Last Tuesday night, the Math
and Computational Science Departments and Math and Computational Science Society came together for “Probability In BlackJack,” which was presented by UTM TA Rafal Drabek. Drabek explained how one can win blackjack using one’s knowledge of math.
Attendants learned about the mathematical nature of card- counting and winning strategies for blackjack. The presentation was engaging and the level of the material was suitable for all groups of students and faculty.
Drabek used a variety of media to ensure that the audience understood the material. He projected PowerPoint slides and illustrated live examples on a document camera. The presentation was followed by an informal discussion and light refreshments.
“My favorite part was the beginning when he briefly went over random variable, mean and expectation, and stand deviation”, said Asal Aslemand, a statistics TA at UTM.
The audience was composed of first-year students, mature students, post-doctoral fellows and professors.
“We suddenly realized that we do not have enough food for everyone and we had to order more,” said MCSS president Milad Kayali.
“We never had so many people showing up to an academic seminar.”
Drabek was one of the twelve best TAs of 2009 as determined by the students’ and faculty’s vote.
The MCSS hosted four academic seminars this year, a bowling night, a game night and the fundraising gaming marathon for the “Child’s Play” charity, with more MCSS events coming up.
Stay tuned for the updates on www.utmmcss.com and posters around campus.
