NEWS

Louisiana Tech University sophomore Ian Golsby of Shreveport won first place at the 19th Integration Bee at the regional Mathematical Association of America competition.

Golsby, who is majoring in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering and minoring in Computer Science, outperformed 25 other students from eight universities across Louisiana and Mississippi at the bee.

To prepare for the competition, he worked with Mathematics and Statistics faculty Dr. Dave Meng (Program Chair and Senior Lecturer) and Dr. Jonathan Walters (Senior Lecturer) to practice solving integrations in a quick-paced environment. Golsby also got experience in solving integrations at the Louisiana Tech Integration Bee held last February and in his MATH 245 Differential Equations course last fall.

“I enjoyed testing my abilities in a competitive environment,” Golsby said. “I love math, and it was fun to get to interact with the other students in a way that didn’t involve sitting with a paper in silence for two hours or someone potentially failing an exam. It was exciting to try to complete problems as others were also completing them on whiteboards. At the same time, the mood was light, and after the competition, several of us chatted about math.”

Golsby, who plans to pursue a career creating circuits for control systems, says that he is glad that Meng and Walters encouraged him to change a minor in Mathematics to a major in the field. “Control systems is a math-heavy electrical engineering field. Understanding the math behind it will be helpful.”

“Ian is a very intelligent student, and I am very happy that he won the competition,” Meng said. “He has interest in several areas, and I am glad that he has decided to major in Mathematics. He is doing very well in the program.”

Learn more about Louisiana Tech’s Mathematics and Statistics program.