Mark Pedigo

I am currently pursuing a PhD in Mathematics from Saint Louis University, a private Catholic university with a Jesuit tradition based in midtown St. Louis. I'm interested in pretty much anything math- or tech-related. More specifically, I get amped about the intersection of elegant mathematics and practical technology.

I have worked a variety of positions in a variety of industries. My first job after getting my B.S. (Computer Science, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 1992) was delivering and setting up computers and networks onsite for various clients, often at the St. Louis Convention center. I have also taught mathematics and computer science courses at various levels and schools, from a summer term at a high school in north St. Louis county to community colleges to technical schools to universities. During the era of the internet bubble, I scripted/programmed games at Humongous Entertainment and briefly worked at Sierra Online.

I am currently a research assistant in the Human Factors Research Lab in the Department of Aviation Science. This project, funded by the FAA, involves improving safety in the airline industry. I also assisted a professor on an NSF grant, which culminated in an article published in the Transactions of the AMS: Algorithms. Other duties during graduate school have included teaching (Precalculus, Survey of Calculus at SLU, and Calculus 3, Arithmetic and Foundations of Mathematics at Southwest Community College during some summers) and tutoring in the walk-in tutoring center (classes up to and including Calculus 3).

Since I'm personally interested in different cultures/traditions/people. I love to travel. Not the "checklist" type of travel: there's Big Ben! -- check -- now on to the Eifel Tower!, but the kind of traveling where I stop to talk to the locals and soak up the region. I've been lucky enough to live in different regions of the US (St. Louis in the Midwest, Seattle in the Northwest) and in continental Europe (specifically, Doetinchem and Amersfoort in the Netherlands). I've also visited various domestic cities (e.g., Newark, NJ, Providence, RI, Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA) and a few in Europe (e.g., Riga, Latvia, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Xanten, Germany).

In my personal time, I like to hang out with friends (both two- and four-legged, or even winged), surf (the net, not the ocean), blog, play with tech, or play jazz piano.