Name:  Dania Sheaib     

Date of Birth:  January 7th 1985

Undergraduate Studies:   

Bachelor of Science, Mathematics, June 2006

Beirut Arab University (B.A.U.), Beirut, Lebanon

Reasons for joining the MS Program in Computational Science:

Since I was an undergraduate student I have never wanted to be just a middle school teacher.

Personally, I never wanted to be something more than being an academic, actually a researcher.

When I joined the Masters program in the American University of Beirut, the MS program in computational

science was not yet opened, so I was registered as an MS student in the Mathematics departmEnt.

As a Masters student, I had to do research to find a suitable topic for my MS thesis before I can decide in what field I want to be involved.

It was then when I realized that my research interests are not only in pure mathematics but also in applied mathematics.

The main reason that lies behind this interest is the use of mathematical models and computer simulations as vital tools in

analyzing and solving challenging problems. In addition, the model formulation process clarifies assumptions, variables and

parameters and provides conceptual results, and in spite of its numerical limitations, is used in testing theories, assessing

conjectures and making forecasts. In particular, epidemiology modeling can contribute to the design and analysis of epidemiological

surveys, suggest crucial data that should be collected, identify trends, make general forecasts, and estimate the uncertainty in forecasts.

MS Thesis Topic: Epidemiology Modeling

My Master’s thesis is in Numerical Simulation in which I solved an SIR Epidemic Problem using Numerical Simulation

Techniques applied first to population models of the McKendrick-Von Foerster type. In my thesis, I used the programming package

Matlab as well as some useful experimental data conducted on the female population in the United States to validate the numerical

approach used to solve the population model of the Mckenrick-Von Foerster type.

Career Plans and Objectives:

In fall 2006, I was accepted as a graduate assistant in the American University of Beirut in which I assisted students in several courses

including Calculus I, II, III, Discrete Mathematics, Numerical Analysis and other undergraduate courses.  Since fall 2008, I have been

working as a research assistant on simulation of epidemiological problems in the American University of Beirut. I have participated in

several mathematical workshops whose common aim is to combine domain expertise in mathematical and computing skills as vital

tools in solving fundamental and challenging application area problems in sciences, engineering, finance, economics, health,

and medical sciences.  Two workshops were held in the American University of Beirut (June 2008 and January 2009), the second

of which was mainly the closure of the SARIMA project in which there was a study of status and perspectives for future

Lebanon-Mediterranean research cooperation in mathematical sciences. Moreover, Notre Dame University was a host for a conference

on analysis, computational mathematics and statistics in September 2008. The last but not least is a workshop held in Beirut Arab University in March 2009.

Currently, I am still working as a research assistant on modeling of epidemiological problems. As for the future,

I am planning to pursue a PhD degree in Mathematics involving epidemiological modeling and simulation.

Moreover, I am seeking an academic job in one of the universities in order to benefit from what I learned and be able to deliver it to others.

Hobbies  Swimming, jogging and traveling