On the Cutting Edge

Industry Initiatives

Mathematical careers in business, industry, government, national labs, and the non-profit sector continue to evolve and diversify. Where can you learn about the latest mathematical advances that enable you to improve product designs, increase safety, and develop new algorithms to reduce business costs? How can you meet the next colleague that introduces you to novel research avenues? Perhaps you want to influence the next generation of mathematicians by introducing students to industry and government careers? SIAM encourages and facilitates these important industrial connections and interactions with the SIAM Industry Committee at the core.

Meet the SIAM Industry Commitee

SIAM’s industry-related goals and focus areas:

Increase industry member participation in SIAM

Improve SIAM services to industry members

Provide information about careers in industry

Organizational Spotlights

"From giant international organizations to small startups, national labs, government agencies, and everything in between, applied mathematicians are integral to the successful operation of companies around the world. We have curated these spotlights to highlight the immense impact of mathematics as well as the wide breadth of opportunity, and to provide a lens into what a career in industry could look like for you."

Sharon Arroyo

SIAM Vice President for Industry

Learn More about Industries & Companies

The Boeing Company

As a leading global aerospace corporation, the Boeing Company develops, manufactures, and services commercial airplanes, defense products, and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. Find out what mathematical scientists at Boeing do.

Merck

The scientists in the Quantitative Pharmacology & Pharmacometrics department at Merck employ a variety of mathematical techniques, including: model creation and development; ordinary differential equations; partial differential equations; experimental design; statistics; data wrangling and visualization; artificial intelligence; numerical methods; and image analysis. Find out what mathematical scientists at Merck do.

Industrial Careers in Action

Ever wonder how vaccines work? SIAM member Jeffrey R. Sachs, who leads vaccine modeling and simulation efforts at Merck, explains how mathematics plays a critical role in our daily lives, specifically focusing on how math is used in the development, discovery, and manufacturing of vaccines. Learn about how the important research and discovery of applied mathematicians is making vaccines even more effective and accessible. Watch the video.

Industrial Careers in Action

Hear From Applied Mathematicians Working in Industry

Want to learn more about careers in the mathematical sciences and related fields? Read the profiles of professional mathematicians and computational scientists to learn what type of jobs could be in your future, get advice, watch video interviews, and more!

Read the SIAM Careers Brochure

Ariel Leslie of Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control

Dirk Hartmann of Siemens Digital Industries Software

Eric Eager of SumerSports

Nele Mueller-Plock of Certara

Raymond Perkins of Meta

Research Highlights

Industry-Related Papers and Presentations

SIAM is dedicated to facilitating the sharing of industry-related work within the mathematical sciences community. Browse our curated collection of published and presented content showcasing industrial applications. Submit your work for consideration to be featured. 

SIAM Initiatives in Industry 

New and Recent 
  • Teaming with the SIAM Major Awards Committee to develop a SIAM Industry Prize. This prize recognizes significant accomplishments for using mathematics to provide value in industry and business.
  • Developing plans for an Industry Lightning Symposium with “TED-style” presentations highlighting industrial work done with a focus on ways for academia to engage. The symposium preceded the popular Industry Career Panel and Reception at the SIAM Annual Meeting.
  • Providing input to SIAM to enhance the SIAM corporate membership model. Key input includes enhancing the model to provide additional visibility and recruiting benefits for corporate members.
  • Helping increase non-academic participation in the SIAM Fellows Program.
Longtime and Ongoing Initiatives 
  •  Career panels are hosted at least quarterly. A SIAM Industry Committee member hosts the panels where participants give an overview of their career paths and experiences and answer questions. These panels may be virtual, as when preceding the spring and fall SIAM Career Fairs, or in person, as has been done during the SIAM Annual and Joint Mathematics Meetings.
  • Presentations and events that may be of special interest to attendees working in business, industry, and government are included in conference programs and highlighted in advance.
  • SIAM Industry Committee members participate in the SIAM Visiting Lecturer Program, where topics that are of interest to developing professional mathematicians are promoted.
  • The SIAM Industry Committee is collaborative and interdisciplinary, providing focused input to the Committee on Programs and Conferences, Career Opportunities Committee, Education Committee, and Membership Committee.
  • Development of career brochures and industry highlights that bring awareness to careers outside of academia.
  • Partnership with the BIG Math Network, a multi-organization collective connecting mathematical scientists in business, industry, government, and academia through various channels and efforts, with an emphasis on building job opportunities and increasing knowledge about internships.
  • With the support of Philippe and Claire-Lise Tondeur, SIAM coordinates with sister societies in the mathematical sciences on the Tondeur Initiatives, creating programs that support mathematicians interested in careers in business, industry, and government. 

During the first SIAM conference I attended, I noticed a level of interaction between academia and industry I haven’t seen at other conferences. That intermingling is beneficial because as academics, sometimes we lose sight of what’s being used in the real world and on the other hand, in industry sometimes we forget where these students are coming from. The cross-disciplinary collaboration you get by being involved with SIAM is refreshing!

Tiffany Jones University of Arizona