Miss Greig (Second in Mathematics)

(Esha Rashid, Lower Sixth pictured with Bobby Seagull)

On Wednesday, the Lower Sixth mathematicians attended an engaging Maths in Action conference at the University of Warwick.

The conference gave the girls an insight into the many career paths that mathematics could take them down. Rob Bennett, from Bloodhound SSC, gave an inspiring and captivating speech about the mathematical input that was required to create the world’s fastest car.

Then, there was a talk on Topology and Data from Ulrike Tillman, a professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford. This was followed by a talk by Jane Hutton on whether drugs are safe.

It is safe to say the girls’ favourite speaker of the day was Bobby Seagull from University Challenge and GQ magazine. An ex trader on Wall Street he is now a mathematics teacher and was able to captivate and teach the audience about the financial world and the 2008 financial crisis. There was even some rapping involved that really got the audience going.

To finish the day Kyle Evans brought his guitar onto the stage to teach everyone about sequences and Pascal’s triangle. Although it is only November, everyone was getting into the Christmas spirit when he linked the 12 Days of Christmas to a quadratic sequence. Overall, the trip was very successful and gave the girls a lot to think about in terms of their careers.