NEPTUN Biography
ZACHARY WINKELER, Doesn't believe in numbers larger than 8.
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Major: Mathematics/Computer Science College/Employer: NEU Year of Graduation: 2017 |
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Brief Biographical Sketch:
Zachary Winkeler was born in Oklahoma City. His favorite color is blue, and his least favorite jellybean flavor is buttered popcorn. Zach enjoys learning new words, and definitely does not suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. He is often found writing haikus about throwing things out of windows. Zach will attempt to make noise with any musical instruments left alone in a room with him. He can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under two minutes on a good day; on a bad day it usually takes him longer just to find his Rubik’s Cube. Past Classes(Look at the class archive for more.)How to Count to Infinity in Spring Splash 2017
Everybody knows how to count, right?
$$ 1, 2, 3...$$.
It turns out that there are a lot of things you can count. Numbers, letters, points, words, sheep, etc... unless these sheep come in real numbers. Can you count $$\pi$$ sheep? We're going to try to prove that there are some things you can't count.
How to Program with Circles and Arrows in Spring Splash 2017
We're going to look at some of the most basic models of computation, and how we can use them to solve problems. Most of our computers will look like a bunch of squiggles.
Technical stuff: We'll learn about finite automata, pushdown automata, and Turing machines, as time allows. If you have experience with programming and know what regular expressions are, you'll learn why we use them.
How to Add Things that Aren't Really Numbers in Splash Waterfall 2016
You've probably done it before without even noticing it. $$Red + Blue = Purple$$. $$5 o'clock + 8 o'clock = 1 o'clock$$. A double negative is not not a positive. We'll try to connect all these examples and learn about the mathematical subject of Group Theory.
How to Get Lost in Space in Splash Spring 2016
1) Spin yourself around until you're facing a random direction.
2) Take a step forward.
3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 forever.
You'd think these instructions would be sufficient for getting lost, but as it turns out, it's not quite that easy; given enough time, you will "almost always" return back to where you started!
This class is about random walks, like the one described above, and their properties of transience or recurrence (basically, how good they are at getting lost).
"A drunk man will find his way home, but a drunk bird may get lost forever." -Shizuo Kakutani
How to Beat Your Friends at Tic-Tac-Toe in Splash Spring 2016
...okay not really, I lied; Tic-Tac-Toe is a surprisingly complicated game and is way too deep for us.
Instead, we'll be learning about other 2-player games using combinatorial game theory! Expect to learn (and play) new games like Hackenbush and Nim. Don't expect to recognize any of the math I'll introduce; game theory has at least two types of zero, four other kinds of numbers that are really small, and weird notation like $$G=\{0\big\vert*\}=\uparrow$$.
How to Beat Your Friends at Tic-Tac-Toe in Splash Waterfall 2015
...okay not really, I lied; Tic-Tac-Toe is a surprisingly complicated game and is way too deep for us.
Instead, we'll be learning about other 2-player games using combinatorial game theory! Expect to learn (and play) new games like Hackenbush and Nim. Don't expect to recognize any of the math I'll introduce; game theory has at least two types of zero, four other kinds of numbers that are really small, and weird notation like $$G=\{0\big\vert*\}=\uparrow$$.
A Crash Course in Calculus in Spring 2014
This is a class on calculus for people who have never taken calculus. We'll attempt to cover the basics of Calculus 1 and 2 in about 80 minutes (and we'll probably fail, but that's okay).
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