L&S is proud to welcome dozens of new faculty members this year, across each of our four divisions. Our New Faculty Q&A series offers a closer look at their research and interests.
Name: Caglar Uyanik
Title: Assistant Professor in Mathmematics
Hometown: Ankara, Turkey
Educational/professional background: I have a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I just moved from Yale University where I was a Gibbs Assistant Professor of Mathematics.
What is your field of research, and how did you get into it?
My research is in dynamics. Dynamics is concerned with the long-term behavior of moving objects, like planets orbiting the sun, or a water flowing through a pipe, or a ball bouncing on a billiard table with no friction. Dynamical methods help us understand the intrinsic geometry of many objects that are significant in physics, mathematics, and engineering. I am in this field because of the amazing mentors I had in grad school.
What attracted you to UW-Madison?
The friendliness of my colleagues in the math department, the diversity of the faculty, as well as the city of Madison.
What was your first visit to campus like?
I absolutely fell in love with it! It was when I was a grad student and visited for a conference and wished that I could live in Madison!
Favorite place on campus?
So far, the terrace at the Memorial Union. Still exploring, though!
What do you most look forward to?
I am looking forward to teaching in person and connecting with my students. I am also excited about in person seminars, and talking mathematics with other faculty, postdocs and grad students.
How does your work relate to the Wisconsin Idea?
I am the founder and director of the new Madison Experimental Mathematics Lab (MXM), whose mission is to support undergraduate research in mathematics, and support departmental efforts to engage local, state, and national communities through outreach. First research projects will run in the Spring 2022, and soon after we will start our outreach program to share the joy of mathematics with the broader community.
What’s something interesting about your area of expertise you can share that will make us sound smarter at parties?
If you shoot a ball on a rectangular billiard table at a random direction, assuming that there is no friction and the ball bounces off the sides indefinitely, it will pass through most points on the table and won’t favor any part of the table over any other part. Of course, there is a mathematical meaning for both “random” and “most,” so come chat with me in Van Vleck for a precise description!
What are some of your hobbies or other interests?
I love being outdoors and spending time in nature. My favorite activity is spending time with my wife and two cats.