Steven Taschuk

Education

• Ph.D. (in progress) (2009–present)
  University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  Supervisors: Dr. Alexander Litvak and Dr. Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann
  Research area: Convex geometric analysis
• M.Sc. (transferred to Ph.D. program) (2008–2009)
  University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  Supervisor: Dr. Alexander Litvak
• B.Sc. with Honors in Mathematics with a Minor in Computing Science (2008)
  University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  With First Class Honors

Publications

• S. Taschuk. The Banach–Mazur distance to the cube in low dimensions. Discrete Comput. Geom. 46.1 (2011), 175–183. doi:10.1007/s00454-010-9251-6.
• M. Naszódi, S. Taschuk. On the transversal number and VC-dimension of families of positive homothets of a convex body. Disc. Math. 310.1 (2010), 77–82. doi:10.1016/j.disc.2009.07.030, arXiv:0907.5223 [math.MG].

Conference Presentations

• S. Taschuk. Covering a convex body by translates of its negative. PIMS Young Researchers Conference (University of British Columbia, 2011 May 2–5).
• S. Taschuk. The Banach–Mazur distance to the cube in low dimensions. Volume Inequalities (Banff International Research Station, 2010 March 28–April 2).
• M. Naszódi*, S. Taschuk. Transversals of families of translates of a convex body. 2008 Fall Western Section Meeting of the American Mathematical Society (University of British Columbia, 2008 October 4–5).
• S. Taschuk. The VC-dimension of some families of convex sets. Educational Workshop on Probabilistic Methods in Geometry (IMPAN Mathematical Research and Conference Centre in Będlewo, Poland, 2008 July 6–12).
• S. Taschuk. The VC-dimension of some families of convex sets. Fifth Annual Canadian Young Researchers' Conference for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (University of Alberta, 2008 May 9–11).
• S. Taschuk. A short introduction to John's theorem, with applications. PIMS–CRG Workshop in Geometry and Harmonic Analysis (University of Calgary, 2008 February 9–10).

Scholarships and Awards (Graduate)

Scholarships and Awards (Undergraduate)

Teaching and Related Experience

• Substitute lecturer (2009–2011)
  University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

  Delivered lectures in Honors Calculus (for Dr. Litvak, 6 lectures), in Measure Theory (for Dr. Litvak, 1 lecture), and in Discrete Mathematics (for Dr. Powell, 2 lectures).

• Teaching assistant (2008–2009)
  University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  • Math 101 (Calculus II): 3 sections
• Solutions writer (contract) (May 2008)

  Prepared solutions for a chapter of the instructor's manual for the textbook Euclidean and Transformational Geometry: A Deductive Inquiry by Dr. Shlomo Libeskind of the University of Oregon.

• Marker and solutions writer (2005–2008)
  Grant MacEwan College, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  • Math 115 (Elementary Calculus II): 5 sections
  • Math 228 (Introduction to Ring Theory): 2 sections
  • Math 241 (Euclidean Geometry): 2 sections
• Tutor (self-employed) (2004–2008)

  Tutoring mathematics at the high school and undergraduate levels, as well as high school physics.

Other Activities

• I participated in the William Lowell Putnam Competition in 2005, 2006, and 2007, achieving scores of 36, 30, and 51 respectively. (These scores were in the 95th, 93rd, and 98th percentiles respectively.)
• From 2005 to 2007, I led an informal undergraduate mathematics discussion group among my classmates at the University of Alberta.
• I on occasion deliver recreational mathematics talks to undergraduate students' societies at the University of Alberta. Past talks:
  • Useless algorithms (2007 October 2, 2008 November 6, 2009 March 5)
  • Tangents to parabolas (2007 March 30)
• I served as Vice President of GAME (the graduate student group of the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Alberta) in 2011.