On to the topic you dread the most: Mathematics. For the past months, I have been working intensively on the theoretical and computational aspects of Topological Data Analysis (TDA), a relatively new subfield of Mathematics dedicated to the application of Topology, a pure field dedicated to the study of mathematical spaces, to more concrete situations. I found this to be very interesting as it provides a link between theoretical tools and practical applications.
To be more precise, I have been looking into computational ways of finding persistent features in point cloud data, which I later intend to apply to fingerprint ridge lines. In order to make all of this more understandable to you, I made a small webpage which provides an interface with the program as well as a link to my first article, under revision. Technical parenthesis: interacting with the webpage sends information to the C++ program which analyzes it and then sends the computed result back to your browser. C++ being a non web-safe language, this is made possible by Google Native Client, a technology which allows the embedding of C/C++ code within the web. For that reason, this feature is only available on Chrome.
A glimpse at Persistent Homology
The time investment to not only make the program itself, but making it work within the web and designing the webpage is quite important. Satisfying mathematicians and practitioners alike is not an easy task since their expectations are so different. I hope I am meeting both by providing a simple description of the program and an interface with the program, and further mathematical details for those interested. That being said, your comments are more than welcome.
For those interested, here is a non-technical overview, a more-technical one and link justifying how secure that technology is. I think this has great potential for making mathematical research more intuitive to the general public.
Finally and on a more relaxed note, I have to abide by one of my earlier resolutions. It is time to pay respect to our dearest administrator for receiving the highest distinction of all: a Superstar Award from the University of Leicester’s Student Union. As I stood speechless and envious at the sight of his mug reward and diploma, I remembered a competition being held on the other side of globe. Here are a couple of links for your viewing pleasure.
A photo of the trophy, taken by the recipient himself
My opening phone line is “Department of Criminology, Tom speaking. How can I help?”, the key is to always sound cheerful! 🙂