04/24/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/24/2025 10:03
Students and faculty members from Stephen F. Austin State University's Department of Mathematics and Statistics participated in research, learning and networking at the 104th Texas Meeting of the Mathematics Association of America at Prairie View A&M University.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Stephen F. Austin State University's Department of Mathematics and Statistics goes far beyond the average coursework required to earn a bachelor's or master's degree. Under the guidance of nine dedicated faculty members, 15 students received the opportunity to participate in research, learning and networking at the 104th Texas Meeting of the Mathematics Association of America.
"Taking students to academic conferences helps them to understand how research and their classes are put into practice," said Dr. Keith Hubbard, professor of mathematics. "It pushes them to go beyond the class requirements and think about what they can really do with the skills they are learning."
Mathematics touches every part of life, from the beef industry to line workers and engineers. SFA nurtures students' interests through research, innovating professional and theoretical sectors of mathematics and statistics.
Tran Ngo, a graduate statistics student from Houston, presented research on the Western Electric rules, also known as WECO rules. They are a set of statistical process control rules that aid in identifying when a process is out of control.
"These WECO rules can be used in combination with other rules to analyze abnormal patterns in Statistical Process Control charts. This study evaluates the effectiveness of eight individual WECO rules and the various combinations of these rules with the Shewhart rule (a quality control rule) to SPC charts," Ngo said.
Her research focuses on checking how well certain systems can detect problems in a process. Ngo does this by studying how long it takes before the system sends a warning signal. To figure this out, she uses a mathematical approach called Markov chains - a way to predict what might happen next based on what's happening now - and runs computer simulations using a program called R.
Ngo is also looking at how often the system might send a false warning when all the WECO rules are used at the same time. These are a set of rules used in quality control to spot signs that something might be going wrong. Her goal is to see which rule is most likely to cause the first false signal and how often that might happen.
"SFA is giving me the opportunity to do research with the best faculty here in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, but also the education needed to be successful after graduating," Ngo said. "I love the faculty here and how willing they are to help students become successful."
Emmanuel Forson, graduate mathematics student from Mankessim, Ghana, West Africa, presented research on beef industry carcass evaluation. His research addresses the gap of Multiple Linear Regression - a way to predict one thing using two or more other things - by comparing MLR with modern machine learning techniques.
"The beef industry relies on accurate carcass evaluation to optimize production efficiency and meet consumer demand," Forson said. "Previous studies indicate that MLR has been the predominant predictive technique in the animal science industry, often applied without analytical comparisons to alternative methods."
The study used real data from the Nebraska Cattlemen's Foundation Retail Value Steer Challenge, a beef competition, collected from 2000 to 2023. It tested how well each method worked with both large and small sets of data. The results show that newer machine learning tools did a better job than MLR, especially with smaller data sets. This helps scientists better predict beef quality and improve how cattle are raised and processed.
"SFA is giving me the strong foundation I need for a career in data science," said Forson. "The professors here have deep expertise and are very supportive, which has helped me build the skills and confidence to pursue roles in statistics and analytics."
Undergraduate students Olivia Payne, senior mathematics major from Nacogdoches, and Ethan Johnston, senior mathematics major from Montgomery, enjoyed listening to speakers and being exposed to research projects from their peers.
"My career aspiration is to get my master's degree in mathematics and become a community college professor while continuing my research," Payne said. "The mathematics department at SFA has been so instrumental in pushing me toward this goal. SFA as a whole, but specifically the department, is a tight-knit family. They take great care to invest in their students, both undergraduate and graduate, and professors' doors are always open."
To explore more real-world opportunities in SFA's mathematics and statistics programs, visit sfasu.edu/math.