Mung Suan Pau Duhlian
RMIT
Mung Suan Pau Duhlian is currently studying at RMIT city campus. This year he will be completing his honours program under the supervision of Professor Peter Daivis. His honours project will be studying lubrication process which is to understand how a shallow fluid gets sheared when subjected to a shear pressure. The lubricants that he will be investigating in my projects are commonly used in the cosmetic industry. This research intends to give the properties of different lubricants so that the industry experts would then be able to determine the most suitable lubricant for their cosmetic production. Mung Suan Pau Duhlian is always fascinated by the power and its applicability of mathematics in describing real world phenomenon. Being able to mathematical model situations that describes reality captured his imagination immensely, as it allowed him to predict as well as control the outcome he desired. This is the primary reason behind why he decided to pursue a course in Mathematics. He intends to pursue PhD either in computational fluids and or mathematics, which he believes will set him to have a solid foundation to achieve his dream of creating his own ‘Optimization’ Company.
Can you give me a quick overview of the type of mathematics you are studying and its potential impacts for the broader community ?
Studying applied mathematics is study real world phenomenon and trying to understand them in a mathematical language. This allows applied mathematician to give insightful meaning of the significant and potential benefits which stem from mathematical analysis on the system.
How did you get into mathematics/statistics/data science? Was there someone or something that inspired you to this field?
I was inspired from taking Calculus class where one learns how to find the optimal value of a given mathematical function. Which propels me to pursue to learn more of optimization hence leading me to take applied mathematics course.
You received a scholarship to attend AMSI Summer School 2022. How important was this in terms of your ability to attend, fully participate in the program and meet others studying in similar fields?
Seeing how diverse the application of mathematics was quite eye-opening for me. The most surprising thing is that concepts that were purely mathematical are employed in areas that seem to have no connections to mathematics.
The purpose of Summer School is to give students an opportunity to develop their mathematical skills, meet like-minded people and network with potential employers. What was the most valuable part of the program for you? Was it the course content or the people you met? Do you have new ideas for your work/research or see it in a new light?
One of the most important valuable I learned from attending Summer Program is that it shows me the area where I need to improve and also guiding me on how and where to look for to the gain those skill set I lack. It also helped me better understand the settings of research which gives me an idea on my road to doing my own research.
Summer School included a special Careers Day program which aims to help give students an idea of the kinds of career paths available to maths graduates in industry and private sector research areas. Were you previously aware of the types of industry opportunities available to mathematical science graduates? Would you consider working with industry? Do you feel better equipped to explore career options in the mathematical sciences after attending AMSI Summer School?
It has made me realised that academic alone isn’t enough to pursue industry that interests me. I also learnt that when it comes to careers options in the real world, they don’t come with the explicit title when they advertise for job title. Listening to maths graduates landing a career that initially seems irrelevant to mathematics, although finding quite an unexpected correlation after learning how the industry functions. Which taught me that maths careers don’t come with only one name, it comes with different name or forms yet requires that same mathematical skill sets.
AMSI Summer School was held as a virtual event. What was the biggest positive from your point of view holding it in this format and/or the biggest challenge?
It was convenient to attend virtually to connect with friends from different states and territories. Although there comes a time when asking addressing questions that requires a lengthy explanation, was quite challenging. Which could have been easily answered if it were held in physical classroom.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering applying for Summer School in 2023? Should they apply and why?
There is value in attending Summer School as it exposes me to different people and research areas that I have never hear of yet are quite interesting to explore. It also gives me an expanded view of mathematics and its related fields which are not often taught in regular day to day uni classes.
Where do you want the mathematical sciences to take you? Where do you see yourself in five, ten years time?
I have always dream of making my own ‘Optimization’ Company that relied on mathematics. I was inspired by taking Calculus course, where finding optimal value is the main concern of the course. In the next 5 to 10 years, I hope to set out my own mathematical trading models and build a company out of it.
Any other comments ?
It was a great experience to work with students and lectures from different backgrounds and hearing all the great stories on how applicable mathematics is in our day-to-day basis.