Me Joining XMUM

English version: https://www.xmu.edu.my/2022/1223/c16257a467180/page.htm

Chinese version: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/MB8DgI8YQ0QFKPXZOO9yaQ 

Meet Our New Faculty Members! 丨Dr. Nge Kie Seng: When a Math Apprentice Begins to Teach

2022-12-23

"Mathematics is not my career, it is my life," wrote Dr. Nge Kie Seng, the newly-joined lecturer of Department of Mathematics, Xiamen University Malaysia on his personal web page.

Born in Miri, Sarawak, Dr. Nge Kie Seng spent his undergraduate and postgraduate time in Canberra, Australia. In 2022, he received his PhD degree from Mathematical Sciences Institute, Australia National University, and joined XMUM Department of Mathematics in the end of August.

“I have been attracted by the beautiful campus and lovely students,” Dr. Nge Kie Seng talked about his career decision, “and I want to pursue my career in the field of pure mathematics - XMUM is one of the few Malaysian universities that provide rigorous and proof-intense mathematics courses to students.”

For this semester, Dr. Nge Kie Seng is in charge of teaching three classes of undergraduate level Discrete Mathematics B. With over 200 first-year or second-year students from the Digital Media Technology programme, Artificial Intelligence programme and Software Engineering programme, Dr. Nge Kie Seng adjusts his teaching method from time to time according to the student’s ability, so as to help them better understand the abstract course content.

This is not the first time for Dr. Nge Kie Seng to play the role of a teacher. Since 2017, he worked as a course tutor and accumulated profound experience by guiding students in tutorials and assisting lecturers in classes. From his viewpoint, "teaching is about creating dialogues with your students and sparking discussions as well as stimulating new ideas. The more knowledge I gain, the more I want to share so that others can see what I see.”

That’s why he particularly emphasizes the importance of independent thinking and discussion when studying abstract mathematics concepts. He always encourages students to voice out questions when necessary and make good use of the office hour, treating him as “a more experienced friend who is willing to share knowledge” with them, rather than an authoritative entity.

“I also came from a spoon-feeding study environment,” explained Dr. Nge Kie Seng, “I learned in my graduate study that it is important to learn and work independently, as you’re totally on your own when exploring a new research field.” 

“Instead of question-solving machines, I want to train students to become independent thinkers who can critically point out where the problem is.”

His efforts paid off. A growing number of students starts to participate in the discussion, working together with him to make the teaching and learning experience better and better.

Dr. Nge Kie Seng said that his core reason for wanting to teach is the “sheer pleasure of sharing”. His obsession with maths germinates from his first encounter with Arabic numerals and Lego building, when he realized the beauty of symmetry. In his eyes, each concept, each calculation and each formula have their own rights to stand.

Currently, Dr. Nge Kie Seng’s research primarily focuses on representation theory and categorification, especially the interplay between topology, symplectic geometry and category of representations of algebras, as well as knot invariant arising from braid group actions.

It arises from his strong interest in physical phenomena. In 1967, the famous British mathematician Roger Penrose invented the twistor theory (spin network theory) as a possible path to quantum gravity, which has evolved into a branch of theoretical and mathematical physics and led to a powerful set of mathematical tools.

“My great goal would be to help lay the mathematical foundation for the quantum gravity, whatever it means for now, to take place, despite it might appear to be a minuscule effort from me given my current ability and achievement, ” said Dr. Nge Kie Seng.

“Together, we advance the knowledge of science, formerly known as natural philosophy.”

In the future, Dr. Nge Kie Seng plans to continue his teaching and research in pure mathematics, contributing to the education of fundamental science in Malaysia. He also hopes to collaborate with scientists from different research fields and explore new possibilities.

Last month, after having reviewed the results of his first mid-term student evaluation, Dr. Nge Kie Seng wrote an email to his 202 students. Apart from answering students’ feedback, he talked about the driving force behind his life choice:

“I believe mathematics is real and beautiful - This is the sole reason I am still staying in the realm of mathematics, and I wish to share it with you.”

Shing-Tung Yau 丘成桐

Calabi conjecture was solved after two weeks Yau married. There comes the Calabi-Yau manifolds which explain the shape of the extra unseen six dimensions in Superstring Theory and then play an improtant role in Mirror Symmetry.

丘成桐《临江仙·记七六年事》：

宇形雾笼烟锁，

遍寻缱绻难持。

灵犀一点倩谁知。

落花人独立，

微雨燕双飞。

记得好事新谐，

笙调心印人依。

弦琴天籁寄相思，

大钧玄秘在，

物数竟同归。

-Shing-Tung Yau

注：余弱冠读书柏城，受业于嘉兴陈氏。少年气盛，意有所作为。遂不自量力，欲解宇宙之形，究天地之变。然而六年辛勤，终无所成。学然后知不足，思而后知殆。浩浩乎虽存大志，惘惘乎不知其所以。俟七六年秋，友云来归，夙愿得偿，心旷神怡。不旬日竟得灵犀，解估值之迷，见时空之雅致。仿若天人合一，抑亦精诚所至，金石为开乎？心结既解，诸学为通！分析几何，送怀于千载之后矣。今日情怀依旧，当年伴侣犹在。唯愿薪传有人，家国双兴，慰我平生也。 

Yau to Shiing-Shen Chern

Yau wrotes the following poem to congratulate Chern on receiving the inaugural Shaw prize.

双手换乾坤，拓扑知曲率，几何极宏观，后学永参陈氏类。

国士竟无双，弟子遍天下，卓识干青云，先生长留百世名。

English translation by me:
Hands make Magic, Topology knows Curvature, How mighty Geometry is, the descendants always refer to Chern Class;
None is comparable to Sir, yet your students spread over the world, your excelllent insight defines your success, and your name will remain forever. 

C. N. Yang to Chern

After realizing the intricate relationship between gauge theory and fibre bundle, Yang wrote a poem to praise Chern.

天衣岂无缝,匠心剪接成。

浑然归一体,广邃妙绝伦。

造化爱几何,四力纤维能。

千古寸心事,欧高黎嘉陈 。

Me in the News

Link  to the video: https://fb.watch/hqE1GerK5O/

My Result

Albert Einstein's Result

Contrary to a widespread myth, Albert Einstein was good at mathematics in high school.

This certificate of maturity was issued to Albert Einstein at the age of 17, after attending the Cantonal High School in Aarau, Switzerland. In this scoring scheme, 6 is the highest, and 1 the lowest grade. The photo was taken the very same day he received his grades on 3 October 1896.

Einstein received the following grades:

German language and literature: 5

French language and literature: 3

English language and literature: —

Italian language and literature: 5

History: 6

Geography: 4

Algebra: 6

Geometry (planimetry, trigonometry, stereometry and analytical geometry): 6

Descriptive geometry: 6

Physics: 6

Chemistry: 5

Natural history: 5

In drawing: 4*

In technical drawing: 4*

*The performance over the course of the year is considered.

More about Einstein: https://bit.ly/2x1BLbH