Mathematics Major

<b>Dr. Hom Henry Kandel</b> is an Associate Professor and Director of the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside. His research advances the growth and characterization of high-temperature superconductor–based thin-film heterostructures and the development of cost-effective, high-performance superconducting electronic devices with applications spanning medical imaging, quantum computing, defense, and space technologies. From 2011 to 2015, Dr. Kandel served as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist and led the electrical insulation development project at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, a U.S. National Science Foundation–funded user facility. In this role, he pioneered a novel electrical insulation material that was later integrated into the world’s strongest superconducting magnet at the time, enabling record-breaking magnetic field performance.

Dr. Kandel has secured nearly a quarter of a million dollars in direct funding as Lead Principal<b> </b>Investigator, supported by intramural and extramural grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the WiSys/UW System. He has authored over 36<b> </b>journal publications, holds two issued U.S. patents, and has delivered more than 60<b> </b>invited and contributed conference presentations and poster sessions at national and international venues.

A dedicated mentor and educator, Dr. Kandel has advised over 40 researchers, including graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, undergraduates, and K–12 interns, with a strong commitment to mentoring women and students from underrepresented groups in STEM. He regularly serves as an editor and peer reviewer for leading scientific and engineering journals and federal grant programs.

His contributions have been recognized through multiple honors, including the 2021 CRCA Faculty Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Award from UW–Parkside and a Research Award from the U.S. Department of Defense. Beyond research, Dr. Kandel is deeply engaged in STEM education and community outreach, contributing to the <i>Parkside Journal of Science</i>, judging K–12 science and engineering competitions, and serving as a judge and panelist for regional and national research presentation events.

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 Associate 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.