Drake Hayes ’24 — I spent my summer internship with Dr. Zachary Gates and Will Lillis researching the mathematics behind these combinatorial games we called Make-A-Cycle and Avoid-A-Cycle. Both games are played on pre-drawn graphs and involve two players taking turns moving from node to node. The goal of the Make-A-Cycle game is to move to a point forward. The purpose of the Avoid-A-Cycle game is to avoid moving to a discovered point. In my research, I studied winning strategies for both games played on the graphs we called Tunnel Graphs.
Through my internship, I learned what math research is, what it involves, and conducts. I have been considering pursuing a career in math research, so seeing what it is, I found this internship very beneficial. Additionally, I learned what a combinatorial game is, what Cayley graphs are, how to use Microsoft Teams, and the importance of notation. In so learning these things, I developed my critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills. I also developed better collaboration skills.
First, I want to thank Dr. Zachary Gates for choosing me for this internship. I view him as a friend, teacher, and mentor. Second, I want to thank William Lillis ’22 for being a terrific colleague and coworker. Lastly, I thank the Treves Research Fund and Wabash College for making all this possible.
