Are you thinking about a career in mathematics? You
might be suprised to learn that your job prospects can
be significantly enhanced with a good training in
mathematics. At Monash we can give you that training!
Here are a few cases studies of some of our previous
students. You may be suprised at what jobs a
mathematics graduate can do -- read on ...
Help discover new cancer drugs
New drugs are being tested all the time, but who
decides whether they work or not? Statisticians are
important members of the teams who design the clinical
trials and then review the results. Often, a
specialised database containing the results is
developed for each trial. Pharmaceutical companies
frequently contract with a statistical consulting
company to build and manage the database and then
analyse and report their findings based on the data
provided by the clinical trial.
Kevin Howard is a statistician employed by a consulting
firm. He is often responsible for the development of
databases and the analysis of clinical trials. To do
this he works closely with hospitals, doctors, and
medical researchers.
Its been very exciting to work with doctors and
pharmaceutical companies operating at the forefront of
medical research.
Double Degrees provide unique skills
On 6th July 1988 in the North Sea, the Piper
Alpha oil platform set on fire and exploded,
claiming 167 lives. The Inquiry which followed resulted
in fundamental changes to the regulatory regime for the
offshore platform facilities around the world. Part of
David Prest's role as a lawyer in a leading petroleum
company involves a contribution to this changing focus
in Australia.
David has combined a technical interest in petroleum
operations, aviation, shipping, pipelines and
construction with a knowledge of relevant statutes and
regulations, and the role of government authorities to
fulfil his role in the company - to ensure the safety
of Australia's oil and gas facilities. His degrees in
Law and Science have been important to bridging the
language gap between lawyers and engineers.
In addition to my experience as a solicitor, I
continually resort to my training in mathematics and
science when dealing with company engineers. I regard
my degree in Mathematics from Monash as the old kit
bag containing the tool for an effective career as
a lawyer practising in this area in one of Australia's
vital industries.
Marketing to win
Suzanne Murphy thinks its great working in market
research for a major food manufacturer. Her skills at
designing and analysing surveys, knowledge of
statistics and lateral thinking are vital to
the team effort required in marketing campaigns.
Maths was always my favourite subject at school, so
after Year 12 my first choice was to study law and
science (majoring in maths) at Monash University. In my
second year at university I decided to major in
statistics. I noticed the newspapers had various job
advertisements asking for statisticians.
I'am pleased I studied maths and went into market
research. I get to deal with advertising agencies,
marketing, graphic designers, and food technologists.
Heaps of variety and a very dynamic work
environment.
Codes - protecting privacy
Greg Findlow works at the leading edge of pure maths -
writing codes. Greg works for a major
telecommunications company. He develops codes to
encrypt private business information transmitted over
telephone lines via the Internet. Cryptology involves
mathematical techniques based primarily on number
theory and algebra.
During vacation work at the telecommunications
company's research labs prior to finishing his degree,
Greg discovered how highly applicable Pure Maths can
be. After finishing his degree he joined the company
and worked in several areas including analysis of
signalling protocols used in telecommunications, and
assessment of error-correction codes used in digital
mobile phones.
Greg believes the clear thinking skills he learnt in
Pure Maths are useful in many non-mathematical areas of
his work, and that the solid foundation makes it easier
for him to pick up extra maths skills, such as
statistics, when needed by the job.
Pure Maths can be highly applicable to the real world.
The work opening up for mathematicians because of the
telecommunications revolution is just one example.
Research scientist
Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science
make a powerful combination. Murray Rudman's skills and
knowledge are sought by fellow scientists, industry and
environmentalists alike. Working for CSIRO, he models
the flow of gases in galaxies, the flow of water in
rivers, or the flow of molten metals in industrial
processes.
While at school and then at Monash University, Murray
realised that to understand the real world (and the
universe) around me, a sound knowledge of mathematics
was essential. Running behind many of the problems he
found interesting was a set of equations that have been
known for several hundred years; they describe the
motions of liquids and gases. Taking only a few lines
to write down, these equations are incredibly difficult
to solve. To solve the equations, Murray
learnt a new type of mathematics based on converting
the exact equations into a set of approximate equations
that could be solved using a computer.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (or CFD) is
widely used to help predict the weather; design
rockets, planes ships, and cars; the flow of water in
rivers, bays and oceans; and a wide range of industrial
processes.
It is not a simple matter of running a package bought
from a software supplier. Many problems are so
specialised that individual computer code must be
written. This requires a good knowledge of physics, the
equations that describe the problem and the mathematics
of implementing the solution on the largest and fastest
computers available.
To say that studying maths has helped me in my career
is an understatement. I have a career that allows me to
gain insight into the real world around me. This is a
long way from my early years at high school when I
found maths rather boring with no obvious reason for
most of the things we had to learn.
Predict the future
Predict the future to make money - that's what Ernie
Chow does for an investment funds manager. His skill in
developing differential equations to model future
trends in the stock market, along with his ability to
solve those same equations means he can predict the
future. Or at least do it as well as science will
currently allow.
I studied maths because I was interested in the
subject. When I started to look for work I found my
skills were highly regarded. Many different jobs were
open to me. Quantitative skills are highly
regarded.
Industrial statistics - aluminium production
Statistical techniques are widely used to ensure the
efficient operation of manufacturing plants. Mark
Sampson worked as an industrial statistician in the
Research Centre for a major Australian aluminium
manufacturer. His work ranged from training staff and
advising them on the correct statistical techniques to
use for a particular experiment, through to performing
complex analysis on the results of plant test-runs.
Mark has recently moved into a role where he is
responsible for whole projects, not just the
statistical side. The logical thinking and systematic
approach to experiments taught in maths are vital in
his new position.
My training in statistics was essential, no only to be
able to consult on such a wide variety of statistical
problems, but it also gave me an excellent
understanding of the important issues to be considered
when conducting research.
Variety and flexibility
Graham Phillips applied maths PhD was in astrophysics -
trying to work out how clouds of dust and gas in the
galaxy give birth to stars. After graduating from
Monash University, Graham's first job was in
environmental science, looking at how air pollutants
move through the atmosphere. Then he worked with
hydrologists, trying to figure out how much groundwater
under Perth could be safely pumped out without
depleting the reserves. His next job was with civil
engineers looking at the motion of oil tankers in rough
seas. Recently he has worked as a combustion engineer,
seeking ways to improve the efficiency of gas
flames.
If you're after variety and flexibility in your career,
go with applied maths.
