With the Red Sox failing to make the playoffs in 2010, Major League Baseball was not a big topic of conversation at Bentley this fall. Sports talk has hardly gone away, however, as hopes turn to the Patriots, Bruins and Celtics.

The discussions hold more than a passing interest for Rick Cleary, professor and chair of the Mathematical Sciences Department.  His studies take place at the academic boundary of mathematics and sports.

Entrepreneurial venture informs teaching 

In the fight against malaria, bed nets would seem the perfect weapon, protecting sleeping people from mosquitoes that bite indoors and only at night. But challenges have emerged on many fronts.

Mosquitoes from resistant strains can pass with impunity through the myriad holes in bed nets that inevitably develop in small houses with small children. In addition, mosquitoes have taken their biting outdoors, feeding near dawn and dusk when people are up and about.

Collaborating with colleagues around the world is business as usual in many academic departments at Bentley. Mathematical Sciences faculty are among those with well-stamped passports. Here is a partial list of recent activities.