Mathematics Major

Dr. Hom "Henry" Kandel is an Associate Professor of Physics and Director of the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He Joined UW-Parkside in 2016 after serving as a Research Scientist at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University. He has taught physics, mathematics, and computer science courses for over 20 years in the US and overseas. His field of research is in applied physics, experimental condensed matter physics, and materials science & engineering with a goal of developing next-generation superconducting electronic devices, very high-field superconducting magnets, and low-cost and high-efficiency solar cells. His current research focuses on the growth and studies of oxide thin film and heterostructures and nanofabrication of superconducting electronic devices for various applications, including SQUID-based medical imaging, quantum computing, national defense, and deep space-related applications.

After joining UW-Parkside in 2016, Dr. Kandel has been named PI or Co-PI in over $2 million intra and extramural grants, including from the US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and UW System, by collaborating with researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed journal papers, 2 granted US patents, and 50 conference talks and poster presentations, many of which are with his students. In 2018, one of his patented inventions was applied to build the world's strongest superconducting magnet at the national high magnetic field laboratory, about 3,000 times stronger than a small refrigerator magnet. Stronger Superconducting magnets such as this are required to build high-energy particle accelerators and MRI machines.

Dr. Kandel's research program has included service to his department, college, university, and scientific community. He has mentored over 20 students at UW-Parkside and UW-Madison and has peer-reviewed substantial journal articles and grant proposals, including from the US Department of Energy. He has a track record of high-quality research and student mentorship, as evidenced by two first-place student awards in the 2021 WiSys/UW System Statewide Research and Innovation Competition and WiSys quick pitch competition and his two published works with his students in peer-reviewed journal papers. In addition, Dr. Kandel serves as the Academic Editor<i> </i>of<i> </i>an international journal paper,<i> Advances in Materials Science and Engineering,</i><i> </i>and<i> </i>as the<i> </i>Faculty Advisor<i> </i>to the<i> Parkside Journal of Science,</i> a Science Journal that showcases the scientific research conducted by faculty and students at UW-Parkside.

Dr. Kandel is an active American Physical Society (APS) member and has served as a judge, panelist, and moderator at local, regional, and statewide science and engineering fairs, conferences, workshops, and symposiums. He is also significantly involved in educational outreach in southeast Wisconsin, including judging the science Fairs, inviting K-12 students and teachers to his lab, and actively participating in the GEMS (Girls Empowerment in Math and Science) workshops.

Richard Karwatka is a product of the Universities of Wisconsin, having pursued undergraduate study in mathematics, French, and history at UW-Parkside and graduate study in mathematics and mathematics education at UW-Madison. His professional teaching career began as a teaching assistant at UW-Madison where his efforts in calculus instruction earned him one of the inaugural French-Felten Awards for Inspirational Teaching bestowed by the College of Letters and Science. He returned to UW-Parkside as a member of the instructional academic staff teaching courses in the pre-calculus mathematics curriculum and has since been deeply involved in continuing efforts to improve content delivery and student outcomes in mathematics courses, eventually serving as Coordinator of Developmental and Proficiency-Based Mathematics at UW-Parkside and as Chair of the UW Mathematics Placement Test Development Committee at UW System. As a UW-Parkside alumnus, he always hoped that he would be able to return to his alma mater to contribute to it in gratitude for the path on which it set him, and he has been honored to receive the Stella C. Gray Teaching Excellence Award and the Academic Staff Distinguished Service Award in recognition of those contributions.

When not engaging matters mathematical, Karwatka enjoys music, art, and history, especially that of the former monarchies from which his ancestors emigrated. He is a particular fan of the Habsburg Empire in all its incarnations and would gladly go on and on about it for hours if given the opportunity.

Bom Soo Kim is a faculty member at UW-Parkside with research interests in a number of interdisciplinary fields anchored to theoretical physics using quantum field theory and string theory. While formally trained in high energy particle physics, his research interests have been extended to condensed matter physics, material science, and quantum information science. His specific research topics include magnetic skyrmions & Hall transport, hydrodynamics with broken boost, entanglement entropy with background fields, and holographic renormalization.

Bom Soo Kim received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California at Berkeley and his B.S. in astronomy from Yonsei University. He trained as a postdoctoral researcher in a joint appointment with IESL-FORTH and the University of Crete and then at Tel Aviv University. He previously worked as a teaching postdoc at the University of Kentucky and as a full time Lecturer at Loyola University Maryland. He is excited to share his experiences working at academic institutions with different cultures and to further collaborate in his research and teaching with students and faculty members at UW-Parkside.

Qinghua Luo is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at UW-Parkside. Her research interests are in the areas of partial differential equations, optimization, and identification problems. Her doctoral dissertation was on studying the existence and uniqueness of solution of a damped Klein-Gordan equation with diffusion coefficients in certain functional spaces. Besides her love for mathematics, she loves teaching. She is eager to find ways that make mathematical ideas easier to understand and more meaningful to her students.

Qinghua Luo received her Ph.D. in Mathematics and M.Ed in Mathematics Education at the University of Oklahoma, and her B.S. in Mathematics from Zhejiang University in China. Before she joined Parkside in 2019, she taught at the Marian University, which is a liberal arts college located in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She is excited to share her knowledge and experiences in mathematics and math education with her students and colleagues.

Paul (Pirooz) Mohazzabi received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry in 1969 from overseas, and MS and PhD degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and 1975, respectively. After receiving his PhD degree, Paul realized that his true passion was in theoretical physics and mathematics, and remained as a physicist ever since.<br>After working at other institutions for 10 years, Paul joined the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in January of 1986 as an Assistant Professor of Physics. In 1988, he received tenure and in 1994 he was promoted to the rank of Full Professor.<br>Paul’s area of expertise is theoretical and computational physics. Nevertheless, he has published over100 research articles in refereed international journals in a wide variety of disciplines including physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, materials science, engineering, and medicine. His articles range from bicycle stability to cancer theory. Paul’s current research interests are (a) theoretical and computational thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of small and nanosystems, particularly through Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations, (b) Theoretical and computational studies of thermal and mechanical properties of solids and liquids, (c) Pedagogical aspects of physics and mathematics.<br>At the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Paul has received three Stella Gray Teaching Excellence Awards, Two awards for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity, and a Faculty Distinguished Service Award.<br>Some of Paul’s former students have gone on to become educators themselves, as high-school teachers or professors at major universities.

I took my very first physics class at the University of North Texas and later transferred to the University of Texas at Austin where I studied for my B.S. in Physics and B.A. in Astronomy, finishing in 2002, and completed my PhD in physics in 2010 at the Ohio State University. So, I've lived in Texas and Ohio and more recently in Illinois where I did research Argonne National Laboratory and taught at Benedictine University and in Indiana where I taught at Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus, IN.

There is a saying that expresses exactly how I feel about each and every one of my students. “I became a math teacher because your life is worth my time.” While my students’ past experiences in a math class may have caused them to question their math ability, I firmly believe that they can be successful in a math class. In my 30+ years of teaching math, for the most part my students are understanding the new material being taught in class. What is preventing them from learning the new material and/or getting the correct answers are common mistakes. Once I am able to diagnose what those mistakes are, I am able to get my students on the right track.<br>Note to my students: My job is to teach you, help you. Do not ever be afraid to ask for help. I will never judge you or your math ability. I will never think you are less of a person. Sometimes life prevents us from learning and understanding the material we are required to know. It happens to all of us at one time or another in our lives. You are not expected to immediately fully understand all the material covered in class. With practice and my help, you will come to understand the material better. You might become frustrated with yourself or even me. If you do, don’t ever give up and please ask for help. I know you can do this even if you think you cannot.