Skip to main content

SLCC student a top female in national mathematics competition

Salt Lake Community College student Maria Sinoy was recently awarded a complimentary membership into the professional society Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) for her performance in the national Student Mathematics League (SML) competition.

Maria Sinoy

For the past six years the SLCC math department has been competing in the competition, which like the field of math itself comprises a disproportionate number of female to male participants. The SML was founded in 1970 and in 1981 the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges assumed sponsorship of SML. The annual competition draws more than 165 colleges from more than 35 states and involves in excess of 8,000 community college math students. Sinoy, whose specialty is biology, noted the significance of her award and skills in math as a female.

“I feel pretty proud,” Sinoy said. “I am representing the women of the biology department.” She said women who are “afraid” of math might miss different kinds of beauty that can be found throughout life, referencing the famous Fibonacci sequence, which, for example, can be seen in the patterns of leaves, fruit and flowers of many tree and plant species. “It gives you a better understanding of why things work the way they do,” she said about the mix of math and biology. As Sinoy has tackled math problems over the years, she hasn’t been afraid to fail. “It’s a fun challenge,” she said. “If you mess up, you get to start over and over again.” To anyone struggling in math, she advises, “Learn to love patterns and puzzles, because they’re what make math fun.”

The nonprofit AWM was founded in 1971 to “encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity and the equal treatment of women and girls in mathematical sciences."


“I think Maria’s performance in the competition and her resulting membership in the Association for Women in Mathematics speaks volumes about the potential and capability of females who might be interested in math but are afraid to embrace its complexities and beauty because of skewed societal norms,” said SLCC Mathematics Associate Dean Suzanne Mozdy. “Statistics show that men are more likely to pursue a career in mathematics or a related field, but women like Maria continue to show that those numbers only tell part of the story, and that the narrative can and should be changed for the greater good in ways that are quantifiable and ever-arching more toward equality.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SLCC's Undergraduate Annual Research Conference Registration Deadline

Salt Lake Community College’s annual Undergraduate Projects, Performances, Presentations, and Research Conference (UP3RC) is set to take place on April 2, at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus, offering students a chance to showcase their academic achievements, fostering a culture of intellectual exchange.  The UP3RC is an annual event designed to celebrate and highlight the academic accomplishments of undergraduate students. It provides a supportive environment for students to share their work, hone their presentations skills, receive constructive feedback, and engage in meaningful discussions with their peers and faculty. All SLCC departments and programs, including faculty and staff, are encouraged to support and visit the day of the event. Students with their poster from last year's UPRC event “The goal of this event is to make sure every school and student is given the opportunity to participate,” says Dr. Kamal Bewar, interim director of the STEM Learning Center, who is chairin

SLCC Business School is Utah’s First to be Named Exclusively After a Woman

Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) proudly announces a partnership with the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation to modernize its Business Building and transform its School of Business. The improvements are made possible through a generous $10 million gift from the Miller Family Foundation and Gail Miller, the largest-ever single cash donation received by the college.  SLCC is renaming its Business Building the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Business Building in honor of the Miller family’s legacy and contributions to the community. The business school will be named the Gail Miller School of Business in recognition of the strong business acumen Gail Miller displays as a community leader and as the owner and immediate past chair of the Larry H. Miller Company. This name change will make SLCC home to the only business school in Utah and one of only a few in the country to be named exclusively after a woman.  “We are deeply humbled by the generosity of Gail and the Miller fam

You’re Invited to A Party! Open House Kicks off New Herriman Campus

  Complimentary food truck fare, live music, and family activities spotlight new campus.   There’s something for everyone at the upcoming Herriman Campus Community Open House on Friday, August 4 (3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.). See schedule below.   The public is invited to celebrate the opening of this new campus with festivities that include free local food truck fare, live music, and a Mocktail Mixer, where you can mingle with others, including Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) and University of Utah (U of U) faculty.   Families with kids can engage in face painting and a craft station, see the Super Mario Brothers movie, and high-five mascots Brutus, Swoop and Yeti.   This is an opportunity to have some summer fun for all ages and to check out the Juniper building on the new 88-acre SLCC Herriman campus.    At the open house, prospective students and their families can meet SLCC and U of U faculty and staff, take a tour the building, or even check out the Application & Transfer Lab a