THE INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICS
AND ITS APPLICATIONS

Fourth IMA Younger Mathematicians' Conference
20 May 2006, Manchester Conference Center

This conference was held in Manchester (previously conferences had been held in London and Oxford). This allowed for new members to attend who had not previously attended due to the location of the earlier conferences, but it was also good to see some familiar faces from the other events.

The conference began with a workshop at 10.30am on 'The Future of Applied Mathematics' run by Professor Chris Budd from the University of Bath. This workshop (after a quick presentation by Professor Budd) saw those present split into 3 groups to discuss aspects on the future of applied mathematics such as:

a. Did the group agree with Chris' assessment?
b. What training should be available for the next generation of mathematicians?
c. What is the future of applied mathematics?
d. What communication issues are we facing?
e. What other challenges will be faced?

Following the discussion, a nominated person from each group did a quick presentation on the answers the group came up with. This allowed a few people to present who were not due to that day and hence expanded the range of speakers at the conference. The workshop acted as an excellent ice breaker , and it is hoped that future conferences can also include a morning workshop, to allow more interaction between those attending.

A superb lunch was laid on following the workshop, this included a chocolate mouse pudding which did not disappear as quickly as anticipated! The lunch was then followed by a talk by Professor Chris Budd on 'What have Mathematicians done for us?' This talk included ideas on what to say at parties to explain why mathematics is cool and had a strong 'History of Mathematics' flavour to it, a subject which is important in understanding the context to much of the mathematics we use today.

Later on during the day a further talk by Dr. Andrea Donafee on 'Where are all the Women?' also looked at the subject of the History of Mathematics specifically Women in Mathematics. This talk included some amusing stories of what women had to do to practise mathematics (including pretending to be men), and one particularly grisly story of what happened to one female mathematician in ancient times.

There were also a number of shorter talks given during the day including: Dr. Ahmer Wadee gave a talk on 'Non-Linear Mathematics in Structural Engineering'; Ms. Rakhi Gupta gave a talk on her varied careers in mathematics including her current role at Cadbury-Schweppes; Stuart Hendren gave an interesting talk on the 'Quantum No-cloning Theorem'; and Heather Tewkesbury from the Smith Institute demonstrated the Knowledge Transfer Web-Conferencing facility on the Smith Institute web-pages , and how the Smith Institute helps and supports collaborations between different companies; All these talks were interesting and informative on diverse subjects, and allowed those present to understand the interests and/or work of the speakers in mathematics.

With a couple of breaks to allow networking opportunities (which had been requested at the previous conference) among those who attended, and a rousing forum at the end of the day to discuss issues affecting young mathematicians, the day was an unqualified success.

Special thanks should go to Lucy Nye, Amanda Padbury, Jackie Offord as well as all the speakers, David Youdan, Malcolm Davies and the rest of the IMA, for their support and to those who attended and took part. A final special mention must go to the host who combined his usual lightness of touch with dignified cliché.

The next Younger Mathematicians is due to be held on the 18th November 2006, and will probably take place in Birmingham (TBC) please look out for future advertisements.

Daniel Tilley CMath MIMA, CSci