85 Things Mathematicians Have Been Hired to Do In Industry


(for details, see job profiles from the American Mathematical Society)

  1. Apply graph theory to problems in the telecommunications industry at AT&T Bell Labs.

  2. Model the shape and chemical constitution of a region of land under the sea given only the depth and composition at a few specific points in that region for Exxon-Mobil Corporation.

  3. Use optimization techniques (learned in calculus class!) to predict the most lucrative places to drill for oil for Exxon-Mobil Corporation.

  4. Perform research for risk management and derivatives pricing in Foreign Exchange, equity and interest rate markets at NatWest Global Financial Markets in London.

  5. Use mathematics to study cell cycle regulation, tumor growth, and regeneration of the Epithelial after irradiation at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

  6. Monitor the operation of the space shuttle onboard data processing system, both hardware and software, from the Mission Control Center during Space Shuttle missions at NASA.

  7. Teach various Space Shuttle crews the operation of both the Data Processing and Navigation systems on the Shuttle Mission Simulator at NASA.

  8. Use numerical analysis to solve complex heat transfer problems for IBM.

  9. Work on problems aimed at improving the Navy's ability to collect, transmit, and process information essential to its operations.

  10. Develop ways to make computers more responsive to the user at Microsoft Corporation.

  11. Provide technical support for systems sold to the Federal Government, including reworking mathematical algorithms to optimize code run times.

  12. Develop software for engineering, medical, and scientific applications at Elements Research.

  13. Develop technical computing and data standards for the oil industry at Petrotechnical Open Software Corporation.

  14. Prepare cost estimates for Navy shipbuilding construction.

  15. Mathematical modeling of aerospace vehicles for NASA.

  16. Provide statistical support for environmental restoration projects at a Department of Energy site in Oak Ridge, where wastes such as nuclear material are stored, for Lockheed Martin.

  17. Combine topology, geometry, and mechanics to work on problems related to DNA structure for Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

  18. Mathematical and statistical analysis of experimental data in the discovery development and manufacture of protein pharmaceuticals for Genentech, Inc.

  19. Develop mathematical models to describe chemical and biological phenomena for Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

  20. Develop numerical methods for space vehicle trajectory simulation tools at The Aerospace Corporation.

  21. Use stochastic processes to help determine launch schedules at an aerospace corporation.

  22. Perform probabilistic modeling for waste tank safety analysis at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

  23. Work with troubled companies by helping them develop and implement financial plans that allow them to continue in business at Gordion Group, L.P.

  24. Develop and implement an office risk-management system used primarily by investment banks at Summit Systems Inc.

  25. Work with engineers, scientists, managers, and shop floor operators to improve manufacturing processes at Eastman Kodak.

  26. Develop algorithms to effectively represent geometric objects at Silicon Graphics.

  27. Work on interplanetary mission analysis problems with Viking Lander Program at McDonnell Douglas.

  28. Develop methods to schedule computer applications of a network of distributed processors at the Naval Research Laboratory.

  29. Work in derivatives pricing in the energy and commodity markets at Enron in London.

  30. Use non-linear dynamical systems to try to develop a mathematical model of how cellular proteins regulate cell-cycle progression at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

  31. Develop software and perform general research for the textile industry at Clemson Apparel Research.

  32. Perform statistical analysis and administrative support for programs providing safeguards for the assembly and dismantling of nuclear weapons at Mason & Hanger.

  33. Develop new algorithms for the efficient numerical solution of partial differential equations for Los Alamos National Laboratory.

  34. As media specialist, help support the curriculum and provide resources and instruction in information processing skills at DeMasi Middle School.

  35. Develop models of interactions between macromolecules at the National Cancer Institute.

  36. Help develop monetary policy at the Federal Reserve System in Washington DC.

  37. Build a model that will be used to price medical malpractice business for doctor groups at Ernst & Young LLP.

  38. Oversee a company's asset and liability management processes as an actuary at Westfield Companies.

  39. Analyze data pertaining to HIV prevention and acute infection at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

  40. Use numerical linear algebra and optimization to address problems associated with a model for fiber optics at Bell Labs.

  41. Work with a data security company in the areas of cryptography and information security at RSA Data Security.

  42. Develop mathematical models to simulate flow of air in the respiratory tract at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology.

  43. Lead a project that implements and optimizes speech compression algorithms for use in Intel's ProShare video conferencing system.

  44. Work on an Air Force project producing computer models and simulations to help address the environmental clean-up of sites around the world contaminated with spilled jet fuel at Ecodynamics Research Associates, Inc.

  45. Develop data hiding methods for IBM Japan.

  46. Work in the area of interest rate derivatives at J.P. Morgan Securities.

  47. Act as Senior Editor of the Mathematics Division of the textbook company Springer Verlag.

  48. Develop models for simulations and perform statistical analyses of experimental data for anti-cancer projects at Aguoron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

  49. Define and lead research and development efforts in the areas of computational linguistics, information science, and artificial intelligence at PRC Inc.

  50. Work as part of a team of UNIX system administrators for the Army.

  51. Consult for the Management Analytics Division for Price Waterhouse.

  52. Analyze human genome data for SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals.

  53. Design and analyze algorithms for enciphering vulnerable communications for the National Security Agency.

  54. Work for Daniel H. Wagner Associates, a mathematical consulting firm, on a variety of topics, including financial and military applications.

  55. Test new software for the United States Postal service to modernize customer service.

  56. Develop mathematical model looking at an aspect of kidney function for the National Institute of Health.

  57. Use statistical methods to determine insurance risk for CNA Insurance Companies.

  58. Perform analysis and modeling in the area of nuclear medicine, at Park Medical Systems Inc.

  59. Help develop telerobotics for NASA.

  60. Help engineers and physicists translate physical problems into a mathematical formulation and helping them to solve it, at Vista Research Inc.

  61. Engage in research to do automatic speech recognition for IBM.

  62. Be responsible for product and marketing strategies at Macsysma.

  63. Engage in applied research and high level mathematical support within Boeing.

  64. Work on a project to incorporate data from a new weather satellite earth station into models used to forecast atmospheric conditions, for the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission.

  65. Incorporate your interest in both mathematics and business as an actuary at American Equity Insurance Company.

  66. Provide support to business people in a non-technical environment; communicate technical information to other employees and customers in a way they can understand for CIGNA Corporation.

  67. Build models for researching new manufacturing techniques and products at Eastman Kodak.

  68. Work in the area of signal processing and image processing on defense-related and commercial projects at Science Applications International Corporation.

  69. Develop mathematical models that are used to create and analyze hardware and software designs for Raytheon.

  70. Develop products that exploit new 3M material technology.

  71. Help large truck, air, and railroad shippers solve their transportation logistic problems by contributing to the development and optimization of decision support software at PTGG, Inc.

  72. Perform modeling and analysis to evaluate competing fighter aircraft designs at Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems.

  73. As a manager, oversee people with degrees in mathematics, computer science, operations research, physics, and engineering who perform the modeling and analysis to evaluate competing fighter aircraft designs above.

  74. Develop numerical wavelet methods for computational chemistry at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

  75. Provide engineering analyses and simulation studies in support of problems arising in satellite telecommunications as a consultant for GORCA Systems, Inc.

  76. Work as a contractor for Motorola to help them to place 66 satellites into low earth orbit in order to provide remote telecommunications access for cellular telephone subscribers.

  77. Develop a problem solving environment for numerically solving partial differential equations for SciComp, Inc.

  78. Develop new business for and monitor the financial operations of Metron, Inc.

  79. Develop algorithms to solve large problems on massively parallel computers at Sandia National Laboratories.

  80. Apply methods and codes developed at Sandia to track a comet which hit Jupiter.

  81. Develop mathematical models of the immune system at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

  82. Monitor the development and testing of new weapon systems at the Institute for Defense Analyses.

  83. Develop new trading models that are part of the automated trading strategies used by D.E. Shaw & Co.

  84. Collect data and perform analysis that will result in the improvement of the production process at Ford Motor Company.

  85. Develop and code a mortgage prepayment model in the area of mortgage research at Salomon Brothers.


Questions or suggestions? Contact Diane Hoffoss at dhoffoss@sandiego.edu