Name: Abigail Cobbinah
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Institution: The University of Texas at El Paso
Department: Computational Science
Biography:
I am currently a Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at El Paso. This is my first semester and I am reading computational science, I have both a master’s and bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, and, my research interest is solving physical problems using partial differential equations, taking courses that include Numerical Analysis, Numerical Solutions to partial differential equations, computational Numerical Linear Algebra stirred up my interest in this field of interest, during my summer internship with SRP in collaboration LLNL, I worked with my mentor and advisor on the topic using reinforcement learning for adaptive time-stepping scheme for Cahn-Hilliard Equation, I got the opportunity to meet the PyMFEM team and also got a deep understanding in finite element method, also how to operate the Linux operating system ( Ubuntu) and how to code in python using such operating system, I am currently taking introduction to computational science and some other courses which are relevant in my area of interest, I want to become one of the renowned computational scientists to work with the Center for Applied Scientific Computing for any of the national labs and also work in both industry and academia after some time.
Academic Status: PhD Student
Year in program: 1st
Research Area/Department: Mathematics; other
Other, specify: Computational Science
Major/Specialty: My major is computational Science.
Degrees Earned or in Progress: BSc Mathematics – 2018 MSc Mathematics -2023 PhD Computational Science – in progress
What courses or academic preparation have you completed to prepare for a summer internship experience?
Introduction to Computational Science Numerical Analysis Numerical Solutions to PDE Introduction to Data Mining Data Mining Statistical programming
Have you published any research or worked on research/technical projects? Yes
Where has your research been published or where have you conducted research/technical projects? I worked on a research during the summer internship with my advisor and mentor and it has not been published yet.
Please describe your research/academic interests:
My academic interest lies in using numerical methods to solve partial differential equations and performing simulations for a physical problem and numerical optimization is also of interest when I started taking data mining from the computer science department.
Computational and Data Science Areas:
Applied Mathematics; Computational Science Applications, i.e., Bioscience, Cosmology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Nanotechnology, Climate, etc.; Data Analytics and Visualization; High-Performance Computing
Research Synergy:
My master’s research and other courses I took made me develop interest in computational and also motivated me to pursue my PHD in computational science, most of the physical problems from engineering, sciences etc, are solved by computational scientist because its an interdisciplinary program and knowledge from any of these fields can be applied to solve the problems surrounding us, it is my dream to solve a problem that will benefit this country and the world at large. My recent visit at the lab myself, Dr. Andrew Kruse Gillette and Dr. Natasha Sharma worked on a problem on drug delivery which I believe is useful.
Motivation:
After this year’s summer internship, the knowledge and skills gained have been my motivation. Getting the opportunity to learn new things in the computational science world is the reason I still want to participate in this program anytime the opportunity comes. This program has given international students access to visit the lab and learn new things that also impact our lives positively and the areas we find ourselves. During my visit, I was assigned an office and all other resources were made available to make my visit successful and interesting, I had limited knowledge of computational science and the use of finite element methods in solving physical problems but after a series of meetings with my mentor, advisor and other members on board gave me in-depth knowledge on this field.
Lightning Talk Title: Using FEM to solve PDEs