Seminars and Sessions

Mathematical Workshop

A mathematical workshop was organized by the department on 9th February, 2021. The panel of experts consisted of Dr Jyoti Sharma, Associate Professor in Education at Cluster Innovation Center and Joint Director at ILLL, University of Delhi, and Dr Sonam Tanwar, Assistant Professor in Mathematics at Cluster Innovation Center, University of Delhi. Dr Jyoti talked about, "How to Plan Projects? : An Investigatory Approach to Learning" by discussing the Basic Number System. Dr Sonam gave us insight about various mathematical softwares like Mathematica, MATLAB, and MAPLE.

Lakshya: The Career Talks 2020-21

The department came up with a series of sessions under the name “Lakshya: The Career Talks” to assist the students with their choice of careers in Mathematics. Three successful sessions of the same were conducted in the academic year 2020-21.

The first session: “Acing GMAT with CJ”, focused on the preparation for GMAT with Mr. Chiranjeev Singh, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, who is a highly-skilled GMAT coach, as the chief speaker. He enlightened the students on essential questions like: ‘the parameters on which one is tested in GMAT’, ‘decent score’, ‘need for practice’, ‘the right approach towards problems’, etc.

The second session: “Unveiling Higher Mathematics”, Master Arvish Dabra, an IIT Delhi student, NBHM Fellowship awardee, and a Hansraj College Graduate guided the students about prestigious competitive exams like IIT JAM Mathematics, CSIR NET, etc. and talked about the opportunities one can avail through JAM: IISCs, ISSERs, TIFR, etc. The session was successful in its objective to broaden students’ views about their career options.

The third session: "Let's crack UPSC CSE with Maths Optional", we were honored to have Er. Gaurav Kaushal Sir as our guest speaker. He cracked UPSC CSE-2012 along with SSC CGL-2011 and IIT JEE 2006. His guidance and experience not only obviated the existing doubts but also broke many myths related to this prestigious exam in the minds of young students. He also motivated students to maintain a balance between physical and mental health during this long journey.

Annual Academic Meet: Shree Shanti Narayan Mathematics Conclave 2021

Shri Shanti Narayan, born in 1911, was an extremely renowned educationist. Known as one of the most knowledgeable people of his time in Mathematics, he has made great contributions to the field. His outstanding work led him to be appointed as the First Dean of Colleges, University of Delhi, then General Secretary of Indian Mathematics Society from 1963 to 1968 and also a visiting Professor at Summer Institute of Mathematics, Illinois, USA. He later became the second Principal of Hansraj College, DU. A man of his excellency who left the trails of performance behind him inspired, the Mathematics Department of Hansraj to organise an event in his good name. So, here we were, at the two-day event dedicated towards the honour of Late Professor Shri Shanti Narayan Sir.

Day 1(March-7, 2021)

Speaker session

Probability Models for Performance Prediction of Hardware and Software Systems, presented by Dr Madhu Jain.

Probability models play an important role in quantitatively predicting various performance metrics of day-to-day as well industrial problems encountered in computers, communication, production, etc. These are straight from the files of Dr Madhu Jain's experience, who is a connoisseur practising Mathematics in IIT Roorkee. Establishing relations between Parametrization and Statistical techniques, understanding the concepts of using LPP (Linear Programming Problems) and Calculus’ Maximizing and Minimizing techniques, participants were able to gain a deterministic approach towards probability in real-life situations. She gave a more elaborate example using Sixth Sense Technology having a plethora of gadgets clubbed into one. Deciphering of queries put on by participants by Madhu Ma'am wrapped up the speaker session of day 1.

Paper Presentation Competition

Who says Paper Presentations are boring and monotonous? The event offered an insight into various topics like Encryption, Symmetry, Definitive Dissonance, Mathematics behind Deep Fakes, Dance, Quantum Calculus, Mathematics tools in Fraud Detection, and the Application of Mathematics in Digital Image Processing. The teams, as stated in the directory, were given a stipulated time to present their papers. The competition was indeed cut-throat which was followed up by some grilling by the judges. This is how day 1 was called in jubilance and exhilaration.

Day 2(March-8, 2021)

Epilogue Round of 'The Annual Quiz Competition'

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things and the best way to learn maths is to fiddle with it. The Mathematics Department, in pursuit of finding the next maverick, conducted some mind-bending riddles. There was a stipulated time to respond to the questions asked and a penalty was awarded for every wrong response. The questions were set up from a wide array of poles i.e., geometry, real analysis, calculus etc. The participants had a very competitive rollercoaster while guessing both wrong and right attempts.

Speaker Session

Random Walk in the World of Dynamics, presented by Prof. Riddhi Shah.

Dynamism is a prerequisite for evolution. Combining the importance of it with the flagship faculty of Physical Sciences at JNU, Professor Riddhi Shah took Dynamics to a whole new level. She supplemented the aura of the event with her experience in the field. The session started with some briefing on dynamic systems, the topological spaces and their nature change in discrete/continuous time. For enthusiastic nonmathematicians, the session was on changing physical spaces over a period of time, to be vivid. Then after some detailed information on the subject, the professor gave a geometrical approach to the topic. The seminar ended with Riddhi Ma'am introducing Indian Women in Mathematics to the participants and the session's motive to encourage women in coming forward and taking mathematics as a course to master and change the world and reflect dynamism.

Panel Discussion on “Women in the world of Mathematics: The Road Ahead”

(Panelists : Prof. Riddhi Shah, Prof. Shobha Bagai and Prof. Geetha Venkataraman)
Brutus once said, "The territory having more liberal women to education and access to social structures is the territory with the maximum power." This principle indeed abides in Hansraj College students and makes a more adherent bond towards our teachers especially our female teachers. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the panelists shared their experiences in the world of mathematics. The event commenced with Professor Shobha Bagai from Cluster Innovation Centre, Delhi University sharing her experience in pursuing mathematics as a career. She discussed the lack of women in this field. She emphasized the need to increase the number of women since it’s the number of women which determines the field’s strength. Prof. Riddhi Shah shared her experience in pursuing mathematics. She was determined to change the psyche of women's education in the social arena. Although, she was firm on her stand for women's rights in education, Prof. Geetha Venkataraman from Dr B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi did hit the nail for stereotyping women’s education. She gave her experiences as a warning that no one can restrict a girl to pursue her choices, except herself. This is how the Department of Mathematics of Hansraj College called another event at a successful play.