High school girls can explore their interests in mathematics in a free daylong event on Saturday, March 16, as Rose-Hulman’s Department of Mathematics and the college’s student chapter of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) celebrates Sonia Math Day.

Activities are planned from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in classrooms within the Olin Advanced Learning Center in the middle of campus.

“The Art of Mathematics” is the theme of this year’s event that honors Sonia Kovalevsky, a pioneer for women mathematicians. It includes engaging and interactive sessions designed to encourage interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

Rose-Hulman mathematics professors and student math majors will lead fun-filled activities that have girls creating printed flowers using computational mathematics and engineering concepts. Other sessions will feature the geometry of a graph to create beautiful and interesting cobwebbing patterns and examining the mathematics of weaving. 

There also will be other activities and discussions with faculty and AWM student members about women in STEM, along with follow-up talks during a free lunch on campus.

Rose-Hulman professors leading presentations and discussions will include Jeremy Harris, PhD; Josh Holden, PhD; and Al Holder, PhD.

All Sonia Math Day for Girls participants will receive a free T-shirt, if the students register by March 8.

Parents and girls with questions about the event can contact mathematics professor Sylvia Carlisle, PhD, at carlisle@rose-hulman.edu or reach out to the Department of Mathematics at 812-877-8302.

More information about Sonia Math Day can be found at www.rose-hulman.edu/soniamath.