department of mathematical and digital sciences 2019 ... · the digital forensics program has been...

Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

2019

Annual Report

Seated from left: Nonhle Channon Mdziniso, William Calhoun, Yixun Shi, Eric Kahn, Paul Loomis, Heather Ervin. Standing from left: Erik Wynters, Reza Noubary, John Polhill, Michael Stephans, Chris Lynd, Barry Minemyer, Stephen Kokoska, Scott Inch, Mehdi Razzaghi, Youmin Lu, Kevin Ferland, Dong Zhang, Philip Polstra, John Riley, Ashley Bilinski, Larry Snyder, Curt Jones, Lisa Lister, Drue Coles, Robert Montante. Missing from Picture: Diane Barrett, Mahmoud Darwich


2019 Annual Report

Welcome...............................1

Department Faculty

Diane Barrett..........................5

William C. Calhoun...............7

Drue Coles.............................8

Heather K. Ervin...................10

Kevin Ferland........................12

Scott Inch..............................14

Curt Jones.............................15

Eric B. Kahn.........................16

Stephen Kokoska.................17

Lisa A. Lister........................18

Paul Loomis....................19

Youmin Lu......................20

Chris D. Lynd.................21

Barry Minemyer.............23

Robert Montante............24

Reza Noubary.................25

John Polhill.....................27

Philip A. Polstra..............28

James Pomfret................29

Mehdi Razzaghi..............30

John H. Riley...................31

Yixun Shi.........................32

Michael Stephans............34

Erik L. Wynters..............35

Dong Zhang....................36

Organizations/Activities

Pathways.........................38

ACM...............................39

Cyber Defense Club.......41

HS Math Contest ..........43

BU Math Club.................43

Organizations/Activities

Internships and Research........................................44

Kappa Mu Epsilon..................................................49

Digital Sciences Learning Community...................50

Mid-Atlantic Cyber Defense Competition..............51

High School Programming Contest........................52

SAE Batelle Auto Challenge...................................53

Seminar Series................................................54

Tutoring Center..............................................55

Thank you for Support...................................58

GRRcon..........................................................57

JoAnne Growney...................13

Channon Mdziniso.........22Mahmoud Darwich.................9

Larry Snyder....................33

Awards Banquet..............40

Bloom CON/Drone Wars.............................56

Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences Annual Report for 2019

Dr. Curt Jones, Chairperson, Ashley Bilinski, Department Secretary and Dr. William Calhoun, Asst. Chairperson

Welcome to our 2019 Annual report. We strive to provide yearly updates to our alumni and other interested stakeholders via an annual report. In this report, you will find a summary of our activities as a department. We have a page dedicated to each individual faculty member and a page for each student group or major student activity. Two of our Emeritus faculty members have provided pages so you can keep tabs on your favorite retired faculty members. We will share with you some of the interesting projects we completed this past calendar year and interesting happenings in our department.

We do have other ways for you to stay connected with us. Our Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/bloomumath. Please consider adding your newsworthy events to our new alumni news Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Bloomsburg-University-Math-and-Digital-Sciences-Alumni-News-654211828049252/. We are also modifying our web presence to include more student centric information. Please visit http://bloomsburgu.tumblr.com/tagged/mcss or click on the student success image on Math.bloomu.edu to find interesting and exciting stories regarding our students’ accomplishments. Former students Brian Fekete and Lara Cesco-Cancian are pictured in this clickable image featured on several of our webpages.

Department News

We welcome one new faculty member to our department this year and we have one retirement to announce. We are very fortunate that our computer science faculty search was successful last year. Dr. Mahmoud Darwich is our first Computer Science faculty hire in fifteen years. We are still growing as a department. We currently have 27 tenured or tenure-track faculty and are searching for an additional Digital Forensics faculty member.

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https://www.facebook.com/bloomumath

https://www.facebook.com/Bloomsburg-University-Math-and-Digital-Sciences-Alumni-News-654211828049252/

https://www.facebook.com/Bloomsburg-University-Math-and-Digital-Sciences-Alumni-News-654211828049252/

http://bloomsburgu.tumblr.com/tagged/mcss

http://bloomsburgu.tumblr.com/tagged/mcss

Our department has a long history of running successful events. Our high school programming contest and our high school math contest are both over twenty years old and just like fine wine they keep getting better and better. In 2016, we added BloomCon to the mix. BloomCon is our own computer security and digital forensics conference. This conference has exceeded all expectations in quality and size. The 2016 conference had 300 participants and last year we had over 600 participants. This year Dr. Polstra aims to have over 1,000 participants. We have an annual Drone-Wars competition (http://intranet.bloomu.edu/drone-wars) each year at BloomCon. Please see http://intranet.bloomu.edu/bloomcon for more information and http://bloomsburgu.tumblr.com/tagged/BloomCON for images from previous years. The conference will be held this year from March 27th to March 28th.

Faculty Updates

Dr. Eric Kahn was promoted to the rank of Professor this past August. Dr. Lister was recognized with a College of Science and Technology award for outstanding service to our department\and Bloomsburg University. Dr. Polstra took a busload of Digital Forensics students to the GrrCon conference in Grand Rapids Michigan again this year. With donor support, we were able to rent a charter bus for transportation.

All of our faculty had a busy and productive year. As a group, our faculty published six books and video courses, authored one book, 21 papers and gave 48 professional presentations. They participated in numerous service activities. Stephen Kokoska and Mehdi Razzaghi were on sabbatical last spring. Faculty members were involved in supervising student research projects on a variety of topics throughout the year. These are just a few of the diverse activities of our faculty that are described more fully in the individual faculty members pages of this report.

We have new additions of a different type to report. Dr. Dong Zhang and his wife Jenny welcomed their first child, a daughter, April Zhang, into the world on April 4, 2019. Dr. Eric Kahn and his wife Emily had their second daughter on August 8th. Meredith joins big sister Allison in the Kahn household.

Students

One hundred degrees were awarded in 2019. We have averaged over 85 graduates a year since 2010. Much of this growth has been in our Digital Forensics program although we do also have more Computer Science students, which mirrors a national trend. The number of students seeking math degrees has declined and we are looking to change the tide with our new Data Science program.

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20

40

60

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Graduates by Year

CS DF Math


http://intranet.bloomu.edu/drone-wars

http://intranet.bloomu.edu/bloomcon

http://bloomsburgu.tumblr.com/tagged/BloomCON

We currently have 466 majors in our department and this number has been growing over the last five years. Demand for our classes has been high. Our department provides quality classes for 5,200 students a year. We offer around 225 sections of classes each year and our current average class size is 23. We offer around 60 different classes each academic year.

We awarded the following scholarships and awards in 2019. The award winners received a nice gift from the department and a plaque. The scholarship winners had their awards directly applied to their student accounts.

Scholarships Hank Baily Scholarship (New Freshmen Scholarship): Emily Dobson Marek Mathematics Scholarship (Outstanding Math Education Student): Jordan Marlow J. Edward Kerlin Scholarships (Outstanding Sophomore Award): Johnathan Prichett and Austin PasquelElizabeth and James Mauch Scholarship (Outstanding Math Education or Math Student): DarioD’Amato

Graduating Senior Awards James Pomfret Award (Highest Academic Achievement Award – Mathematics): Laura Josuweit Highest Academic Achievement Award–Computer Science: Steven Hricenak Highest Academic Achievement Award-Digital Forensics: Nathaniel Huber C. R. Reardin Award (Department Accomplishment and Service Award): Karissa Jelonek

2019 Graduates:

Computer Science (BS) – Gryphon Ayers, Dirk Berezovske, Douglas Boehme, Nicole Clugston, Brandon Enslin, Joseph Carswell, Marcus Chapin, Harmanjeet Dhillon, Stephen Faett, Jonathan Gibson, Jake Gordon, Steven Hricenak, Riley Hughes, Laura Josuweit, Matthew Joyce, Nathaniel Kell, Daniel Kilgallon, Grant Long, Joseph Madden, Steven Matos, Austin Myers, Shane Panagakos, Jacob Reot, Tyler Seidel, Devon Schweizer, Derek Spachman

Digital Forensics (BS) –Jeffrey Adami, Jennifer Anani, Erika Benner, Kaylin Betz, Quinn Bircher, Paul Bown, Parker Bumbarger, Adam Capodanno, Niall Devlin Jr., Ryan Donegan, Justin Dwyer, Natalie Fioravanti, Joelle Fusco, Emily Getz, Alek Green, Tristian Hartz, Robert Hoffman, Cameron Hoy, Nathaniel Huber, Anthony Hunsinger, Conor Jones, Andrew Lamendola, Tyler Luszczak, Dylan Lutz, Maia Magliente, Elchin Mammadov, Jeff Mann, Emily Mansilla, Thomas Marinelli, Michael Merritts, Nathan Mihalko, Michael Miller, Timothy Miller, Michael Murray, Carl Narber, Ryan Neher, Kevin Nesbit, Nabrea Parker, Zachary Prebosnyak, Aaron Price, Timothy Primrose, Hunter Rambeau, James Reardon, Raechel Rilands, Justin Rogan, Courtney Russell, Mark Sammartino Jr., Richard Saveleski, Samuel Saxton, Andrew Schulingkamp, Haley Spotts, Megan Stoner, Spencer Sutliff, Franklin Twell, Ashley Warren, Jeffrey Wojciechowski

Mathematics (BA) – Jon Dressler, Jamin Heiser, Zachary Hostetler, Ryan Kaslavage, Kyle Latshaw, Alyssa Lopatka, Thomas Marinelli, Lexa Sabo, James Sharpe, Zachary Swanger

Mathematics (BS) – Steven Hriecnak, Riley Hughes, Carter Jackson, Laura Josuweit, Ashton Raines, Emily Rine, Marissa Shelhamer


Secondary Education Mathematics (BSEd) – Jon Dressler, Amber Elsner, Ryan Kaslavage, Alyssa Lopatka, Lexa Sabo, Zachary Swanger CAE Certificate The Digital Forensics program has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD). The program underwent an in-depth assessment and met rigorous requirements in order to receive this designation. The following students have completed the required program course requirements and received a CAE-CD certificate: Erika Benner, Nathaniel Huber, Timothy Miller, Ryan Neher, Zachary Perbsonyak, Haley Spotts We are pleased to provide you with this report. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed. As always, we invite you to visit our department for a tour and an update of our work. You are welcome to observe one of our classes or just join us for a coffee or lunch.


Diane Barrett, PhD, DFCB, CISSP

Associate Professor Director, Center for Information Assurance Studies

Scholarly Interests Cloud forensics; small devices forensics; forensic readiness; IoT forensics Education Northcentral University, Prescott, AZ, PhD Business Administration with a specialization in Information Security, 2014 Capella University, Minneapolis, MN, M.S. Information Technology with a specialization in Information Security, 2007 2017 - 2019 Publications Book chapter, "Forensic Acquisition Methods for Cloud Computing Environments," accepted for publication in the Encyclopedia of Organizational Knowledge, Administration, and Technologies, December 2019 Implementation of Cloud Based Evidence Acquisitions in Digital Forensic Education, Conference proceedings, EDSIG Conference on Information Systems & Computing Education, November 2019 in Cloud Based Acquisitions, Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law, Vol. 2(12), July 2017 2017 - 2019 Presentations Implementation of Cloud Based Evidence Acquisitions in Digital Forensic Education Conference session, EDSIG Conference on Information Systems & Computing Education, November 2019 Panel member on the Implementation of Virtualization in Security Education, Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law, May 2019 IoT Forensics, BloomCon, March 2019 2019 Funding Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Scholarship Program (CySP) grant in the amount of $214,885.00 CoST Faculty Professional Development Travel (FPDT) $1500.00 to present at EDSIGCON in Cleveland, OH. Travel grant in the amount of $1000.00 for NSA Center of Academic Excellence-Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education (CISSE). Las Vegas, NV 2019 Teaching Spring: DIGFOR 311 - Security Fundamentals

DIGFOR 318 - Small Devices DIGFOR 357 – Enterprise Network Investigations

Fall: DIGFOR 257 - Secure Systems Design and Administration DIGFOR 318 - Small Devices DIGFOR 357 – Enterprise Network Investigations


2019 Service Activities National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Practitioner Engagement for Investigating Crimes Committed on the Dark Net panel member Member of the National CyberWatch Center's Curriculum Standards Panel for Information Security Fundamentals Chair, Advisory Committee of the Digital Forensics Certification Board Associate Editor for the Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law Committee Member for the Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law Peer-reviewer for several industry journals, conferences, magazines, and books MADS Scholarship Committee APSCUF/BU Audit Committee MADS Digital Forensics search and screen, curriculum, and assessment committees Faculty Advisor for the Bloomsburg Cyber Defense Club


William C. Calhoun, Ph.D. Professor and Assistant Chair Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Mathematical logic, computability theory, algorithmic randomness, Kolmogorov complexity, combinatorics, data science Education University of California, Berkeley CA, Ph.D., Mathematics, 1990 Carleton College, Northfield MN, Mathematics (with concentration in Computer Science), 1982 Recent Presentations Calhoun, William C., Fun with graphs and trees. Bloomsburg University Mathematical and Digital Sciences Seminar, March 26, 2019. 2019 Teaching Spring: Theory of Computation (COMPSCI 456/ MATH 456)

Introduction to Data Science (DATASCI 110) Discrete Mathematics (MATH 185) Concepts of Mathematics 2 (MATH 202)

Independent Study (MATH 492) Fall: Organization of Programming Languages (COMPSCI 350) Mathematical Thinking (MATH 101, 2 sections)

2019 Service Activities

• Bloomsburg University Middle States Steering Working Group • Bloomsburg University Academic Placement Testing Working Group • Bloomsburg University Incentive-Based Funding Working Group • Mathematical & Digital Sciences Evaluation Committee (chair) • Data Science Committee (chair) • Mathematics Curriculum Committee • Advisor to Kappa Mu Epsilon • Advisor to University Democrats • State APSCUF Rules & Bylaws Committee (chair) • APSCUF/BU Treasurer


Drue Coles, Ph.D.

Professor


Scholarly Interests Object-oriented programming, analysis of algorithms, evolutionary computation Education Boston University, Ph.D., Computer Science, 2005 Boston University, M.S., Computer Information Systems, 1994 Regents College, B.S., Liberal Arts, 1993 University of Florida, 1982-1984 Teaching (2019) COMPSCI 121 Object-Oriented Programming with Java COMPSCI 122 Graphical User Interfaces in Java COMPSCI 355 Analysis of Algorithms and Data Structures COMPSCI 386 Concurrent Programming and Foundations of Operating Systems COMPSCI 492 Computer Science Research (Independent Study) COMPSCI 497 Internship in Computer Science Scholarship (2016-2018) Student research:

• Techniques for Generating Small Optimal Sorting Networks. Independent Study with Caleb Beard (Honors Program) and Jacob Nocintino, 2019-2020

• Elements of Cryptography: An Educational Model Based on Open Source Collaboration using the SCM Software Git, presented by Computer Science major Daniel Berner at the 5th Annual PASSHE Undergraduate Research Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

• Experimentation with Green’s Sorting Network, Independent Study with Jared Frank, 2018

Department Service (2019) • Evaluation Committee • High School Programming Contest, Director (2008-present)


Mahmoud Darwich, PhD Assistant professor of Computer Science Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Video Streaming on Cloud Cloud Computing VLSI Design Web Programming Education University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana, Ph.D., Computer Engineering, 2017. University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana, M.S., Computer Engineering, 2013. Beirut Arab University, Beirut Lebanon, B.S., Electrical Engineering / Communications and Electronics, 2006. Publications (2019) Book Chapter Li X., Darwich M., Amini Salehi M., Bayoumi M., “Cloud-Based Video Streaming Services: A Survey” Accepted for publishing at Elsevier Book Chapter "Advances in Computers" 2019.

Conferences Darwich M., Ismail Y., Bayoumi M. “Efficient Storage for Cloud-Based Video Streaming” Submitted to IEEE Word Forum Internet of Things, New Orleans Louisiana, 2019 Darwich M., Ismail Y., Bayoumi M. “Improving Hierarchy Cloud Storage for Video Streaming” in Preparing 2019 Teaching Fall 2019: COMPSCI 357 – Principles of Database COMPSCI 121 – Object – Oriented Programming JAVA WDD 120 – Introduction to Web Programming Service Activities Computer Science program assessment committee Professional Service Peer Reviewer for The Computer Journal, UK


Heather K. Ervin, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Preservice elementary and middle school teachers’ understanding and knowledge of fraction models; Mathematics preparation of high school students for collegiate mathematics; Teaching statistics through sports Education Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, Ph.D., C&I: Mathematics Education, 2015 Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, M.S., Statistics, 2005 Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA, B.S., Mathematics, 2003 2019 Teaching Spring: Concepts of Mathematics I: Theory of Arithmetic (MATH 201) Concepts of Mathematics II: Geometry & Statistics (MATH 202) Service Activities Chair of Mathematics Education Committee Conference Chair for 2019 PAMTE Symposium Course Coordinator for MATH 201 & MATH 202 Director of Math Tutoring Center, Spring 2016 Faculty Advisor of Wishmakers On Campus (Make A Wish) Frederick Douglass Teaching Scholar, Fall 2015-Spring 2016 General Conference Chair for PAMTE Symposium 2019 & 2020 Instructor at Great STEM Adventure Camp Instructor at STEM Teacher Academy Judge of EPADEL Section of MAA Student Paper Competition Member of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Member of Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) Member of Pennsylvania Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (PAMTE) Member of Mathematics Curriculum Committee Outstanding Woman at Bloomsburg University, Spring 2016 PAMTE Member At Large (Public University) 2018-2019 Program Committee Chair for PAMTE Symposium 2017 & 2018 Reviewer for Mathematical Thinking and Learning TALE Representative


Members of the Wishmakers on Campus present a check to Emma. The Wishmakers raise money throughout the year in an effort to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Officers and senior members of the Wishmakers on Campus pose for a picture at the End of Semester Pizza Party.


Kevin Ferland, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Graph Theory, Combinatorics, Geometry, Algebraic Topology Education Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, Ph.D., Mathematics, 1999 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, M.S., Mathematics, 1994 University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, B.S., Mathematics, 1991 Publications K. K. Ferland and Robert W. Pratt, Maximal Crossword Grids, Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing, Volume 108, pp. 53-64, 2019. Presentations Conquering the Rubik’s Cube, Department Seminar, Bloomsburg University, Fall 2019. Advancing Results in Maximum Toughness, Contributed Talk, AMS-MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD, January 2019. Teaching Spring 2019: College Algebra (Math 109) Essentials of Calculus (Math 123) Real Analysis (Math 421) Fall 2019: College Algebra (Math 109) Calculus 1 (Math 125) Discrete Mathematics (Math 185) 2019 Service Activities

• Faculty Academic Grievance Board • Advisor for Putnam Mathematics Competition • Coordinator for Praxis Review Sessions • Chair, Department Promotion, Sabbatical, and Tenure Committees • Department Curriculum Committees


JoAnne Growney Professor Emeritus Retired 1997

Scholarly Interests

In addition to my ongoing interest in mathematics, I am interested in poetry – and its connections to mathematics.

Education

MFA (Creative Writing/Poetry) Hunter College, 2002 PhD (Mathematics) University of Oklahoma, 1970 MA (Mathematics) Temple University, 1964 BS (Mathematics) Westminster (PA) College, 1962

2017-2019 Publications and Presentations

Growney, J., weekly postings (2010- . . .) to the blog “Intersections: Poetry with Mathematics” -- available at https://poetrywithmathematics.blogspot.com.

Growney, J., "Give HER Your Support," Math Horizons, Vol XXVI, Issue 4 (April 2019), p. 34. Growney, J. – organizer of "Pi Day: math + poetry" – a program on 3/14/2019 at The Writer's Center, Bethesda, MD;

information available at : https://www.writer.org/event/pi-day/ . "Artist Interview: JoAnne Growney" – gathered by Sarah Glaz, Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, Vol 13, No 3, 243-260. Growney, J. "Add Poems to Math Class" – Contributed paper / Presentation at Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore,

January 2019. Growney, J., "Mathematics and Poetry; Poems about Math-People," Math Horizons, Vol XXVI Issue 1 (Sept. 2018), p. 34. Growney, J., Poems: "Cento," "Good Fortune," "Counting on a December Morning, " Bridges 2018 Poetry Anthology, Ed.

Sarah Glaz (Tessellations Publishing, 2016) pages 53-54. Growney, J, . "Wondering," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 8 Issue 2 (July 2018), page 300. DOI:

10.5642/jhummath.201802.34 . Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol8/iss2/34. Growney, J., "Taking the Heat," in TalkingWriting, Spring 2018, "Science and Society" at http://talkingwriting.com/taking-

heat. Also in the same issue, "Author Talk: A Video Interview with JoAnne Growney" by Elizabeth McShane at http://talkingwriting.com/author-talk-joanne-growney.

Growney, J. "They Say She Was Good -- for a Woman: Poetry and Musings," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 7 Issue 2 (July 2017), pages 294-302. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.201702.14 . Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol7/iss2/14

Growney, J., "Shaping Poems -- with Visual Forms and Counting," Proceedings of Bridges 2017: Mathematics, Art, Music, Architecture, Education, Culture, pages 471–474, at http://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2017/bridges2017-471.html

Service Activities

My blog and other publications and presentations noted above are non-paid activities. I also lead poetry workshops for mental health clients, working with the non-profit PWRS (Peer Wellness & Recovery Services), Inc. One morning each week I help serve breakfast at Shepherd's Table, which offers services to the homeless. In both of 2018 and 2019 I have helped the American Mathematical Society with set-up and judging of student math-poetry contests. During the fall of 2018 I took a course to learn how to edit Wikipedia – with the goal of increasing the number of women listed there (currently less than 18%).

Hobbies Poetry, Mathematics, Grandchildren I love to read and curiosity sends my interests in many directions. I hypothesize that “everything connects.”

Final Thoughts

Bloomsburg University was a great place to work. I had fine colleagues and varied opportunities for new learning and professional advancement. In addition to my teaching I enjoyed administrative activities that included Director of Planning, Director of the TALE program, and Acting Provost. I am delighted that enrollment of women in departmental programs continues strong and I encourage the selection of more female faculty. My current crusade is to get all eight of my grandchildren (seven of which are girls) to love math. So far (the oldest is now 16 and the youngest is 10) they do – and some of them love poetry, too. I continue working toward equal opportunities for women and other underserved groups, hoping to help the world to be a good place for these grandchildren.


https://poetrywithmathematics.blogspot.com/

https://www.writer.org/event/pi-day/

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol8/iss2/34

http://talkingwriting.com/taking-heat

http://talkingwriting.com/taking-heat

http://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol7/iss2/14

http://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2017/bridges2017-471.html

Scott Inch, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences Certified Computer Examiner

Scholarly Interests Digital Forensics, File Systems, Mobile Device forensics, E-Discovery, OSINT Education Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Blacksburg, VA. Ph.D. Mathematics. 1992 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Blacksburg, VA. M.S. Mathematics. 1988 Bloomsburg University. Bloomsburg, PA. B.S. Mathematics. 1986 2017-2019 Publications Duncan, Scott and Inch, Scott. Chapter “Riding the Digital Highway with the Mongols and Vagos: Applying OSINT Techniques to Assess Member Criminality and Connectivity” submitted for inclusion in the volume “Outlaw Bikers as Organized Crime”, Dec 2019. 2019 Grants Duncan, Scott and Inch, Scott. Faculty Research and Scholarship grant to explore the use of crowdsourcing to assist in the regional fight against sex trafficking. 2019 2019 Teaching Spring 2019: File Systems 2 (DIGFOR 122) Digital Forensics Software (DIGFOR 317) Advanced Topics in Digital Forensics (DIGFOR 417) Fall 2019: File Systems 1 (DIGFOR 121) Digital Forensics Software (DIGFOR 317) Advanced Topics in Digital Forensics (DIGFOR 417) 2019 Student Research Mike Engle, The Use of Social Media in Human Trafficking, URSCA-Summer 2019 Jordan Wyant, Riding the Digital Highway with Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs: Applying OSINT Techniques to Assess Member Criminality and Connectivity, URSCA-Summer 2019 Brett Treas, Professional Experience Grant (PEG) to develop and code software to retrieve public information from various social media websites, Spring 2019 2017-2019 Service Activities Occupational Advisory Committee, Columbia Montour Vo-Tech, 2017-2018 Digital Forensics Presentation, PA Wing Conference, 2017-2018 Digital Forensics Presentation, Civil Air Patrol Conference, 2017-2018 Mathematics Workshops, STEM camp for teachers, 2017-2018 Digital Forensics Workshops, Gear Up Program, 2017 Digital Forensics Workshops, Anchor Program, 2017


Curt Jones, Ph.D. Professor and Chair Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Software Engineering, Web Application Design, Computer Science Education, Algorithmic Graph Theory, Computationally Difficult Problems and Techniques for Solving these Problems. Education Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, Ph.D., Computer Science, 1992 University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, M.S., Computer Science, 1985 Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA, B.S., Computer Science, 1983 2019 Teaching Spring: Software Engineering (Compsci 480) Fall: Computer Ethics, Social Impact and Security (Compsci 360) 2019 Service Activities

• Bloomsburg University Academic Placement Testing Working Group (Chair) • Computer Science Curriculum Committee (Chair) • Southern Columbia Area Community Foundation Board of Directors (Treasurer)

2019 Student Projects Completed in Compsci 480

• BUMathContest: Written for Dr. Lisa Lister, this web application allows for the registration and provides organization support for our Annual High School Math Contest

• ALEKS: This tool allows for a better interface to understand and promote the use of ALEKS. • MYHuskyTools: This tool allows for a better interface to understand and monitor general education

completion of students. • Twitter: Written for Dr. Scott Inch. This tool allows for the searching of Data in Twitter. • Mobile Notebook Application: Written for Dr. Shepard. This Android application was designed to save

notebook entries in remote locations when cellular and WIFI services are not present. It was placed on the Play Store.

• PhillyWise: This web application was written for and supports the efforts of www.Phillywise.com. This is a student based start-up with students from BU and Temple. It is attempting to help consumers and entertainment venues connect.

• Tenure Application: Written under the direction of Dr. Jeff Brunskill, this web application was a prototype to show the ability to automate the BU Tenure and Promotion process.


http://www.phillywise.com/

Eric B. Kahn, Ph.D. Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Mathematics and Sports, History of Mathematics, Algebraic Topology, Homological Algebra Education University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, Ph.D. Mathematics, 2009 University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, M.S. Mathematics, 2006 Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, B.A. Mathematics, 2004 Teaching

Independent Studies and Internships

• Honors High Risk Underwriting (Fall) • AXA XL (Summer Honors Internship) • Honors The Fixed Point Theorems (Spring) • Abstract Algebra 2 (Spring)

Publications • Introductory Mathematics and Statistics Through Sport: Supplementary Activities and Writing Projects

(coauthored with Dr. Brown), Oxford University Press, 2019 • Teaching History of Mathematics (coauthored with Dr. Braun), Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 2019

Presentations • “Mathematical Inquiry and Writing through Sports”, 2019 AMS-MAA Joint Meetings, Baltimore, MD

Service Activities • Coordinator for the student paper contest of the MAA EPaDel Section • Recording Secretary for KME (PA Lambda Chapter at Bloomsburg) • Reviewer for PRIMUS • Chair - University Wide Tenure Committee • Course Coordinator for MATH 202 (Concepts 2 – Spring)

Spring Fall Mathematical Thinking (MATH 101, Section 01 & 02) Precalculus (MATH 113, Section 01 & 03) Mathematical Concepts 2 (MATH 202, Section 02 & 03) Mathematical Concepts 2 (MATH 202, Section 02) History of Mathematics (MATH 217, Section 01) Calculus 1 (MATH 125, Section 03)


Scholarly Interests Mathematical Modeling, The Analysis of Cancer Chemoprevention Experiments, AP Calculus, the use of technology in the classroom Education University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, PhD, Mathematics, 1984 University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, MS, Mathematics, 1980 Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, BA, Mathematics and Economics, 1978 2019 Publications Kokoska, S. and Dick, T., TI in Focus Video Series: 2019 AP Calculus, December 2019 Kokoska, S., Introductory Statistics, A Problem Solving Approach, Third Edition, BFW, December 2019 2019 Presentations Kokoska, S., All Calculus Things Improper, T3 International Conference, Calculus Conference within a Conference,

Baltimore, MD, March 2019 Kokoska, S. Dick, T., TI in Focus: AP Calculus, T3 International Conference, Baltimore, MD, March 2019 Kokoska, S., Mock AP Calculus Reading, one-day presentation, AP-TIP, Indianapolis, IN, March 2019 Kokoska, S., Passwater, B., Calculus Podcast, March 2019 Kokoska, S., Dick, T., TI in Focus: AP Calculus, NCTM, San Diego, CA, April 2019 Kokoska, S., Dick, T., and Burrill, G., The joy of dx, NCTM, San Diego, CA, April 2019 Kokoska, S., Passwater, B., Record, T., AP Calculus Q&A Webinar, May 2019 Kokoska, S. Brown, C., AP Calculus Questions and Answers, Facebook Live Event, NCTM Regional Meeting,

Boston, MA, September 2019 Kokoska, S., TI in Focus: AP Caluclus, NCTM Regional Meeting, Boston, MA, September 2019 Kokoska, S., College Board AP Calculus Workshop, Lancaster, PA, September 2019 Kokoska, S., (1) Endpoints Discussion; (2) L’Hospital’s Rule; (3) Scoring the AP Calculus Exam, A+ College

Ready two-day Program, Birmingham, AL, October 2019 Kokoska, S., Passwater, B., AP Calculus Scoring Lingo Webinar, November 2019 2019 Professional Activities Table Leader, AP Calculus Reading Member, College Board-MAA Mutual Concerns Committee, Chair Focus Group Participant, Technology and electronic supplements for statistics texts, conducted by Macmillan, Joint

Math Meetings, Baltimore, MD, January Focus Group Participant, Technology accessibility, T3 International Conference, Baltimore, MD AP Calculus Coffee Conversation Moderator, with Vicki Carter, T3 International Conference, Baltimore, MD 2019 Teaching Introduction to Statistics (MATH 141) 2019 Service Activities President, APSCUF/BU Advisor, BU Council of Trustees Chair, State-wide APSCUF Chapter Presidents, 2019 Music Ministry, Catholic Campus Ministry Co-Chair, Planning and Budget Committee Admission presentations to tour groups Member, Secretariat

Stephen Kokoska, PhD

Professor, Department of Mathematical & Digital Sciences


Lisa A. Lister, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests

Graph Theory and Combinatorics Mathematical Pedagogy

Education

University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, Ph.D., Mathematics, 1997 University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, M.S., Mathematics, 1995 University of Maine, Orono, ME, B.A., Mathematics, 1991

Scholarly Activities

Publications

• Lister and Shader, “Rank Decompositions of (0, 1, -1, *)-Matrices”, in preparation.

• Lister, “Discrete Mathematical Structures”, book deal with Kendal-Hunt Publishing, in progress.

Teaching

2019: Math for the Health Sciences (MATH 116) Discrete Mathematical Structures (MATH 180), 3 sections

Calculus 3 (MATH 225) College Geometry (MATH 231) Linear Algebra (MATH 314)

University Seminar for Digital Forensic Students (INTSTUDY), 3 sections


Paul Loomis Professor of Mathematics

BA, MS, PhD

Scholarly Interests Number theory, abstract algebra. Education Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, PhD in Mathematics, 1999 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, MS in Mathematics, 1998 Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN, BA in Mathematics, 1992 Presentations (2019) Loomis, P., Pi Day Presentations, Millville High School, Millville, PA, March 14, 2019. Loomis, P., Revisiting the Mystery of 6

𝜋𝜋2, Mathematical and Digital Sciences (MADS) Seminar, Bloomsburg

University, Bloomsburg PA, March 5, 2019. 2019 Teaching Spring: Pre-Calculus (MATH 113)

Calculus 1 (MATH 125) Fall: Mathematical Thinking (MATH 101)

Calculus 2 (MATH 125) Number Theory (MATH 360)

2019 Service Activities

• Coordinator for Mathletes, an after-school math program at Greenwood Friends School, Millville, PA • TALE Center Advisory Board, Bloomsburg University • Latin American Studies Advisory Board, Bloomsburg University • Curriculum Committee, Department of MADS, Bloomsburg University • Promotion, Tenure, and Sabbatical Committee, Department of MADS, Bloomsburg University


Youmin Lu, Ph.D./Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Teaching COMPSCI 121, Object-oriented Programming with Java COMPSCI 122, GUI with Java COMPSCI 221, Advanced Java COMPSCI 461, Internet Programming WDD 120, Introduction to Web Programming MATH 123, Essentials of Calculus Math 322, Differential Equations Research Interest Non-linear analysis, special functions and neutrix limits. Scholarship

1. Uniqueness, Existence, Lower and Upper Bounds of the Solutions to the Gelfand Boundary Value Problem (with W. Feng), Nonlinear Analysis (submitted)

2. Invited Presentation: Neural Networks and Neural Differential Equations (Shanxi Datong University, China, 6/9/2019)

3. Conference Attended: Dynamic Systems, Differential Equations and Applications (Hangzhou, China, 6/6-6/8/2019) 4. Conference Attended: AMS & MAA Joint Meeting (Baltimore, 1/16-1/19/2019)

Services 1. Completed and submitted (with Dr. Curt Jones) a proposal for staring a new major: Web Design and

Development. 2. Member of the university CWC/HR committee 3. Member of the Evaluation committee 4. Member of the Computer Science committee 5. Member of the Evaluation Committee


Chris D. Lynd, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Mathematics, Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Systems of difference equations, competitive theory, bifurcation theory, and nested radicals. Education University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, Ph.D., Mathematics, 2012 University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, M.S., Mathematics, 2009 Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, B.S., Mathematics Education, 1995 2019 Presentations

The Class of Sequences of Nested Radicals, AMS Eastern Sectional Meeting, University of Connecticut, April 2019

2019 Teaching Spring: Math Thinking (Math 101) Finite Mathematics (Math 111) Applied Matrix Algebra (Math 118) Differential Equations (Math 322) Math Modeling (Math 410) Fall: Finite Mathematics (Math 111) [3 Sections] Programming in Mathematics (Math 320)

Differential Equations (Math 322) Undergraduate advisees: 10 Faculty advisees: 1 2019 Service Activities • Coordinator for the COMAP Math Modeling Competition, Reviewer for the Major Field Test in Mathematics,

Assisted with the High School Math Competition at BU. • Committees: COST Research Day Committee, COST Faculty Recognition Committee, Adjunct Search and

Screen Committee (Chair), Scholarship Committee (Chair), Evaluation Committee, Math Curriculum Committee, Math Retention/Recruitment Committee


Nonhle Channon Mdziniso, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Probability distributions theory and applications, statistical modeling; data mining, and machine learning. Education Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant MI, Ph.D., Mathematical Sciences: Statistics Concentration, 2018. Marshall University, Huntington WV, M.A., Mathematics, 2012. University of Swaziland, Kwaluseni, Swaziland, B.Sc., Computer Science and Mathematics, 2009. 2019 Presentations Data Science at Bloomsburg University. Hazleton Area Career Awareness Day (November 14, 2019). West Hazleton Elementary/Middle School, Hazleton, PA. Odd Pareto families of distributions for modeling loss payment data. International Conference on Statistical Distributions and Applications (ICOSDA 2019), Grand Rapids, MI. Data Science at Bloomsburg University: Classification methods. 2019 Cadet Conference, Grantville, PA. Data Science at Bloomsburg University: Classification methods. 2019 Civil Air Patrol Conference, Grantville, PA. Data Science at Bloomsburg University: Classification methods. STEM Magnet Data Science Workshop (2019), Bloomsburg University. Parametric Analysis of Renal Failure Data using the Exponentiated Odd Weibull Distribution. Bloomsburg University, Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences Seminar (Spring 2019). 2019 Grants Junior Researcher Travel Grant Award; travel grant for attending the 2019 International Conference on Statistical Distributions and Applications (ICOSDA 2019), Grand Rapids, MI, October 10-12, 2019. $400. 2019 Teaching Spring: MATH 141 Introduction to Statistics (3 sections) MATH 240 Statistical Methods Fall: MATH 141 Introduction to Statistics (2 sections) MATH 101 Mathematical Thinking (2 sections) 2019 Service Activities Chairperson for the Statistics Committee Data Science Committee Adjunct Search Committee APSCUF Audit Committee TALE Representative for the MADS department Student Recruitment: West Hazleton Elementary/Middle School, 2019 Cadet Conference, 2019 Civil Air Patrol Conference, STEM Magnet Data Science Workshop (2019).


Barry Minemyer

Ph.D. Assistant Professor


Scholarly Interests Differential Geometry, Metric Geometry, Discrete Geometry, Topology, Algebraic Topology Education Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, Ph.D. Mathematics, 2013 Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, M.A. Mathematics, 2009 Penn State Altoona, Altoona, PA, B.S. Mathematics, 2007 Publications

• Filling triangulated surfaces (with R. Kowalick and JF Lafont), Geometriae Dedicata, 202 (2019), 373-386 • On the isometric embedding problem for length metric spaces, to appear in Journal of Topology and

Analysis, arXiv: 1601.07895 • Warped production metrics on (complex) hyperbolic manifolds, submitted to Asian Journal of Mathematics

Presentations

• Warped product metrics on complex hyperbolic manifolds o 2019 Spring Topology and Dynamical Systems Conference at UAB, March 2019

• The geometry of n-dimensional triangles via edge length o Juniata College Undergraduate Colloquium, September 2019

Teaching Spring: College Algebra (Math 109) [2 sections] Calculus II (Math 126) [2 sections] Independent Study in Algebraic Topology Summer: College Algebra (Math 109, Online) Fall: College Algebra (Math 109) [2 Sections] Essentials of Calculus (Math 123) Calculus III (Math 225) Winter: College Algebra (Math 109, Online) Services Activities

• University Committees: Hiring Committee for the ACT 101 Director, Faculty Professional Development Committee, Library Advisory Committee, Faculty Student Liaison Committee, ROTC Strategic Enrollment Scholarship Committee

• Co-organized the Math component for the Jump Start Program • Organizer for the MADS Department Seminar • Departmental Committees: Curriculum Committee, Adjunct Search and Screen Committee • Referee/Reviewer for ten research papers in mathematics


Robert Montante, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

ACM Advisor

Digital Sciences Learning Center Director

Scholarly Interests Computer Networks, Computer Hardware and Organization, Parallel Computing, Information Security

Education

Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, Ph.D. Computer Science, 1997 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, S.B. Physics, 1976

Presentations Montante, R., (untitled), Bloomsburg University Conference of the Academy, August 22, 2019. Montante, R., Networking and Distributed Computing in One Course, CCSCNE-2019, University of New Haven,

April 13, 2019.

Research Activity Faculty Mentor, two PEG projects, summer 2019

Service Activities Faculty Advisor, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Bloomsburg Student Chapter Director, Digital Sciences Learning Community Bloomsburg representative, Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Sciences Educators

(PACISE) Governing Board Moderator, Computer Science Panel, CoST Career Day Computer Science Curriculum Committee Digital Forensics Curriculum Committee Digital Forensics Search Committee CoST Technology Committee

Courses Taught Introduction to Computer Networks (for Digital Forensics) Computer Networking (for Computer Science) Networking and PDC Computing (experimental, for Computer Science) C and Assembly Programming Digital Design and Computer Organization Computer Architecture Python Programming Advanced Python Programming


Reza Noubary


Publications Books:

• Lessons for Teaching Topics in Mathematics and Statistics Using Sports: Volume 1. Cognella, San Diego, CA: (with Heather Ervin).

• Lessons for Teaching Topics in Mathematics and Statistics Using Sports: Volume 2. Cognella, San Diego, CA: (with Heather Ervin).

• Mathematics and Sports: Revised Version, Bloomsburg University. • Introduction to Identification of Time Series, Bloomsburg University. • Reflections on Contemporary Life, Published by Archway/Simon & Shuster • A Journey through Mathland. In progress. • Living in the Binary World. In Progress.

Articles:

• On Calculation of Failure Probability for Structures Designed Based Magnitudes of Historical Event, Applications and Applied Mathematics. 10, 2, 983-994. (with F. Noubary).

• J-measure for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement, JP Journal of Biostatistics, Volume 11, Number 2, 135-141.

• Introducing a Better Means to Analyze and Communicate Flood Risk," submitted to the Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction (with R. Soltz).

• Coincidences - A Motivating Theme for Introductory Probability Course. Submitted. • Analysis of Longitudinal Data Using Order Statistics with Application to Prediction of Sports Records.

Submitted.

Newspaper Educational Articles • Obesity is now a worldwide epidemic • Math, practical and mystical, surrounds us • This Monday will be as easy as Pi • A mathematician calculates Bolt's chances in 100m. • Expensive medical care can be deadly too • Can some people willfully postpone deathday? • Globalization, problem or solution? • Christmas is time to treasure life and family • Islam is World’s Fastest Growing Religion • Pi and Pub Culture • Let Us Appreciate What We Have In America • Make Aging an Investment, Not an Expense • Korea is Beautiful But Torn Country • Hate Your Fat? Sure But Your Body Loves It • Amid So Many Lies and Deceptions, Is Truth Still a Virtue? • Worldwide Drug Epidemic Grows Ominously • Seldom Discussed “ Lookism” is Major Bias • Go Ahead, Take a Nap, Don’t Feel Guilty


• ‘Don’t sweat it’ is actually not good advice • To draw a conclusion, be sure to do all the math • Christianity, Islam Have Much in Common. • Why the Funniest People Are Often the Saddest? • Some Cancers Are Simply “Biological Bad Luck” • Can Monkey Type “Hamlet”? • Make Aging a Smooth Ride • You Are More than a Parent to Your Children • You May Not Like Your Fat, but Your Body Certainly Does • Mathematics, a Symbolic Language • Brain vs. Supercomputer • Is Air Travel Safer Than Car Travel? • Before buying Mega Million ticket read this • Bullying, A Universal Epidemic • Can Math Help Us Find what Makes Us Laugh? • Santa: Giving for the Sake of Giving

SIX NEW ARTICLES 2019

Presentation: Do diagnostic tests do what they are supposed to do? Global Awareness Society International Meeting. Budapest, Hungry. Panelist, Global Affairs. Global Awareness Society International Meeting. Budapest, Hungry. Teaching Probability and Linear Algebra using Tennis and Table Tennis. Misericordia University. Mathematics of Records, Department of Mathematics, Bloomsburg University. Mathematics of Surprises, Department of Mathematics, Bloomsburg University. Other Activities Member of the department’s evaluation committee Member of the department’s statistics committee Referee of five scientific papers. Consultant for the United State Olympic Track and Field committee


John Polhill, Ph.D. Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Algebraic combinatorics: difference sets, partial difference sets, error-correcting codes, strongly regular graphs, integer-labeled graphs Education University of Virginia, Ph.D. in Mathematics, 1999 University of Virginia, M.S. in Mathematics, 1998 University of Richmond, B.S. in Mathematics with Honors, 1993 Publications Davis, James A., Polhill, John and Smith, Ken. “Relative Linking Systems of Difference Sets and Systems of Linking Relative Difference Sets.” Submitted to Finite Fields (August 2019). Davis, James A., Polhill, John and Smith, Ken. “Relative and Almost Linking Systems.” The Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics, 50 (1), 113-118, 2019. Polhill, John. “A New Family of Partial difference sets in 3-groups.” Designs, Codes, and Cryptography, 87 (7), 1639-1646, 2019. Presentations “Variations on the Theme of Linked Systems of Difference Sets.” Fourteenth International Conference on Finite Fields and their Applications, Vancouver, Canada, June 3-7, 2019. 2019 Teaching Spring: Math 141 Introduction to Statistics (3 sections)

Math 141 Honors Introduction to Statistics Math 497 Internship in Math (GHP, two students)

Fall: IntStudy 100 University Seminar Math 101 Math Thinking (Three sections) Math 405 Abstract Algebra Math 495 Independent Study: Abstract Algebra 3

2019 Service Activities Departmental Committees: Evaluation, Mathematics Curriculum, Data Science Curriculum, Math Recruitment and Retention Mathematics Liaison for COST Career Day BU High School Math Contest Co-Coordinator Math Consultant for COE NCATE Accreditation University-wide Promotion Committee


Philip A. Polstra, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Linux Forensics, Windows Forensics, Mac Forensics, USB Forensics, Penetration testing with small devices Education Northcentral University, Prescott, AZ, Doctor of Philosophy, Business Administration with Concentration in Computer and Information Security, 2012. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, Master of Science, Low-temperature Condensed-matter Physics, 1994 Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, Bachelor of Arts, Physics (Mathematics), 1990 Recent Publications Philip Polstra, “Advanced Bash Scripting.” (video course), PentesterAcademy, August 2019. Philip Polstra, “Reverse Engineering ARM Applications.” (video course), PentesterAcademy, January 2019. Recent Presentations “Big Plane, Little Plane: How aviation attacks affect airliners and general aviation.”, GrrCON 2019. “Big Plane, Little Plane: How aviation attacks affect them both.”, ConCON 5.0, September 2019. Invited keynote for SACON in Bangalore, India, February 2019. One day forensics workshop. Service Activities Organized the first, second, third, and fourth annual BloomCON Forensics and Security Conference Faculty advisor for Digital Forensics club Digital Forensics committee member Digital Forensics search committee member Adjunct search and screen committee member Meet and Discussion committee member Awards PA Flight Instructor of the Year, FAA Harrisburg FSDO, January 2019.


James Pomfret

Professor Emeritus

Retired January 2008

It’s hard to believe that nearly 48 years ago, at the urging of JoAnne Growney, I came to Bloomsburg State College to join the Department of Mathematics where I was to teach a variety of math courses-abstract algebra, linear algebra, topology-to students preparing to teach high school mathematics. It was about this time that the department purchased its first programmable calculator that required a box weighing about 100 pounds and accepting programs of up to 64 statements.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that mathematics might be the basis of methods and techniques that could actually be used in the real world. I realize Dave, Nancy, Scott, Kim, Lee and perhaps a few others were successful in completing Ph.D.’s in mathematics but I knew that the majority of our students were not headed for Ph.D. programs and would benefit from learning applications. The operations research, decision theory, and computer simulation courses we developed and taught were some of my favorite primarily because of the projects that students conceived and carried out.

Among my fondest memories of teaching at BU include the KME conferences where students had the chance to present what were usually their first research papers. We traveled to Chicago, San Francisco, Nashville, Niagara Falls usually staying in the cheapest motels we could find where, the night before the paper completion, students would bring out their overhead slides (no PowerPoint) and nervously go through their talks one last time.

I retired from the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics in January 2008 feeling grateful to the university and the department for an enjoyable 36 year career. Since retirement I have continued to work with the Global Awareness Society International, a non-profit dedicated to providing a forum for research related to the many effects of globalization. This year we will hold our 29th annual conference in Las Vegas Nevada in May. I have also continued to work to strengthen the department’s relationship with Shandong University of Technology with whom we have had a joint program in computer science. During three fall semesters, I taught both mathematics and ESL in China for students hoping to transfer to Bloomsburg. In addition, I try to keep my calculus skills up to date by tutoring high school students in BU’s STEM Program

Off campus, I serve on the board of the Friends of the Bloomsburg Public Library, the Advisory Council of the Area Agency on Aging, and I deliver Meals on Wheels. My golf game is stagnant with a mean of 90 and a very small standard deviation although there are occasional outliers.

If any department graduates come to BU, perhaps to show their children or grandchildren the campus, stop by the Library where I have a small office and join me for a cup of Starbucks. It would be great to see you!

My retirement philosophy: Just Keep Moving!


Mehdi Razzaghi, Ph.D. Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Statistical Modeling, Generalized Linear Models, Statistics in Toxicology, Risk Assessment, Machine Learning Education Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA, BS, Computer Science, 2004 University of London, London, England, PhD, Statistics, 1977 Sussex University, Brighton, England, BSc, 1970School, Location, Degree, Major, Year (start with most recent) Recent Publications: Books Razzaghi, M. Statistical Models in Toxicology – First Draft - Submitted Razzaghi, M. and Militzer, E. Introduction to Statistics - Revised

Refereed Papers Khorsheed, E. and Razzaghi, M. (2019). Bayesian Model Averaging for Benchmark Dose Analysis in Developmental Toxicology. Applied Mathematics and Information Sciences. 13(1), 1 – 10 Rusin, M., Dziubanek, G., Marchwińska-Wyrwał, E., Ćwieląg-Drabek, M., Piekut, A., and Razzaghi, M. (2019). PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs in locally produced foods as health risk factors in Silesia Province, Poland. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (Accepted) Piekut, A., Ćwieląg-Drabek, M. Szymala, I. Oleksiuk, K. Razzaghi, M. Osmala, W. Konstancja Jabłońska, K., and Dziubanek, G. (2019). Health Risks from Consumption of Medicinal Plant Dietary Supplements. Submitted. Presentations The Log-Lindley-Normal Distribution as an Alternative to the Beta-Normal Distribution with Application. International Conference on Applied Probability and Statistics (CAPS 2019). Hanoi, Vietnam. Awards Sabbatical Leave – Spring 2019 Teaching Spring: On leave Fall: Introduction to Statistics Applied Regression Analysis Service

• Member, Statistics Committee • Member, Data Science Search and Screen Committee • Course Coordinator, Introduction to Statistics • Member of Data Science Committee.

Service to the Profession • Referee for Bulletin of Emergency and Trauma • Referee for Fulbright Junior Research Award • Referee for PASSHE Faculty Professional Development Council


John H. Riley, Jr., Ph.D. Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Digital Forensics – File Systems, Malware Mathematics – Analysis Education University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, Ph. D., Mathematics, 1980 University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, M.S., Mathematics, 1975 Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, B.A., Mathematics, 1973 2019 Presentations Riley, John H., Jr., Hello Ghidra, BloomCON, Bloomsburg, PA, March 20, 2019 Riley, John H., Jr., Digital Forensics Presentation, Elementary Career Day, Millville Elementary School, Millville,

PA, May 23, 2019 Riley, John H. Jr., Digital Forensics, Anchor Program, Bloomsburg University, July 8 through 11, 2019 Riley, John H., Jr., Lots of Grittiness, Mathematical and Digital Sciences Seminar, Bloomsburg, PA, October 22,

2019 2019 Service Activities University Strategic Planning (Coleader) Admissions Open Houses Digital Forensics Program Coordinator Bloomsburg University Curriculum Committee (Chair) General Education Task Force CESS Task Force Academic Placement Working Group URSCA Supervisor, Austin Pasquel U.S. Bank Security Conference – Liaison for live stream at Bloomsburg University Program Committee Member - Association for Digital Forensics, Security and Law Referee – Computers and Security


Yixun Shi Professional Presentations (2017-2019)

“Strategies in Teaching College General Education Mathematics Classes”--- Keynote Speech at the 2019 International Conference on Learning and Teaching (ICLT 2019) Seoul, South Korea, May 27-29, 2019

"Mathematical Models for Social Behavior in Mobile Commerce" --- Keynote Speech at the 2018 International Conference on E-business and Business Engineering (ICEBB 2018) Chengdu, China, May 21 – 23, 2018.

"Mathematical Models for the Demand of Luxury Goods in China – Keynote Speech at the 2017 8th International Conference on E-business, Management and Economics (ICEME 2017). Birmingham, UK, October 27 – 29, 2017


Larry Snyder, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Scholarly interests include exploring the theoretical criminological frameworks which best account for cybercrime acts that span traditional and novel crime patterns. The utilization of a coalitional game theory approach to cybersecurity intelligence sharing among disparate small businesses. Also, an examination of distributed data systems and the role they play in a distributed data security architecture. Education Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Ph.D., Information Systems, 2013 Capitol College, Laurel, MD., M.S., Network Security, 2003 Utica College, Utica, NY., B.S., Economic Crime Investigations, 2001 Herkimer County Community College, Herkimer, NY, AAS Paralegal, 1997 Teaching (2019) Spring: DIGFOR 121 (01,02) – File Systems I DIGFOR122 (02) – File Systems II DIGFOR275 (01,02) – Intro to Networks Summer: DIGFOR 122 - File Systems II Fall: DIGFOR 121 (05) – File Systems I DIGFOR 275 (01,02) – Intro to Networks DIGFOR 431 (01) – Cybercrime Issues Certifications Access Data Certificed Examiner v6 Training Taken Forensic ToolKit Intermediate, Live Online Training, 24 hours, July 2019 2019 Presentations August 2019 - ISSA Thought Leadership Conference - Beyond the Phish - Snapshot of End User Behavior March 2019 - Bloomcon 0x04 - Humans are not the Weakest Link 2019 Service Activities

Digital Forensics Committee Member Digital Forensics search committee member Digital Forensics adjunct search committee member Honors Banquet Committee University Audit Committee Author of new digitals forensics 400 level elective


Michael Stephans, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Technical and Professional Writing, Visual Rhetoric, Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry, Music Research and Performance, Curriculum Development and Implementation Education California State University, Northridge, CA, M.A., English, 2003 University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Ph.D., Education, 1976 University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, M.Ed, Education, 1969 University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, A.B., English 1967 Publications Two book proposals in progress: December 2019-present

Service Activities University Committees General Education Council Library Advisory Committee College of Science & Technology (COST) Committees COST Communication Committee Departmental Committees Search and Screen Committees: Adjunct position Promotion, Sabbatical, and Tenure Committee

Evaluations Committee Miscellaneous Activities

COST/BU Recruiter: Institute on Teaching and Mentoring Southern Regional Education Board (multiple years)


Erik L. Wynters, Ph.D. Professor Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences

Scholarly Interests Parallel processing on GPUs, computational geometry, artificial intelligence, algorithms and data structures, Windows programming, operations research for solving optimization problems. Education Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Ph.D., Applied Mathematics, 1991 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, M.S., Applied Mathematics, 1989 University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, B.S., Mathematics, 1986 Publications (2019) E. Wynters, Small code changes can make many single-threaded CPU programs run hundreds of times faster in parallel on a GPU using C++ AMP, Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 1/18, 33(3), pp. 73-74. E. Wynters, C++ AMP makes it easy to explore parallel processing on GPUs in a college course or research project, Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 6/18, 33(6), pp. 197-198. E. Wynters, Parallel particle swarm optimization can solve many optimization problems quickly on GPUs, Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 6/18, 33(6), pp. 114-123. E. Wynters, Many serial programs can be easily parallelized to run hundreds or thousands of times faster, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of The Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Science Educators, 4/19, pp. 64-68. E. Wynters, Evaluating potential solutions for facility location problems in parallel on GPUs, Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 10/19, 35(3), pp. 14-19. Presentations (2019) E. Wynters, Image processing problems and facility location problems can often be parallelized easily to run hundreds or thousands of times faster, Mathematical and Digital Sciences Department Seminar, Bloomsburg, PA, 4/9/19. E. Wynters, Many serial programs can be easily parallelized to run hundreds or thousands of times faster, Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Science Educators Conference, Millersville, PA, 4/13/19. E. Wynters, Evaluating potential solutions for facility location problems in parallel on GPUs, Consortium of Computing Sciences in Colleges-Eastern. Moon Township, PA 10/26/19. Teaching (2019) Spring: Data Structures & C++ (COMPSCI 255) Windows Programming (COMPSCI 356)

Fall: Python Programming (COMPSCI 115)

Service Activities (2019) Department Computer Science Committee Department Evaluation Committee Department Scholarship Committee


Dong Zhang, Ph.D.

Associate Professor


Education University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, Ph.D., Statistics, 2012 Nankai University, Tianjin, China, M.Sc., Statistics, 2007 Nankai University, Tianjin, China, B.Sc., Statistics, 2004

Research Interest Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, Empirical likelihood, Semi-parametric inference, Design of Experiment, Risk analysis, Data analysis on clinical trials, Data mining and Deep learning.

Teaching Spring 2019 Fall 2019

Introduction to Statistics (2 sections) Python Programming (2 sections

Database Design (2 sections) Introduction to Statistics (2 sections)

Biostatistics (2 sections)

Machine Learning (Independent Study)

Scholarship (2019)

• Reza Noubary and Dong Zhang (2019) Introduction to Statistics and Probability Through Sports. First draft was sent to poublisher.

• Joint project with Jeffrey Brunskill and Curt Jones (2019) Cloud recognition neural networks • Joint project with Naz Afarin Fallahian, Tanner A. Ambrose and David R. Simpson (2019) Investigation

of Variations in Gamma Rays Detected by the EPA Air Monitoring Systems Located in Pennsylvania • Kylie Connell, Mohsin Shaikh and Dong Zhang (2019) The role of medial olivocochlear efferent pathway

on the perception of speech in noise. Submitted to 2019 ASHA. • Taylor Chesnet, Mohsin Shaikh, Kylie Connell and Dong Zhang (2019) Ear Asymmetry in Speech

Perception in Noise Ability and Contralateral Suppression of Otoacoustic Emissions. Submitted to 2019 ASHA.

• Thomas Zalewski and Dong Zhang (2019) Campanile entitled Hearing Handicap & Auditory Processing Disorder Relationship in Elderly Individuals. Submitted to 2019 ASHA.


Activities (2019) 1. Developed neural networks with Dr. Brunskill and Dr. Jones for cloud recognition based on AlexNet

and ResNet. In addition, a web frontend was developed for future users to classify images and contribute their own pictures. (2019)

2. Developed a MATLAB application for Dr. Mohsin Shaikh’s team to perform audio test and collect data. (2019)

3. Developed a MATLAB application for Dr. Zalewski to run audio test targeting sound frequency and volume tests. (2019)

4. Built a CUDA deep learning workstation. (2019)

Service (2019) 1. Data Science Curriculum Committee 2. Computer Science Search & Screen Committee 3. Math Adjunct Search and Screen 4. Statistics Committee 5. Scholarship Committee 6. Evaluation Committee


Pathways in Science and Technology

This year the College of Science and Technology hosted our annual Pathways in Science and Technology on Friday, October 25th. Pathways is an event where alumni come back to campus to share advice and words of wisdom on curriculum issues, employment opportunities and career choices. Current students are able to obtain advice from recent and not so recent graduates on a range of topics that could benefit their future professional life. Students were able to participate in discussions, have a networking lunch, and ask about career opportunities in their field of study. This is a great opportunity for students to interact with alumni and professionals who work in the field of science and technology. Many of the panel members bring job and internship opportunities from their company with them to share with current students. The Math and Digital Sciences Department held different panel sessions for Computer Science majors, Digital Forensics majors and Math majors. The Computer Science panel was moderated by Dr. Bob Montante

The panel included: Ember Baker, Mark Edwards, James Garringer, Michael Miguelez, Mark Moore, Joshua Payne and Daniel Polenik

The Math panel was moderated by Dr. John Polhill

The panel included: Teresa Drucker, Nafiz Karabudak, Alyssa Lopatka, and Eric Zalewski. The Digital Forensics panel was moderated by Dr. Scott Inch

The panel included: Felicia DiPrinzio, Keith Irwin, Tarah Melton, Remy Santi, Matthew Shafer, and Joe Yurkunas.


ACM Student Chapter, Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences Faculty Advisor: Robert Montante

The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) is an international professional organization for those involved in computing and computers. Student chapters at colleges in the United States and abroad represent student interests and prepare them to participate in the computing community. Bloomsburg is proud to be home to one of these student chapters. Chapter Activities

At the beginning of the school year the chapter welcomed students back with a pizza party and introductory presentation. Weekly meetings mixed social get-togethers with student-led

presentations on topics useful for academic and career growth, including • Git and Github Workshop • LinkedIn Workshop • Javascript Language Overview • Swift Language Overview • Internship Panel

Besides these weekly programs the chapter has conducted bi-weekly “Code@Night” sessions offering class tutoring, coding projects, and mutual support. There are also intramural programming competition

practice sessions. Every year the chapter sends one or more programming teams to competitions across Pennsylvania and the northeastern U.S. Recent teams have placed second or third in statewide contests. Department Service ACM members participate in campus Open Houses each semester, offering student perspectives and enthusiasm to showcase the Department for prospective freshmen. Members also contribute their time and effort working for the High School Math Contest in the fall, and Programming contest in the spring. They serve as scorers and program judges for contests that bring in as many as 50 teams from high schools throughout eastern Pennsylvania.

ACM Student Officers

Programming Teams at CCSC-E Conference


mailto:Code@Night

Math and Digital Sciences Awards Banquet

This past Spring, the department held its first annual awards banquet. On Sunday, April 7th, we recognized outstanding students who have excelled academically and succeeded in our department. Listed below are the scholarships and awards students received at the banquet: Marek Mathematics Scholarship – Jordan Marlow J. Edward Kerlin Scholarship – Johnathan Prichett J. Edward Kerlin Scholarship – Austin Pasquel Elizabeth and James Mauch Scholarship – Jon Dressler James Pomfret Award – Highest Academic Achievement in Mathematics – Laura Josuweit Highest Academic Achievement Award in Digital Forensics – Nathaniel Huber Highest Academic Achievement Award in Computer Science – Steven Hricenak C.R. Reardin Award – Karissa Jelonek In attendance, we had approximately 15 guests including students and their parents, and 10 faculty. In 2020 we hope to expand our awards and invite more students to celebrate their achievements.

From Left to Right: Jordan Marlow, Johnathan Prichett, Austin Pasquel, Karissa Jelonek, Steven Hricenak, Laura Josuweit. Missing from Picture: Jon Dressler, Nathaniel Huber


Bloomsburg Cyber Defense Club The Bloomsburg Cyber Defense Club is a collection of students interested in learning and discussing various security related topics. Some examples include network concepts, incident response (cyber defense), pentesting (hacking), network forensics, and programming. BCDC's weekly meetings consist of, discussing emerging security threats, concepts , and techniques. Members are encouraged to present security projects and research they are working on during these meetings as well. The club has several meetings each week, depending on whether they are learning or practicing.

BCDC also participates in a variety of capture the flag (CTF) competitions as both teams and individuals. During this past fall semester, BCDC has competed in the CSAW, CNY Hack-a-thon, U.S Bank Strength in Security, and National Cyber League Fall Season competitions. In the coming Spring semester, BCDC will compete in the National Cyber League Spring Season and Mid-Atlantic Cyber Defense competitions.


BCDC focuses on studying hacking and security techniques, working to hone their skills for cyber defense competitions and their future in digital forensics. Nelson Maher has this to say about the club “I most enjoy the comradery that develops from bringing people who are passionate about the same thing together. Due to this, I have been able to meet some awesome friends through the club that I don't think I would have otherwise met. Competing with the club is loads of fun, and everyone is able to learn a ton from the competitions. Learning about these concepts in classes is good but applying them when competing with BCDC is an amazing learning opportunity”.


Bloomsburg University High School Math Contest

This year the department hosted our 22nd Annual High School Math Contest. The contest had over 160 students from 18 area high schools competing in three events, namely the Quiz Bowl, Brainteasers, and “Game of 24-Points”. The Quiz Bowl is a fast-paced Jeopardy type competition where teams compete against each other to solve math problems from algebra, trigonometry, statistics, logic, and geometry. The Brainteasers is a written test, where teams work to solve 25-35 math problems. The “Game of 24-Points” is a fast-paced arithmetic game. Using four cards, dealt from a standard deck (with face cards removed), teams compete against each other to get the desired number using only the allowed operations.

Dr. Calhoun deals a “Game of 24”

Emmaus Team 1 – Winners of the Quiz Bowl and Game of 24 The Winners of each event are listed below from first to fourth: Quiz Bowl: Parkland Team 1, Emmaus Team 1, Carlisle Team 1, Central Mountain Team 3 Brainteasers: Emmaus Team 1, Parkland Team 1, Pottsville Team 1, Parkland Team 1 Game of 24 Points: Emmaus Team 1, Central Team 1, Berwick Team 1, Millville Team 1

Bloomsburg University Math Club

The Bloomsburg University Math Club is a student club for math and non-math majors alike. The group hosts the annual high school math contest and participates in service projects such as bell ringers for the Salvation Army, volunteering at Habitat for Humanity, or hosting a dinner at a local church for the poor. The club also does a variety of other activities like trivia night, game night, movies, celebrating Pi Day, and bowling.


Internships and Research Our students are discovering internship opportunities that are available to them. Most internship and research projects happen during the summer months. Below is a sample of some of their experiences. Anna Dempsey AXA_XL This summer I interned in the US Programs Department at AXA XL. I had a great experience working with many great people and gaining a lot more knowledge. In the programs department we hire other companies to provide the insurance while we underwrite it. For example, this summer I worked under another employee who was in charge of Petplan. Petplan was our pet insurance program, I spent the summer editing rating manuals and testing different policies to ensure the calculations were accurate and using the updated rates. I also worked on some preliminary marketing reviews to make sure Petplan is representing AXA XL the way we want them to. I am really sad my internship is coming to an end, I had a great time this summer and am sad to say goodbye to the people as well as the company. Kaylin Betz Department of Defense I interned with the Department of Defense this summer. It awarded me with a Top Secret clearance, resulting in a better opportunity to land a job of my liking. I learned more about my field of study, Digital Forensics, and I would recommend this internship to all undergrads in the Digital Forensics/Comp Science realm. I have received a final job offer following my graduation date in December 2019, which I have accepted. What I liked most was the opportunity to have my eyes opened to the many different areas of cyber and learn just how important cyber is in our world today. Charles Pearsall VMWare, Inc. This summer I got the opportunity to intern at VMware. My role as an intern at VMware was a Datacenter and Cloud operations engineer. During my internship I got to experience many unique and interesting technologies at VMware that apply to the computer science and digital forensics realm. Some of the neat things I got to work with at VMware while interning for them was being able to help improve NSX and VSAN products. Being able to work side by side with some of the founding members who created these products was such a unique and exciting opportunity. With my background of storage and how file systems operate thanks to File Systems 1 and File Systems 2 I was able to be of use to the team, I believe that being a Bloomsburg University digital forensics student has allowed me to get unique experiences inside the classroom and outside the classroom and without those experiences I do not think I would have been able to succeed as much as I did at this internship. Overall interning at VMware has been an awesome experience and I would highly recommend students check out VMware’s intern program. Colby Porterfield Trumbull Corporation This summer I worked as a Cyber Security Intern at PJ Dick - Trumbull - Lindy Paving. PJ Dick - Trumbull - Lindy Paving is a general contractor based out of Pittsburgh, PA. The companies have consistently been ranked among the nation's Top 100 General Contractors and Construction managers by Engineering News Record. I completed some interesting tasks this summer such as analyzing a security assessment, implemented a BitBucket Mirror in our data center for our BitBucket repositories, analyzed network traffic with Wireshark, NMAP, and Fiddler, and constructed several cyber safety emails with regards to the threat landscape. The internship has been a great learning experience. I will be able to apply the skills I've acquired through my internship and apply them for the rest of my undergrad and make my resume more attractive for future employers.


Joseph Carswell Curtiss-Wright I interned for Curtiss-Wright as a software developer. This was a great experience for me where I was able to learn a lot about professional software development. When you take classes, you gain a fundamental understanding of certain topics, but you don’t usually get to see them applied in real-world scenarios. Working here has given me more confidence as I go into my final semester: ready to begin applying for jobs. I’m less worried about working with a team now and more familiar with how a software development company might operate and what’s expected of me as a developer. Overall, it was a great experience that I really enjoyed. I’m sure I will carry many of the skills I learned here with me throughout my career. Justin Rogan Sandvik I completed my computer science internship at Sandvik. Throughout the time here, I noticed how important the technology side is when working in an international company providing support to our local and international branches. This internship will benefit me by giving me my first real world experience in a professional setting while working in the technology related field. I've learned some day to day tasks that occur in a large company and have learned new skills to carry with me. Caleb Beard VMWare, Inc. This summer I had the opportunity at a Silicon Valley company known as VMware. I was a part of an IT team that produced applications to aid in the productivity and accuracy of the finance department. As part of this experience, I was exposed to numerous new technologies and ideas, and was able to see how a massive company like VMware operates so smoothly. I also developed two applications for them: a backend Java web service that is part of a microservices architecture, and a Python web service which serves as the piece that ties all the services together in the same microservices application. This experience was very beneficial, and I am very fortunate to have been given this opportunity to both prove and improve myself, and it’s cool to know that I now have two products in production at the company. Luke Shriver US Army Interning at ACI on West Point grounds was an internship like no other. All projects that were being worked on, were in direct correlation with the dynamic cyber-attacks around the world. It was with the research that we were doing that will help our nation and its Army to better secure and combat threats in the future. My specific project was that to the show the effective use of the IVAS. This is a modified HoloLens2 specifically for the Army for use in simulated trainings and combat. I was to show through the use of IWARS an infantry simulation software, that with the use of the IVAS a group of army soldiers are more effective in the field taking less casualties compared to a unit that does not have these capabilities. Overall, I highly recommend this to any student trying to get into the cyber field, any person can sign up for this internship. Paul Bowen Revolutionary Security For the summer of 2019, I interned with the cyber-security consultation company Revolutionary Security, or RevSec, in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. During my time with RevSec, I performed a wide variety of tasks, ranging from: how to properly compose and format corporate documents; how to properly give corporate presentations; further learning on coding and hacking; some actual consultation; learning how to analyze and document malware. Another task I was entrusted with was assisting in finalizing and composing documents—to help refer employees to further training opportunities, events, tools, breaking news, and career-advancing opportunities. My internship with RevSec was


invaluable, as I learned many techniques and career advice that I would not have otherwise learned on my own; having the internship on my resume is another factor I hope will prove to be beneficial. Among the aforementioned benefits, the most valuable one was the connections and relationships I made along the way; while the full scope is yet to be determined, as I still must finish my final semester in Bloomsburg, I am very hopeful the connections I established will help me find a job upon graduation. Niall Devlin District of Columbia My time here in the District of Columbia has been extremely beneficial to the future of my career. I interned with the United States Marshal’s Service in the Cyber Investigations Unit through The Washington Center this summer and this was the most ideal internship I could have wished for. I started the first few weeks in the Jumpstart program. It helped me professionally by preparing me for encounters I will eventually face in my internship and future workplaces. Eventually, I started my internship and I would consider this an experience that is few and far between. Not many people have the privilege of interning for the United States Marshal’s Service and I did everything I could to make this most of this opportunity. The information I have learned from my peers is more valuable to me than any of the projects I have worked on. They helped me every step of the way and would take hours out of their day to talk to me and educate me on topics that interested me. I have assisted on conducting Open Source Investigations and other cases on client’s names that I am not allowed to disclose. I have also gone on field trips like seminars given by the Secret Service, sitting in on a high-profile case at the District Court of DC, and visited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. All in all, this internship has taught me who I am as a professional, which is someone that is dedicated to investigations within Federal Law Enforcement. This internship has given me a plan for my future that will help me get to where I want to be in my career. I believe that after I graduate this December I would like to work with the Capitol Police to start my career for multiple reasons. The Washington Center has given me the opportunity to intern at the United States Marshal’s Service and the experience I learned there is something that you cannot obtain from any class available in any college. Nahid Mondol Function of Beauty During the summer of 2019, I interned at Function of Beauty in Catawissa, PA. I’ve learned way more than I could’ve imagined during my time here. I’ve improved my programming and database knowledge, learned how to communicate with the COO, chemists, managers, production team, and so much more. I enjoyed coming in everyday and work on projects that I was eager to finish. I am looking forward on continuing my internship during the fall semester. Katherine Van Horn Revolutionary Security, LLC My internship this summer was with the cybersecurity company Revolutionary Security LLC stationed in Blue Bell, PA and I could not have asked for a better opportunity. When I walked into this internship, I hadn’t had much experience with cybersecurity other than just talking about it in classes. On my first day I got my summer project, which was to design a virtual machine that could do pentesting and forensic tasks within an OT environment, which I thought was fascinating as I had never created a virtual machine of any sort, just used them. I got to learn so much with my team, and am so thankful to have gotten to work with such an exceptional team, willing to help me learn. I went into this summer not knowing much about cybersecurity other than what the word meant. I will be walking away from this opportunity having learned so much, ranging from how to design a virtual machine, how to perform basic


pentesting, and how to use the skills learned in school or the office, in a real-world environment from the team at Revolutionary Security. James Garringer Function of Beauty This summer I interned at Function of Beauty and I was hired as a Java Developer, I am also able to work with SQL often. My team is made up of two full-time developers and two interns, including Nahid Mondol and myself. We work on writing code for our in-house production lines, develop all of the front-end interfaces that employees use to do their work, and write the back-end logic to handle front-end activities. Our team codes all components of the manufacturing process. After becoming acclimated to the workflow at Function of Beauty, I started working on smaller projects. The best part of the internship is that all of the code I write has been deployed, and it feels great to see it working right away. As the internship goes forward, I take on more significant projects when they're available, but that is based solely on what leadership thinks we need to implement. Overall, this internship provided me an opportunity to grow my programming skills. Finally, I learned how to build my skillset and develop my ability to interpret existing code. Emily Rine Research Presentation – Northeast Regional Honors Council Conference I presented my research on the prediction of first semester grade point averages of incoming Bloomsburg University students on Sunday, April 14 at the Northeast Regional Honors Council Conference. The theme of the conference was “Generating Power” and the keynote speaker was Senator Mary Washington. She suggested that power was like energy and that it cannot be created or destroyed. She told us that we should keep researching and fighting for change in order to make the world a better place. I had a great time at the NRHC conference because it was interesting to see other research from honor’s students and I am extremely grateful that I was able to attend. Jamin Heiser Bloomsburg University Research Day Using Machine Learning to Aid in Determining Malignancy of Tumors Zachary Prebosnyak Bloomsburg University Research Day Smart Devices and Dumb Criminals Received top prize in undergraduate mathematics or digital sciences-based research


Nicholas Ashenfelter and Michael O’Donnell Susquehanna Valley Undergraduate Research Symposium BloomBus Project James Sharpe and Dr. Chris Lynd The American Mathematic Monthly – Published Research Sequences Generated by Powers of the kth-order Fibonacci Recurrence Relation


https://bloomsburgu.tumblr.com/image/184389857997

Kappa Mu Epsilon (KME)

Kappa Mu Epsilon is a National Honor Society for Mathematics. The Pennsylvania Lambda Chapter at Bloomsburg University currently has 24 members. Induction ceremonies for new members and presentations of honors cords to graduating seniors are held twice per year in the fall and spring semesters.

Spring 2019 New Members: Connor Landis, Brianna Denniston, Chandler Hughes, Schyler Kelsch, Dario D'Amato, Caleb Beard

Spring 2019 Graduates: Zachary Swanger, Daniel Staros, Elizabeth Grego, Lexa Sabo, Danielle Bickelman, Emily Rine, Riley Hughes, Lauren Barrett, Zachary Hostetler, Jon Dressler. Not pictured: Laura Josuweit, Ryan, Kaslavage, Alyssa Lopatka.

Service Coordinator Danielle Bickelman congratulates Zachary Hostetler, winner of the Problem-Solving Competition.

Connor Landis participated in the of the Eastern Pennsylvania-Delaware meeting of the Mathematical Association of America at DeSales University on November 9, 2019.


Digital Sciences Learning Community

Bloomsburg University’s Digital Sciences Learning Community provides a supportive environment for incoming first-year students. In 2019-2020 the LC expanded to include Digital Forensics majors and Computer Science, and welcomed 36 mentees. Student mentors Nicholas Heckman, Duncan Walk, and Aidan Wesloskie, with faculty director Robert Montante, conducted activities and programs to assist with academics and provide a supportive social environment

Learning Community mentees are housed together in Montour Hall, and enrolled in a shared section of the introductory course for their major. The mentors provide guidance and counseling for LC members as they come to grips with classes and become familiar with life away from home at college. Mentors also conduct study sessions, and hold regular one-on-one and group meetings with the mentees. Field trips are offered to allow a break from academic concerns; social events such as a LAN party for computer games are also organized, and the LC coordinates some activities with the ACM student chapter.

Mentors and Director welcome LC freshmen at the CoST Ice Cream Social.

LC get-together – a LAN party


Mid-Atlantic Cyber Defense Competition

The Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC), presented by the National CyberWatch Center, is a unique experience for college and university students to test their knowledge and skills in a competitive environment. The MACCDC provides hands-on application of information assurance skills to enhance students’ understanding of both theory and practice. The MACCDC combines legal, ethical, forensics, and technical components while emphasizing a team approach. The Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition is held in the spring of each year. In mid-February, 2019 More than 300 students competed in virtual rounds for an opportunity to be one of eight teams to advance to the regional finals. Bloomsburg University’s team competed fiercely for 5 hours during the virtual rounds. Participating students were Derrick Bordner, Bryan Iadisernia, Jacob Feese, Jeff Mann, Gregory Filippenko, Joshua Kaminski, Elijah Gusick, and Steven Crismali. Dr. Diane Barrett was the team advisor


The annual High School Programming Contest hosted by Bloomsburg University Each spring for the past 24 years, about 250 students and their teachers from across eastern Pennsylvania (and sometimes from other states) converge on Bloomsburg University to compete in our annual High School Programming Contest. Students working in teams of four collaborate to solve as many programming problems as possible within a three-hour period. The teams are provided a booklet with ten different programming problems of various degrees of difficulty and may work on the problems in any order. The contest is structured to allow all the teams to complete some of the problems, but the more challenging problems require significant coding skill and creativity.

The top ten schools will receive prizes and the top ten teams will receive a plaque commemorating their accomplishment. Prizes typically come in sets of four identical items since teams are typically comprised of four students. Examples of prize items: Amazon gift cards, Kindle readers, Raspberry Pi kits, Garmin fitness bands, wireless mice, novelty flash drives, Bluetooth earbuds, and so on. All participating students (and their teachers) receive a contest shirt.

Participants, problem statements and results are available at the contest website:

department.bloomu.edu/mathcompscistats/Contest/


SAE Batelle CyberAuto Challenge

The 2019 SAE Battelle CyberAuto Challenge, held July 21-26, 2019, at Macomb Community College in Warren, MI, assembled teams of high school and college students and professionals to work on real cars to find real answers to cybersecurity challenges. Participating professionals in the hands-on practicum and workshop included automotive engineers, government engineers, and ethical "white hat" researchers.

Selected students from around the globe, including students from Germany, Japan, and Canada were selected to participate in this year's challenge. The event enables industry professionals to benefit from the fresh perspectives offered by high-performing high school/college students. In turn, students gain exposure to industry experts and hands-on learning.

The Challenge is a five-day practicum-based workshop where teams comprised equally of students and professionals, including automotive engineers, government engineers, and ethical “white-hat” hackers, work on real cars to find real answers to the challenges posed by cybersecurity in automobiles. Teams work to identify automotive cybersecurity trends and develop talent in a new technical discipline in a high-tech industry. Vehicle composition is made up of high school and college students, OEM and supplier engineers, government representatives (e.g. Department of Transportation, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security), STEM educators, and security researchers ("white-hat" hackers). A total of about 16 people make up a team. Each team works together for the entire week on the same vehicle.

BU students have been accepted into the program every year since 2013. Three digital forensics students, Steven Crismali, Blake Lyons, and Joshua Kaminski were selected to participate in 2019.


Mathematical and Digital Sciences

2019 Department Seminar speakers

Spring 2019

Date Title Speaker Affiliation March 5 Revisiting the mystery of 𝜋𝜋2/6 Dr. Paul Loomis Bloomsburg University March 26 Fun with Primes and Trees Dr. William Calhoun Bloomsburg University

April 2 Parametric Analysis of Renal Failure Data using the Exponentiated Odd Weibull Distribution

Dr. Nonhle Channon Mdziniso Bloomsburg University

April 9 Image Processing Problems and Facility Location Problems Can Often Be Parallelized Easily to Run Hundreds or Thousands of Times Faster

Dr. Erik Wynters Bloomsburg University

April 30 Ordered Rings and Fiels James Sharpe BU Mathematics major

Fall 2019

Date Title Speaker Affiliation

September 17 Neural Networks Dr. Youmin Lu Bloomsburg University

October 1 Conquering the Rubik’s Cube Dr. Kevin Ferland Bloomsburg University

October 15 Digital Forensics John P. Lucich President and Founder of eForensix

October 22 Lots of Grittiness Dr. John Riley Bloomsburg University

November 19 Machine Learning and Neural Networks Jacob Nocentino BU Computer Science and

Mathematics Major

December 3 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Creating an Inexpensive Mesh Network of Bad USBs

Nelson Maher BU Digital Forensics Major


Mathematical and Digital Sciences’ Tutoring Center

The Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences offers free tutoring for all students enrolled in MAD science classes. Students can go to rooms 218 and 115 Ben Franklin Hall for help. Tutoring is available from 8:00-9:00 Monday through Thursday and 9:00-5:00 on Friday. Weekly review sessions for different courses such as Calculus or Concepts of Mathematics, are also offered and vary by semester. Tutors (Fall 2019):

Computer Science • Jacob Ackley - Senior • Caleb Beard - Senior • James Garringer - Senior • Karissa Jelonek - Junior

Digital Forensics • Joshua Kaminski - Senior • Blake Lyons – Senior • Nelson Maher - Senior • Charles Pearsall - Junior

Mathematics • James Garringer - Senior • Caleb Beard - Senior • Josephine Carlton (Specifically Concepts of Mathematics) • Karissa Jelonek – Junior • Connor Lasco - Sophomore • Shawna Schroy – Sophomore


BloomCon The BloomCON 0x04 Computer Security and Forensics conference was held in March 2019. Approximately 750 people attended BloomCON that year including 250 attendees who were involved with the second BloomCON Hak4Kidz (120 children, parents, and staff) STEM event for children 7-17. There were 29 experts from around the country who came and shared their expertise with BloomCON attendees. Out keynote speaker was Michael Dougherty CEO of LabMD. He shared his store of persecution via the FTC based on an employee who failed to follow company security procedures. In addition to many talks, the conference featured several workshops, villages, and competitions. Among the competitions was the second Drone Wars competition cosponsored by the US Army in which teams were required to take over a drone and fly it through a planned course. BloomCON 0x05 is scheduled for March 27-28th. More information about the next edition of BloomCON and archived talks from last year can be found at http://bloomcon.cc. Drone Wars Drone Wars was a joint effort between the Department of Mathematical and Digital Sciences and the US Army. The goal was to take over a Wi-Fi connected drone and fly it through an obstacle course in the shortest amount of time. The event was held during our BloomCon Security Conference 2019. The Bloomsburg Cyber Defense Club constructed all the challenges for BloomCon. In addition to creating and running all the challenges, two teams from the Club competed in the inaugural Drone Wars competition. The team of Adrian Perez, Nicholas Senske, Austin Pasquel and Bryan Iadisernia won third place. The other two teams consisted of the following students: Derrick Bordner, Joshua Kaminski, Alexander Demergis, Stephen White, Steve Crismali, Elijah Gusick, Richard Schlack, and Jacob Feese. The winners from 2019 were from West Side Career and Technology Center. Team members, pictured above, were RJ Salvo, Derek Keeler, and Rich Zimmerman. The groups advisor was Dr. Gary Miller.


http://bloomcon.cc/

GrrCon

This past September, Dr. Polstra took a charter bus of students to Grand Rapids, Michigan to attend GrrCon. GrrCon is a cyber-security summit and hacker conference that was held on October 24th and 25th. This conference is put together to provide the community with a venue to share ideas, information, solutions, and engage with like-minded people in a fun atmosphere. Students are able to attend presentations, workshops and a solution arena to ensure that they get the most of the event.

Student Comments

“The trip to GrrCON was beneficial for both my future career and my current relationship with my classmates. It

gave me a chance to connect with my classmates outside of the classroom and form closer relationships with them. Getting to talk to them about the same experiences and issues we face will be very helpful in the long run. At the conference I had the opprotunity to network with possible future employers and get advice from people currently working in my field. I appreciate this insight from people who have been in the field for a while and can tell me

what it is really like and how to succeed.” – Erin Newhart

“GrrCON helps me keep up with current events within the cyber security community. It is always great to have a talking point during interviews. The vendors give me an idea of what is desired when looking to hire. It will help me

in the future when I am looking for jobs and it helped prepare me for the real world. You never know where the future will take you and you may end up using the networking people created at GrrCON.” – Camden Ailinger

“I have been to GrrCON every year at BU and I have come back with new knowledge of what’s going on in the field

of cyber security. This year, I also had the opprotunity to network with some people in the field. I am hoping to reach out to an employee I met from Red Canary to pursue a job after I graduate” – Duncan Walk

“GrrCON was a great way of networking and getting our resumes out into the job field. I had a lot of time to

network with Rapid7, who took my resume to send up the line for an internship. It was a very educational trip with learning about different companies around the country and meeting a few start up companies.” – Toni Prynn

“GrrCON provided me with a variety of new experiences. I was able to meet and network with professionals in the

cyber security field. I got my name and face out there and we were able to invite companies to BloomCON to further those connections. Most importantly, I was able to deepen my connectiosn with my peers and I feel we are

all much closer after the event.” – Robert Sherman


Thank you for your support

We appreciate the direct support many of you have provided in recent years. Your contributions make a world of difference in the quality and quantity of the educational experiences we provide our students. Student trips to conferences and competitions are supported with theses donations. The students thank you for your generosity.

The following links can be used to support our students. One hundred percent of the donations go directly to benefit students. Support Computer Science (https://giving.bloomu.edu/computerscience)

Support Digital Forensics (https://giving.bloomu.edu/digitalforensics)

Support Mathematics (https://giving.bloomu.edu/math)


https://giving.bloomu.edu/computerscience

https://giving.bloomu.edu/computerscience

https://itspersonal.bloomu.edu/donate/department-pages/digital-forensics/support-digital-forensics-at-bloomsburg-university

https://giving.bloomu.edu/digitalforensics

https://itspersonal.bloomu.edu/mathematics

https://giving.bloomu.edu/math

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