YSU MathFest Workshops

What is it?

One of the main features of YSU MathFest is the workshops. All students will attend 2 workshops chosen from a wide variety of topics. Workshops encourage learning about the depth and breadth of many fields in mathematics through group activities and demonstrations. Here students will have the opportunity to see that mathematics is much more than algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. The workshops will be conducted by university faculty and are noncompetitive. Some of the workshops will utilize the computer while some will use graphing calculators.

Workshop Titles 2026

  1. Abacus Masters: Compete Like the Math Pros by YSU Students.
  2. Cluster Analysis and its Applications by Lucy Kerns.
  3. Trashket Ball by YSU Students.
  4. How Lucky is a Bowl of Lucky Charms? by Dr. Jay Kerns.
  5. Mathematics of the Heart by Dr. Jozsi Jalics.
  6. Why Should We Hire You? by Dr. Paddy Taylor.
  7. Math is Magic! Dr. Alicia Prieto
  8. Playing Our Way into Game Theory by Sepideh Khavari.
  9. Secret Codes by Dr. Moon Nguyen.
  10. The Slide Rule: Outdated and Nerdy! by Thomas Madsen.
  11. How do we get there? by Dr. Kramer.

Abacus Masters: Compete Like the Math Pros, by YSU Students, Youngstown State University

Think you’re quick at math? Put your skills to the test with the abacus—the original calculator! In this interactive workshop, students will learn how to use the abacus and attempt to go head-to-head for rapid calculations, face off, and explore how this ancient tool can still outperform modern methods in mental math. Also see some of the neat things an abacus can do that you might not have expected.

Cluster Analysis: Uncovering Patterns in Data, by Dr. Lucy Kerns, Youngstown State University

In today’s data-driven world, we are constantly generating and collecting vast amount of data. However, extracting meaningful insights from these data can be very challenging. Cluster analysis is a powerful data mining technique for uncovering hidden patterns and structures within large datasets. In this workshop, we will use real-world examples across diverse fields, including market research, image pattern recognition, social network, and disease classification in healthcare, to explore different clustering algorithms for gaining valuable knowledge from complex datasets.

Trashket Ball, by YSU Students, Youngstown State University

In this workshop, students will sharpen their skills with multiplication, fractions, and PEMDAS through a fun, competitive game. Working in teams, students will use worksheets to solve problems, then “shoot” their answers in a basketball-style challenge.

How Lucky is a Bowl of Lucky Charms?, by Dr. Jay Kerns, Youngstown State University

A bowl of this popular breakfast cereal, with its multi-colored marshmallows and tasty toasted oats, truly lives up to its tagline: "Magically Delicious!" However, it seems like, as the box gets more empty, the later bowls somehow don't seem quite as magical as the earlier ones. Using mathematics and statistics, we'd like to investigate this phenomenon. Just how lucky is a bowl of Lucky Charms? Come to this workshop to find out!

Mathematics of the Heart, by Dr. Jozsi Jalics, Youngstown State University

The proper functioning of the heart requires the coordinated electrical activity of billions of individual heart cells, cardiac myocytes. The abnormal firing activity of these cells can cause deadly arrhythmias. We will discuss the vital role that mathematical modeling plays in understanding the complex patterns of activity present in the heart and explore a simple model that employs basic trigonometry.

Why Should We Hire You?, by Dr. Paddy Taylor, Youngstown State University

Regardless of the job, employers want to hire a candidate who can make sense out of problems, both expected and unexpected, that may arise. In their attempt to find problem solvers, many employers pose challenging questions during job interviews to test the reasoning abilities of applicants.

In this workshop, students will be presented with questions (from actual companies including Google) that have been asked during job interviews or used in the applicant screening process.

An example of one such question is: 10 machines produce gold coins of a uniform weight. Unfortunately, one of the machines is broken and producing coins that are x grams too heavy. Assuming we know what the correct weight of the coins should be, can we locate the broken machine if the only tool at our disposal is a scale with a digital read-out, and we are only allowed to use the scale once?

Math is Magic! by Dr. Alicia Prieto, Youngstown State University

In this workshop, we will explore a few magic tricks and the mathematics behind them. The goal of this workshop is that you all learn a few tricks you can do to others but more importantly, a little bit of the mathematics behind them so you can make up new tricks!

Playing Our Way into Game Theory, by Sepideh Khavari, Youngstown State University

We have all played games since childhood. We have played board games, card games, and tic tac toe among many others. Have you ever wondered whether there is a way for you to always win in a game? In this workshop, we will explore the mathematical world of game theory, investigate games where such a “winning” strategy exists, and challenge ourselves to find and implement these strategies in games against each other. Are you game? Adventure begins here!

Secret Codes, by Dr. Moon Nguyen, Youngstown State University

Are you curious about how ancient Greeks and Romans used secret codes to send messages? In this workshop, you will learn how to write a secret message to a friend, your teacher, or relatives using a Caesar code. You also will learn how to decode a mystery message too.

The Slide Rule: Outdated and Nerdy!, by Thomas Madsen, Youngstown State University

It had a long life from the 17th century up until the mid-20th century. It was made completely obsolete by electricity and cheap electronics. It was used by astronauts and was as common as the pocket calculator is today. In this workshop we will introduce the basics of the slide rule. We will learn what makes the slide rule a great device for completing quick computations. This workshop is restricted to 5 students. This will be nerdy and fun!

How do we get there? by Dr. Kramer, Youngstown State University

Have you ever wondered how your phone always seems to know the quickest way to get to your destination? In this workshop, we will use graphs (not the ones you know from calculus) to model Youngstown and its surrounding area. We will then explore ways to determine how we can get to different destinations using the shortest route or the quickest route. We will also ask ourselves how we can account for possible road work or rush hour traffic in our model.

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