Praise for the Queen's Mathematics and Engineering programme (also known as Apple Math)
Our alumni and those familiar with the programme have tremendous enthusiasm for Mathematics and Engineering. Read and watch what people have to say!Jump to: Video testimonials, alumni testimonials, or other accolades.
Video testimonials from alumni
| Toby Barton (Sci '10, M6 option) talks about the career benefits he has seen from his undergraduate experiences in Mathematics and Engineering. | ||
| Lauren Bates (Sci '10, M6 option) talks about the flexibility enjoyed by Mathematics and Engineering students upon graduation. | ||
| Andrew Brennan (Sci '10, M6 option) talks about the interplay of mathematics and engineering students are exposed to in the the Mathematics and Engineering programme. | ||
| Jeff Calder (Sci '08, M7 option) talks about the strengths of the Mathematics and Engineering programme. | ||
| Andrew Cerisano (Sci '11, M9 option) talks about the advantages to his Apple Math background in getting and being successful in his job with Microsoft. | ||
| Adrian Green (Sci '10, M10 option) talks about his undergraduate Mathematics and Engineering experience, and what he gained from it. | ||
| Nima Poulad (Sci '11, M10 option) talks about how his Apple Math background has helped him in his job with Microsoft. | ||
| Ian Scriver (Sci '10, M6 option) describes the flexibility the Apple Mathematics programme has afforded him. |
Jump to: Video testimonials, alumni testimonials, or other accolades.
Written testimonials from alumni
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Apple Math has made learning everything else so much easier for me. It's hard
not to know what you're doing when you understand everything on such a
fundamental level. No other Engineering program at Queen's could have given
me this kind of training and preparation. Tobias Barton (Sci '10, Mechanical Designer, J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd, Ottawa) |
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There is no other undergraduate program that will provide you with the
challenging education, world-class faculty, and opportunities found in the
Apple Math program at Queen's. As an undergrad, I took several grad level
courses, was a TA for 1st year math courses, wrote a thesis on facial
recognition, and organized social events as the Apple Executive President.
Even though I chose the mechanical option, I found myself prepared for a
career in many industries. I am currently working as a software engineer in
a rotational leadership development program. My background wasn't computer
science, but Apple Math really leveraged me as a potential candidate because
it showed I was able to learn advanced concepts quickly, solve problems, and
think analytically. Lauren Bates (Sci '10, Analyst, Graduate Program at Direct Energy) |
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Apple Math is a unique blend of rigorous mathematics and practical
engineering. Having done a Masters in mathematics at Queen's, I can say
that the mathematical foundation is sufficient for a dedicated graduate to
launch a career in mathematics. Similarly, the engineering is sufficient
for a career in engineering. There is also great flexibility that derives
from this rigorous/practical combination, and it is this power that I am
now harnessing. I have recently switched fields to pursue a PhD in the
neuroscience of human movement. The mind is often modeled as a control
system, making the engineering and math skills invaluable as I learn the
biological basis for movement control. Apple Math has proved to be a
solid foundation for this program despite the fact that I have very
little background in biology. Andrew Brennan (Sci '10, PhD student in Bioengineering at Harvard University) |
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The Apple Math program gives you a solid understanding of the mathematical
principles that are at the foundation of many of the models used in
engineering. It gave me the skills to succeed as an electrical engineer
working in industry and as a PhD student in a mathematics department at a top
US school. There is no way I could have achieved all of this by going into
any other Engineering program at Queen's. Jeff Calder (Sci '08, PhD student in Applied Mathematics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) |
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Through all of the high level math courses and projects Apple Math has
made me who I am today by forcing me to learn how to do complicated things
extremely quickly, which is one of the most important skills in today's
fast-paced work environment. Being able to adapt and learn new and
exciting ideas is infinitely more important than excellence at previous
year's work. Another crucial skill needed in today's work environment is
the ability to manage your time efficiently. Apple Math has taught me to
prioritize properly and make the best use of the time available to me.
Acquiring skills such as these on top of the math and engineering
coursework you learn, as well as the recognition of the program made
Apple Math the perfect choice for me.
Andrew Cerisano (Sci' 11, Software Development Engineer in Test, Microsoft) |
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The Apple Math program at Queen's has all of the factors that I think are
important in a top-notch undergraduate degree. It is full of interesting
challenges, the professors are world class, and it fully prepares you for the
challenges that you will face upon graduation.
I am currently working as a geophysical software developer in Calgary. I did
not study geophysics in University, but in Apple Math we covered the
mathematical principles that are at the base of the subject. Knowing the
fundamentals has given me a huge edge. I was able to learn the geophysics
behind my job quickly, which allowed me to contribute to my company in a
short period of time.
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I am doing an MASc in Aerospace Engineering, and I am focusing on commercial
aircraft shape design and optimization for my research. Queen's Apple Math
has given me an excellent foundation in both Mathematics and Engineering for
working in this area. No other Engineering program at Queen's would have
given me this kind of preparation. Abdallah Elraghy (Sci '10, MASc student, University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies) |
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After graduation, I worked for three years as a management consultant in the
Toronto office of Bain & Company. I recently started an MBA program at The
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Apple Math not only does an
excellent job at teaching a highly valued and well respected technical skill
set, but more importantly, the program develops your critical thinking and
problem solving skills that are applicable to a wide variety of
fields. Completing a rigorous program like Apple Math helps differentiate you
from your peers in job recruiting and teaches you how to approach the types
of tough challenges you will face throughout your career. Jeremy Frank (Sci '08, MBA candidate at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) |
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I graduated from Apple Math Mech in 2008. After lots of soul-searching, I
decided to apply my math skillz to make futuristic computer interfaces that
bring people together rather than split them apart. Apple Math gave me the
confidence and ability to understand and rapidly prototype new vision
algorithms and gesture detection techniques. In the summer of 2010, I was at
HP Research India working on gesture computers for people who have never seen
a mouse; in 2011 I am working with Microsoft Research on the Kinect
platform. Dustin Freeman (Sci '08, PhD student, Computer Science, University of Toronto) |
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It has been always said that Apple math is a very challenging program, and
that is true. However, stepping up to the challenge has been, for me, very
beneficial, where I've gained not only an invaluable mathematical background
but also efficient studying habits. Most importantly, it has prepared me well
for grad school. Nader Ganaba (Sci '10, MSc student, Mechanical Engineering, Technical University Munich) |
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I am currently enrolled in my first semester at the University of Waterloo in
the Quantitative Finance program. The program involves a combination of
courses in probability, statistics and finance. Students in my program come
from a wide range of backgrounds. Given this wide range of backgrounds, I
feel that Applied Mathematics was the ideal undergraduate degree to prepare
me for this program. In terms of the theoretical background in mathematics
required for this program, I feel well prepared for my coursework by my
studies in Applied Math. With respect to my technical skills, my fourth year
thesis project in Region Tracking Over a Sequence of Images taught me
invaluable skills in MATLAB which prepared me for the technical components of
the program. Maybe the most important concept Apple Math taught me was the
idea of time management, persistence and independent study. Matthew Gilbert (Sci '11, Master's student, Quantitative Finance Program, University of Waterloo) |
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Mathematics and Engineering gave me advanced technical knowledge in practical
and interesting areas, which is now indispensable to me as a graduate student
at the University of Toronto in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Apple
was definitely the right choice for me, and provided me with many
opportunities. Adrian Green (Sci '10, MSc student, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto) |
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I was surprised to find that the skills I learned in Apple Math directly
applied to my post-academic life. I now work as a Mobile Developer at Avid
Life Media. Although most of my work involves programming, not math, I have
been able to do a few mathematical projects/tasks that other developers are
less equipped for. So far this includes some simple probability proofs and
some facial recognition technology learnt in my fourth year thesis. I am
very grateful to the Apple Math program for giving me this extra advantage in
the workplace. Thomas Hoddes (Sci '10, Mobile Developer, Avid Life Media, Toronto) |
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Since graduating in May 2010, I've been working as an Automation Engineer for
McRae Integration Ltd. I've designed and programmed conveyor control panels
for Molson's Breweries, Pepsi Beverages, and Castrol Oil. My experience in
Apple Math helps me at work whenever I need to learn something new and
complicated under high amounts of pressure. Tim Knowles (Apple '10, Junior Automation Specialist, McRae Integration Ltd) |
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The Apple Math program provides a unique engineering education combining
traditional engineering topics with the underlying applied mathematics,
providing graduates with a technical advantage when entering the engineering
work force or pursuing further education such as a MEng. The comprehensive
education that I received from the Apple Math program at Queen's has prepared
me for success in an exciting career at NovAtel Inc., a world leader in
global satellite positioning products and technologies. The Apple Math
program has prepared me for challenging real world problem solving, and the
Apple group projects and presentations have allowed me to build to the
confidence needed when leading engineering teams and presenting solutions to
major international organizations such as the US Federal Aviation
Administration and the European Space Agency. Allan MacAulay (Sci '08, Applications Engineer, Aerospace & Defense, NovAtel Inc.) |
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I work for a small energy consulting company in Etobicoke, ON called
Energy Profiles Limited. We provide impartial energy consulting services,
and the focus of our services is independent and objective analysis.
Our clients are large energy consumers, including commercial, retail,
industrial, and multi-residential building owners and managers.
My role with the company is as a member of the Data Systems Group. I among
involved primarily with data analysis and computer programming. So,
although I may not be using control theory or Lagrangian mechanics on they
job, I am certainly using all of the skills I developed while completing my
undergrad in applied math. Perhaps the two most important skills that I
picked up are those of persistence and completeness (in the sense of they
rigour of a proof, not in the sense of normed vector spaces!), and these
skills have application everywhere in a career in industry. The Applied
Mathematics program is likely the best place to pick up these skills. Those
long nights in the cave do pay off, and I am very glad that I completed my
undergrad in Applied Math!
Cameron McCormick (Sci '11, Data Systems Group, Energy Profiles Limited) |
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I design mathematical models and software so that sophisticated financial
instruments can be priced under more realistic conditions, towards a better
understanding of their risk. Apple Math has helped me to approach my
postgraduate work with the conscientiousness of an engineer and the
quantitative ability of an applied mathematician. Christopher Morley (Sci '08, Master's student, Computational Finance (Faculty of Mathematics, Department of Applied Mathematics), University of Waterloo) |
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I enjoyed the multidisciplinary nature of the Apple program. Moreover, the
rigorous mathematical training that I received was an excellent background
for starting my graduate studies in control theory. Stefan Ng Yow Thow (Apple '09, graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Center for Intelligent Machines, McGill University) |
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I'm a PhD student in Systems Biology at Harvard University. Being familiar
with both the practical and theoretical sides of engineering is a huge
advantage when tackling problems at the cutting edge of experimental science.
As far as I can tell, Apple is unique in how it manages to convey both sets
of skills in an undergraduate program. Despite never having studied biology
before, I feel that I came here much better prepared than most for doing
research.
Thomas Norman (Sci '06, PhD student in Systems Biology, Harvard University) |
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I currently work for Microsoft as a software engineer in the Graphics
Division of the Windows Operating System in Seattle, United States. I
can tell you how apple math has contributed to my success. As you can
imagine, any career in the graphics field would involve doing a great deal
of complex and sophisticated mathematics. Apple math helped me build a
very strong background in math, to the point that I'm enabled me to perform
strongly at my job. It was difficult for my managers here at Micrsoft to
believe an undergraduate student can possibly have such indepth
understanding of mathematical concepts. They normally hire only Master and
PhD students but ever since they learned about Apple math, they started to
rethink their recruitment plan for the future.
I hope you also choose Apple math, and discover your full potential!
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The Apple Math program gives you a great skill set and knowledge base to
tackle many different challenges in academia or in industry. Currently, I am
studying the way that sea ice interacts with glacier dynamics on a glacier in
Devon Island. There is a high demand for applied mathematicians who can
learn quickly, develop and use complex mathematical models, and have an
applied engineering background. This program is unique in its approach to
combining the mathematical and engineering realms, and will open many doors
in a wide variety of new and exciting fields of work and study. Ian Scriver (Sci '10, MSc student, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta) |
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I'm working towards a masters degree in biomedical engineering at the
University of Toronto, in the area of pediatric rehabilitation engineering.
Although my research doesn't involve a great deal of mathematics, I've found
that the problem solving and time management skills I obtained from the Apple
Math program have greatly helped me in my research and have given me a head
start on my classmates. Colleen Smith (Sci '10, MSc student, Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto) |
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Both studying in graduate school and working in industry, I have been greatly
benefited by a thorough understanding of the math underlying the machines and
procedures I've worked with; intuition into these fundamentals principles has
allowed me to come up with better and more efficient solutions to difficult
design problems. Having gone through a program which embraces the theory
behind the applications (instead of just teaching those applications), I have
been able to pick up any skill I've needed in the course of my work from the
foundations learned throughout the Math & Engineering program. Adam Sniderman (Sci '10, MASc student, Aerospace Engineering, University of Toronto) |
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After graduating, I completed a masters in Numerical Analysis at the
University of Oxford. During my master's I discovered that I had a
competitive skill set even compared with my academically strong peers.
Math & Engineering helped me develop a balance of skills in mathematics
and in the ability to turn theory into practice as working software.
Additionally, the program helped me develop the skills to understanding
problems across disciplines and read literature in multiple fields, and
this is an invaluable skill in the applied sciences. I now work as a
software consultant in finance and trading, and I know my employer places
a high value on mathematical ability in their hiring process. James Wood (Sci '08, Client Services Developer at ION Trading) |
Jump to: Video testimonials, alumni testimonials, or other accolades.
Further accolades for the Queen's Mathematics and
Engineering programme
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Some of my best former graduate students were from the Queens Apple
program. These students, generally, are characterized by a stronger facility
to relate the exigencies of practical problems with abstract, mathematical
methods. This must be among the most powerful reasoning skills that a future
designer of engineering systems can have. Mireille Broucke (Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto) |
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I had a graduate student from Queen's Apple Math. I was very impressed by the
analytical and computational skills he had acquired in the Apple Math
program. Dong Eui Chang (Associate Professor, Department of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo) |
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I recently saw two of the 4th year engineering projects that came out of the
"Queen's Mathematics and Engineering" program. I am very impressed with the
mathematical sophistication of the work. I think the level is a year or two
beyond the level of typical good students from US electrical engineering
programs and on a par with the level of good students from outstanding Indian
and Chinese institutions which, like the "Queen's Mathematics and
Engineering" program, really focus on developing the mathematical
sophistication of the students. I am confident that there are many areas of
graduate study which will find this level of preparation very attractive. Peter Doerschuck (Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University) |
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The Mathematics and Engineering program at Queen's has developed a reputation
of excellence in the panorama of Canadian Engineering education. At the
University of Toronto, we greatly value graduate applicants from this
program. The depth of their background in Mathematics and Engineering gives
them an advantage in research over many of their peers coming from top
institutions in Canada and worldwide. Manfredi Maggiore (Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto) |
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I have benefitted greatly throughout my career from the foundation in
mathematics that I received from the Math & Engineering program. It has
helped me in understanding the fundamentals of my research area, autonomous
mobile robotics, and many interesting research problems I have looked at
relied on knowledge from core courses in calculus, real analysis, abstract
algebra and differential equations. In fact, I prize the same basis in the
graduate students I recruit, and look forward to all applications from the
Math & Engineering program, as I know they have the tools needed to succeed
in academia. Steven Waslander (Sci '98, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo) |
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Apple Math is an excellent program that uniquely prepares students for
various fields/career paths that require creative thinking and
problem-solving. After graduating in 2000, I went on to graduate school
in biomedical engineering (MASc and later a PhD) and my Apple Math degree
gave me a solid background to dive into the field. I continue to use the
applied mathematics foundation I gained in the program to running my own
human dynamics laboratory and research team as a professor in the School of
Biomedical Engineering at Dalhousie University. Mathematical signals are
evident in all physical phenomena, and the ability to understand complex
signals associated with medical conditions and the human body's response to
disease and treatment have allowed me to contribute to our understanding of
debilitating diseases, such as joint arthritis. For this reason, I also am
always interested in meeting and interviewing Apple Math students who might
be interested in graduate studies or research work in my laboratory. Janie Astephen-Wilson (Sci '00, Assistant Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie University) |
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I had the pleasure of collaborating over the past two years with a recent
graduate of the Queen's Mathematics and Engineering program and was extremely
impressed with his strong combination of both theoretical and
practical/applied skills. To be more specific, he developed analytically and
formally proved the mathematical properties of a number of image processing
tools, and he quickly and adeptly implemented, tested, and validated them
with his own numerical codes. My own research area in the mathematical
aspects of computer vision and shape optimization requires a significant
amount of mathematical and numerical preparation by new PhD students who
usually spend their first two years gaining this necessary background before
becoming truly productive with original and publishable
contributions. Instead, a recent graduate of the Queen's Mathematics and
Engineering program was already productive from the outset of our
collaboration while only in the middle of his Master's studies, and this
collaboration has already lead to multiple journal, workshop, and conference
papers before he even began his current PhD studies! Anthony Yezzi (Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology) |
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The engineering projects that I have read from fourth-year students in the
Queen's Mathematics and Engineering program show a level of sophistication
that is rare at the undergraduate level. These students will be exceptionally
well-prepared for graduate research in a variety of disciplines within
engineering and applied mathematics.
I hope this program's top students will consider Harvard when applying to
graduate school! |
Jump to: Video testimonials, alumni testimonials, or other accolades.
