We have a few updates to share here at The Math3ma Institute!

Journal Available for Purchase

The inaugural issue of The Journal of The Math3ma Institute was released earlier this spring. The PDF can be freely accessed here, and hard copies are now available for purchase online through the University Exchange, which is the bookstore at The Master’s University (TMU). And if you’re local to Santa Clarita, you can stop by the University Exchange’s on-campus shop and pick up a copy there!

The journal’s second issue is currently in preparation and is scheduled for release in Spring 2023. We are honored to feature new articles from TMU science faculty Joe Francis and Matt McLain, along with an article from Miles Stoudenmire, a research scientist at the Flatiron Institute in New York City. I’m so grateful for the time and effort these men are putting into their manuscripts and am looking forward to sharing them with you.

Student Summer Research

Speaking of TMU faculty, this past summer The Math3ma Institute supported two TMU students to work with Joey Kim, an assistant professor of biological science at the university, on an exploratory research project. Unlike traditional research, Joey’s primary goal wasn’t to advance scientific progress, per se, but rather to help the students see God’s glory so clearly displayed in His creation — all while encouraging them to stay firmly grounded in Scripture. Joey has a wonderful testimony, which you can read about here and here, and it was great to see the students working with him during the summer.

But what did the students do exactly? They’re in the midst of preparing a little document along with a blog post about their work, and we hope to share it with you later this winter. Stay tuned!

Public Lecture Series

Our next update is on the Institute’s Public Lecture Series, which was a short series of talks by TMU faculty in the Spring 2022 semester. We were delighted to hold a Q&A session with TMU’s president Abner Chou on theology as “the queen of the sciences,” and we also hosted talks on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and pure mathematics.

As the name suggests, this series was open to TMU students, staff, and faculty, along with the general public and was also live-streamed on YouTube. I was pleased with the turnout, although the audio and visual side of things could have been a little better. So, we’ve put the series on hold this semester to try and work on a new setup with higher quality. I especially enjoyed our Q&A session with Abner, pictured above, which was more informal and interactive than a traditional lecture format. We may continue to explore a similar format going forward.

Either way, I hope we’ll be able to revamp the series in Spring 2023, perhaps syncing it with the release of Issue 2 of the Institute’s journal. If so, then we’ll be sure to make an announcement here on the blog. Meanwhile, many thanks to all who attended the talks last semester!

Lastly, be sure to mark your calendars! On Friday, June 9 – Saturday, June 10, 2023, we are hosting an event at TMU for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and professionals in the sciences throughout academia, industry, and government for a time of fellowship and encouragement. We’ve titled this event the Math3ma Symposium. The goal is simply to invite like-minded Christians with vocations in the sciences for a refreshing time together. We have a few speakers lined up and will also budget ample time for more informal interactions and enriching discussions.

I hope such an event will be especially encouraging to those who may be a few of the only Christians in their institutions, and perhaps may feel a bit beleaguered and discouraged. It is such a joy to meet others who love the Lord Jesus and His Word, and to even witness first-hand their persevering and uncompromising lives of vocational excellence in the sciences. I’m deeply thankful to have met such folks during my time here at The Master’s University, and I hope the Math3ma Conference can help provide this opportunity to others across the country as well. So, if you’re a software engineer at a tech company, or a professor of biology, or a PhD student in computer science, or a mathematician at a national lab, or [insert your profession here], then this invitation is open to you!

We will share an official announcement with registration details in the coming months. I hope you’ll save the date!