Andrew Wilcox (William and Mary, Class of 2010, Mathematics)

I would like to thank the NSF and the CSUMS program at the College of William and Mary 
for the opportunity to research abroad.  The research trip to Hong Kong truly gave me 
a new view of mathematical collaboration and strengthened my desire to continue researching 
computational mathematics.  From my experience I feel that collaboration is not just about 
producing publications, but advancing the knowledge of the mathematical community as a whole.  

In sharing challenging problems, researchers are learning and discussing the latest tools 
needed to solve all sorts of mathematical problems.  The trip helped me see how even 
researchers from differing fields can help others think about their problems in new ways 
which can help lead to the problems solution.  In addition I can not express how exciting 
it was to see people in a foreign country working on the same types of problems that are 
being researched here in the United States.  

The trip was influential in helping me see and understand how mathematics truly is an 
international language.  My research experience was most certainly enhanced by this trip 
and I feel like I am a better mathematician because of it.