The Field
A degree in applied mathematics allows you to apply your mathematical and problem solving skills to real world problems. The field of applied mathematics develops and uses a wide variety of mathematical methods in order to understand and to work with systems encountered in science and industry. As an applied mathematician, you might simulate the behavior of complex systems without actually having to construct expensive physical models.
People with rigorous training in applied mathematics are needed in industrial, corporate, and academic settings. Our graduates acquire the necessary mathematical skills to help meet this demand and have achieved outstanding careers doing what they love to do.
Our Graduates
Many of our graduates continue their formal education in graduate programs such as mathematics, statistics, education, physics, and computer science; or they pursue careers in business, industry, government, and academia. They have found employment in fields as diverse as teaching, mathematical modeling, finance, actuarial sciences, industrial mathematics, manufacturing, communications, and computing.
A short list of job categories for applied mathematicians includes:
- Actuarial Sciences
- Software Engineering
- Teaching Mathematics (High School/College)
- Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
- Statistics
- Programmer Analyst
- Cryptographer
- Reliability Analyst
- Biological Systems Analyst
- Financial Analyst
Choosing Your Focus
Depending upon your future goals, you may structure your coursework with an emphasis on preparing for graduate school or for more immediate employment. If you’d like to move forward in your study of mathematics, SUNY Polytechnic Institute can help you develop a strong background in some of the more rigorous and abstract aspects of mathematics, such as Partial Differential Equations, Real Analysis, Vector and Tensor Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Discrete Mathematics. If you wish to pursue a career immediately upon graduation, you can develop a rich background in courses especially suitable to industry, such as Mathematical Modeling, Numerical Differential Equations, Mathematical Finance, Electromagnetism, and Statistics and Probability.
Many students also work on an individual basis with our faculty to pursue special interests outside of formal coursework. You will have the opportunity to work with faculty in areas like data analysis, finance, mathematical physics, group theory, mathematical and computational modeling of problems in biomedical and material science, numerical methods, image processing, and fractals and chaos.
Our students are also encouraged to receive academic credit through our Applied Math Internship. This can provide you opportunity to work with local companies, putting your mathematics skills to work in applied settings while receiving academic credit.
