Got a Knack for Math? Join The Math Club

Jake Delaurier, staff writer

The Math Club at Piedmont Virginia Community College is the perfect place for students who have a strong passion for math. It provides many activities involving math. Some of these activities include games for club members. For example, at the start of one club meeting, club members got a chance to solve a geometry-like puzzle, in which they used shapes to form what many members described as a boat. By the end of the meeting, members had started to play a two-player game in which they were given a series of numbers. Whatever number one of the players picked, the other player would get all of the all the numbers that factored into that number. For example, if someone picked the number 18, then the other person would get the numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9.

The Math Club plans many events. One of these was a Speaker Series that was held on Oct. 26. This event involved guest speakers showing how they use math in their daily work. Principal Engineer Ali Kissai of  Northrup Grumman was the guest speaker at the event. As Principal engineer, Kissai is responsible for the building of space ships and aircraft. Kissai’s daughter, Zadiyah is also a member of the Math Club.

The Math Club is also planning activities for Halloween. Ideas that were mentioned at the meeting include: guessing how many pieces of candy corn are in a jar, giving out Nerds and Smarties, and creating jack-o-lanterns using mathematical symbols.

The Math Club also had their Electoral College Talk on Oct. 19. “There is a lot of interesting math involved with the Electoral College, this will also help raise general awareness for voting,” said club President Cameron Krest.