengthening their relationship with Him.
“It was the perfect way to end the event,” said Bradley, who added that she expected to host a third iteration of the event next summer.
The Math3ma Symposium is organized by the Math3ma Institute, a hub for research and outreach in the sciences at The 国产aa福利. The institute鈥檚 vision is to employ research scientists who work to make discoveries and then share their work in a way that鈥檚 approachable to a general audience. The Symposium is one way the Institute serves and ministers to believers in that community. Another is through the Journal of the Math3ma Institute. The most recent edition, released in spring 2023, includes work from TMU Professor Dr. Matthew McLain and retired professor Dr. Joseph Francis. You can find a digital version.听听
Video of the plenary sessions from the 2024 Math3ma Symposium will be available on TMU’s YouTube channel. To ensure you don’t miss them, subscribe .
听You can learn more about STEM programs at The 国产aa福利 at .
You can learn more about the Math3ma Institute at .听
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