Leading mathematicians from UAE and the region gathered at American University of Sharjah (AUS) for the 10th UAE MathDay held yesterday, April 14, 2012. The event brought together mathematicians to exchange research ideas in all branches of mathematics and to communicate recent developments in pure and applied mathematics, theoretical and applied statistics, and mathematics education.

The UAE MathDay is a regular local event that was established 10 years ago and is hosted annually by one of the universities in UAE. Held this year at AUS, the event was organized by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the AUS College of Arts and Sciences.

"As AUS is considered the leading institution in the region and in recognition of the prominent role of our department in advancing mathematics in the UAE and the Gulf region, we were selected to host the UAE MathDay at its 10th anniversary," said Dr. Ali Sayfy, professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and chair of the organizing committee of the 10th UAE MathDay.

The one-day symposium celebrates the mathematics discipline and targets potential collaboration between UAE institutions with almost 100 mathematicians and statisticians from UAE and the region participating and presenting their work.

The two keynote lectures at the event were by Dr. Hichem Ben-El-Mechaiekh, professor at Brock University, Canada, and Dr. Federico Camia from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

MathDay featured over 70 presentations on topics such as algebra, analysis, differential equations, numerical analysis, probability theory, financial mathematics, discrete mathematics, number theory and statistics, to name a few. Local high school teachers were also invited to attend a workshop on the effects of the computer algebra system on classroom teaching methodology and student learning. The event also included a mathematics and statistics books fair, and a poster session for student work.

Siham El-Jamil and Lama Hneidi, senior mass communication students at AUS, were the first AUS students to present at such event. These two students have been working under the close supervision of AUS mathematics faculty members on a research project as a part of AUS's efforts to encourage collaboration between instructors and students and encourage undergraduate student research. Siham and Lama presented the research findings for the project named "Learning Difficulties in Mathematics and Statistics Among Non-Science Major Students."

"Organizing this conference with such a number of participants is one of many examples that we are committed to the fulfillment of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan's enlightened vision that science and education must regain their rightful place in the advancement of our society. AUS is a center of research in an emirate devoted to the making of history in academic excellence," said Dr. Mahmoud Anabtawi, head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

This year's organizing committee included faculty members from AUS; UAE University; American University of Ras Al Khaimah; Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research; Ajman University of Science and Technology; University of Dubai; University of Sharjah; Petroleum Institute; and Zayed University.