Mr. Ira Gerhardt

Overview

Ira Gerhardt is an Associate Professor of Mathematics with additional degrees in Industrial Engineering and Economics.  His primary research foci are in stochastic modeling and simulation, mathematical modeling, and mathematics education.  Dr. Gerhardt has been an MAA PiC Math fellow as well as the adviser to Manhattan's Putnam undegraduate math competition team, and serves in various roles in the New York State Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).  A natural-born storyteller (with a mediumly terrible singing voice), his lecturing style is often described as 'speaking out loud'.  A former marathoner, Dr. Gerhardt now spends much of his time running after his children.  

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Engineering and Management 
  Sciences, Northwestern University: June, 2009.
  • Dissertation: Stochastic Modeling and Simulation of Nonstationary Queueing Networks Using Markovian Processes
  • Advisor: Professor Barry L. Nelson
  • Major: Stochastic Modeling and Analysis
  • Minors: Optimization, Production and Logistics
• Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, Northwestern University:
  June, 2006. 
• Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of
  Technology: June, 1999.
• Bachelor of Science in Economics, Massachusetts Institute of
  Technology: June, 1999.

Courses Taught

MATH 100 (Pre-Calculus), MATH 121/122/155/156 (Calculus for Life Sciences I, II), MATH 154 (Calculus for Business Decisions), MATH 186 (Calculus II), MATH 187/188/287 (Honors Calculus I, II, III), MATH 201/285 (Calculus III), MATH 230 (Elementary Statistics), MATH 286 (Differential Equations), MATH 325 (Linear Algebra II), MATH 331/420 (Probability), MATH 336 (Applied Statistics), MATH 351/491 (Computational Linear Algebra and Statistics for Computer Science), MATH 421/432 (Statistical Inference), MATH/G 455/555/655 (Operations Research), MATH/G 456/492/691 (Mathematical Modeling), MATH 469 (Independent Study: Game Theory), MATH 489 (Problem Seminar), MATH 490 (Complex Analysis), MATH 499 (Independent Study: Stochastic Calculus), MATG 630 (Probability and Statistics for Analytics), MATG 633 (Advanced Statistical Inference), MATG 635 (Probabilistic Models), MATG 699 (Graduate Independent Study: Statistical Methods in West African Education)

Research & Scholarly Activities

Research Interests

• Mathematics education: Preparing students to perform mathematical modeling of real-world systems. Developing tools for quantifying and enhancing levels of student-readiness for college mathematics courses, specically in basic arithmetic and algebra skills. Current Project: "The COVID Effect: Bring higher education back after the pandemic" with Rani Roy.
• Statistical methods and applications: Defining practical distributions to target higher-order moments. Utilizing statistical analysis in evaluation of mathematical assessments.
• Operations Research: Stochastic modeling and simulation; game theory; financial modeling and risk.  Current Project: "The MAPt/Pht/Inf Queueing System and Multiclass [MAPt/Pht/Inf]K Queueing Network"

Publications

Publications

"Examining the Effectiveness of an Online Summer Bridge Course to Prepare Students for Calculus," with Matthew Jura, PRIMUS, 2021.

"How to Make a Math Modeling Class from Scratch in Six (Not-So) Easy Steps," PRIMUS, 2017, 27(6), 618-640. 

 "Technical Note: The MAPt/Pht/∞ Queueing System and Multiclass [MAPt/Pht/∞]K Queueing Network," with Barry L. Nelson and Michael R. Taaffe, INFORMS Journal on Computing, 2017, 29(2): 367-376. 

"The ALARM Experiment," PRIMUS, 2015, 25(1): 80-97. 

"One SizeCanFit All: A Problem‐Solving Capstone Course," with Kathryn Weld, PRIMUS, 2013, 23(4): 326-346. 

“Modeling and simulating non-Poisson arrival processes to facilitate analysis”, with Barry L. Nelson, INFORMS Journal on Simulation, 2011, 5:3–8.

“Transforming renewal processes for simulation of nonstationary arrival processes”, with Barry L. Nelson, INFORMS Journal on Computing, 2009, 21:630–640.

Conference Papers

“Modeling and simulating non-Poisson arrival processes to facilitate analysis”, with Barry L. Nelson, Proc. of the 2009 INFORMS Simulation Society Workshop, 6-8.

Professional Experience & Memberships

Merrill Lynch & Co. – Global Equity Portfolio Trading, New York, NY

Member of Sigma Xi, INFORMS, IIE, AMS, SIAM