James Rohal

PhD Thesis. North Carolina State University.
My problem concerns connectivity in semi-algebraic sets. The goal is develop an algorithm that determines whether two configurations can be connected by a curve quickly and with 100% accuracy using floating point arithmetic.

Master’s Thesis. Miami University.
I am focusing my research on the nonlinear resource allocation problem. My advisor and I have developed an interior point algorithm that uses variable fixing to find a solution using MATLAB. The speed of this algorithm was increased by exploiting the relatively simple structure of the problem. By using an interior point method that converges quadratically, we were able to use Tapia indicators to identify variables to peg to upper and lower bounds, further improving the speed of our algorithm.

Independent Study. College of Wooster.
My focus was on problems proposed in the SIAM 100-Dollar, 100-Digit Challenge. I developed arbitrary-precision methods using interval arithmetic in Mathematica to calculate precise solutions that are verifiably correct.

Research Experience for Undergraduates. University of Akron.
My REU group researched self-similar periodic tilings on nilpotent Lie groups. I had the opportunity to work with Mathematica and OpenGL to produce 3D graphical images.

Facebook Application Developer.
Nintendo Network is a Facebook application that is funded via affiliate services offered through Amazon and GameFly.

Prentke Romich, Wooster, OH.
I developed a web application in which participants of Continuing Education activities could receive certificates of completion and see upcoming events. It also allows event organizers to register and publicize their activities.

Department of Mathematics, College of Wooster.
Working as a tutor in the Math Center allowed me to help students with homework related questions. I also created study guides for tests. As a Teaching Assistant for Multivariate Calculus I helped answer questions during labs and rewrote labs in for readability and compatibility with Maple 9.5. I also tutored a high school student in Geometry.

Applied Mathematics Research Experience. College of Wooster.
I served as a consultant for the Prentke Romich company in Wooster, OH. My task was to add functionality to an existing web based Self-Study program. The Self-Study program allows an individual to take courses related to augmentative and alternative communication. These courses aid in assessment and intervention for the benefit of individuals with communication disorders.

My primary teaching responsibilities include preparing and presenting all course lectures, writing course exams and quizzes, designing course projects and activities, and assigning student grades.

Precalculus with Algebra, Miami University.

Calculus I, Miami University.

Java, C, C++, OpenGL

XHTML, CSS

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Cygwin, SVN, CVS

Mathematica, Maple, MATLAB

Javascript, PHP

MySQL, ODBC

• Graduate Assistantship at Miami University
• NSF Student Travel Grant for 2007 Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans
• Academic Achievement Scholarship at the College of Wooster
• Dean’s List of Distinguished Students

• AMS
• MAA
• Phi Beta Kappa
• Pi Mu Epsilon
• SIAM

Rohal, James J. The SIAM 100.0000000-Digit Challenge: A Study in High Accuracy Numerical Computing Using Interval Analysis and Mathematica. Senior thesis defense at the College of Wooster.

Rohal, James J. Self-similar tilings of nilpotent Lie groups. Colloquium presentation at the College of Wooster.

Hudelson, William P. and Rohal, James J. Self-similar tilings of nilpotent Lie groups. Presented during the AMS-MAA-SIAM Special Session on Research in Mathematics by Undergraduates, IV at the Joint Mathematics Meetings.

Hudelson, William P. and Rohal, James J. Self-similar tilings of nilpotent Lie groups. Poster presented during the MAA Undergraduate Poster Session at the Joint Mathematics Meetings.