When we think back 20 years ago, we couldn’t imagine what we would have accomplished with technology.

With advancement comes new snags and problems to address and fix.

Dr. Xingping Sun, professor of mathematics, studies the combination of his first love, mathematics and his second, computer science.

Hand in hand, Sun explores the effects they have on each other.

Learn more about Sun’s research

The Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, invited Sun to a colloquium Feb. 1.

About the colloquium

Dr. Greg Fasshauer, head of the applied mathematics and statistics department at Colorado School of Mines, asked Sun to speak.

Sun and Fasshauer are currently collaborating on a paper.

Sun’s presentation, “Kernel based Monte Carlo approximation methods,” looks at an important problem in machine learning.

The Monte Carlo method is using randomness to predict something. A kernel-based Monte Carlo is an algorithm that adapts a realistic model.

“For example, scientists in weather forecasting use limited data obtained at scattered sites to establish different models needed for predicting weather phenomena,” Sun said.

Sun’s presentation was in two parts.

In phase one, he used approximation methods. In the second phase, he used the Monte Carlo method.

Combined, they open up discussion on machine learning and how to better it.