Lee students Andrew Vick and Rihen Khatri are pictured here presenting their research over Zoom to Matthew Finney of Memorial Hospital and Dr. John Asplund of Dalton State College, along with Lee professors Dr. Caroline Maher-Boulis and Dr. Jason Schmurr.
As part of Lee’s Mathematics Internship Program (MIP), Lee University recently conducted a virtual session through Zoom to share experiential learning projects with Memorial Hospital and Olin Corporation. Eight Lee students presented three projects analyzing data for the hospital system and one project analyzing data for rail carriers and services.
“This experience has been my first real taste at putting my education to use,” said Chad Uhles, a Lee mathematics major with an actuarial emphasis.
“Every moment in my education has essentially been about myself and increasing my own knowledge, but it is so exciting to see it finally go beyond myself and make a difference, even a small one, in someone’s life.”
The eight participating Lee students include William Fulford, Cordelia Grace, Andrew Hamilton, Rihen Khatri, Kayley Roper, Joshua Schlabach, Uhles and Andrew Vick.
In light of the CDC’s social distancing guidelines, students presented their projects through Zoom to the business officials. Dr. Jason Schmurr, associate professor of mathematics at Lee, and Dr. John Asplund, professor of mathematics at Dalton State College, co-supervised the projects with Dr. Caroline Maher-Boulis, Lee professor of mathematics and program coordinator.
Grace and Hamilton presented “Rail Carrier Modeling.” The objective was to identify customers who have access to multiple railroad locations and using this data to provide insights on rail carriers and services.
“We are pleased to support the Lee University MIP and the students working within it,” said Jeffrey Kilts, lead logistics analyst at Olin. “We value their hard work, professionalism, and insights during the course of this semester and are confident we all learned from each other along the way.”
Fulford and Roper’s project was “Analyzing Patterns in Memorial Hospital Facility Transfers.” The project aimed to understand existing geographical patterns in the patient transfers from other hospitals in the region and factors that may influence the volume of transfers by sending location.
“The students’ work has been instrumental in helping our leadership team better understand patterns associated with patient transfers, which will help us develop predictive modeling that will be invaluable as we source and staff this function,” said Matthew Finney, director of performance excellence for Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga.
Khatri and Vick’s project, “Predicting Emergency Arrivals,” focused on analyzing patient arrival patterns to the emergency department for better staffing procedures.
“I am shocked that my interest in math would bring me to such a practical application,” said Vick. “This project really helped me mature as both a mathematician and a professional.”
Schlabach and Uhles presented “Memorial Hospitals Blood Glucose Levels Analysis.” The project aimed to analyze patterns in checking glucose levels and provide insights on different departments adhering to policies.
“I think that our students rose to the occasion and represented themselves and the university quite well,” said Schmurr. “We are grateful for the opportunities our industry partners have provided our students to serve others and gain valuable experience. We look forward to a productive and growing relationship between Lee’s mathematics department and the community.”
For more information on the MIP and how to partner with Lee University, contact Maher-Boulis at cmaherboulis@leeuniversity.edu.
Lee students Chad Uhles and Joshua Schlabach are pictured here presenting their project over Zoom to Dr. John Asplund, Matthew Finney, and Lee professors Dr. Caroline Maher-Boulis and Dr. Jason Schmurr.