(Title: with apologies to Miley Cyrus and inspired by "Wierd Al" Yankovic)
In May this year I travelled to the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis for WAVES 2017 (or to give it its full title, the "International Conference on Mathematical and Numerical Aspects of Wave Propagation"). I was accompanied to the wild (mid) west by Elizabeth Arter, Ivan Graham and Euan Spence from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, here in Bath.
So with heady hopes for my first major conference (and my first trip to the USA) I made my way (changing planes in Iceland!) to Minneapolis.
I should explain why I'd gone all the way to Minneapolis for a conference. My research involves waves; acoustic waves, to be precise. I seek to understand the behaviour of sound waves when they move through a random medium, (For example, when sound wave moves through a crowd of people, but you don't know exactly where the people are).
I also design numerical methods for quickly computing properties of these sound waves and I try to prove that these numerical methods work. My research tends to come under the umbrella of `Uncertainty Quantification' - designing and analysing numerical methods for problems containing randomness.
Having arrived in Minneapolis, had (some) sleep, and been treated to a very large breakfast in the hotel (I never knew pancakes could be that big!), we made our way to the conference venue, the Coffman Memorial Union
Happily, I didn't have to wrestle with the conference timetable on day one - there was a minisymposium all day on "Seismic Waves: Uncertainty Quantification in Imaging/Inversion Across Scales." Most of the talks in the minisymposium came from researchers in seismic imaging. They're interested in reconstructing the rock structure underneath the earth using sound waves.
Seismic imaging is a major motivator for my own research. We're interested in problems surrounding wave propagation and developing fast, accurate algorithms. And yet those in the 'seismic world' have some different concerns to me. I didn't hear any talk of mathematically proving that methods work, rather, they're interested in methods that seem to work well in realistic scenarios. For example, did you know that salt can cause issues for seismic imaging, as it reflects lots of sound waves? It was a valuable experience chatting with them - their interests could well inform the direction of my PhD.
At the end of day one were treated to a public lecture by Michael Berry from the University of Bristol (it's a small world). After this, some people went out for a drink (in the fabulously named Dinkytown area of Minneapolis) but I made my slightly jet lagged way back to the hotel. Why? Because I was talking the next day!
My talk was in the last possible slot on Tuesday evening, before the conference dinner. I wasn't expecting a big crowd! However, there were around 15 people in the room. They heard me speak on "Bounds on the Helmholtz equation in heterogeneous and random media".
This is work with my supervisors Ivan Graham and Euan Spence; we have proved that there are certain types of heterogeneous and random media where you can guarantee you'll never experience `resonance'. Resonance is the phenomenon that means an opera singer can shatter a glass, or that you'll find certain notes ring louder than others when you sing in the shower. If you've not experienced this - try it next time you have a shower!
After my talk came the conference dinner, in the impressive yet architecturally quirky McNamara Alumni Centre. The roof is polyhedral and part of the wall is the old entrance to the sports stadium, which leans over the inside space in a mildly worrying fashion.
The banquet was wonderful - we had the fantastic setting, with good food to boot. It was also a fun- and laughter-filled reminder of how multinational the academic community is. At our table of eight, we had five different nationalities represented (British, French, Austrian, American and Mexican).
And it seems that my talk actually made an impact (besides meaning people had to rush to the conference dinner). I was able to have a conversation with one of the audience members later in the week. They work on problems in plasmas, and were interested whether our results could apply to their work.
The following three days of the conference passed in a mixture of talks attended, meals enjoyed and acquaintances made or strengthened. These last two points are interlinked. It's a privilege to be able to go for sushi with a group of people you've met during the week and get to know one of the leaders in your field over lunch!
I have to mention the drinks reception we had in the Weisman Art Museum - we had modern art (I'm still not sure I understand it), views towards downtown Minneapolis over the Mississippi and a jazz trio. However, I don't think we quite appreciated the architecture from the inside!
The strengthening of relationships continued until the last evening. You can't help but get to know people better after you've crossed the light rail tracks with them and then spent twenty minutes walking down a largely empty road bordered by abandoned lorry trailers and derelict flour mills in search of a beer hall that one of the group visited once before. To be fair, he'd been there for a conference dinner, knew exactly where he was going, and we had a great evening.
And before we knew it, the conference was over, and we were on a flight back home! It was a week filled with waves, maths and mathematicians.I think you'll find me at WAVES 2019, and we might have another blog post title inspired by a song. Can you guess where it's going to be?
Image Credits:
Coffman Memorial Union Minnesota 5.jpg by AlexiusHoratius is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Atrium of McNamara Alumni Center, old football stadium gate.jpg by Runner1928 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Weisman Art Museum Minneapolis by tpsdave is licensed under Creative Commons CC0, via Pixabay
Grain Elevators 1 by Jon Platek is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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