Byung is well-known in Canadian mathematical circles for representing Canada at the International Mathematical Olympiad where he won two bronze medals and one silver medal. Only fourteen students have represented Canada at the IMO three times or more since Canada first participated in 1981. Byung also is a past winner of the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad. Byung holds undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Mathematics from the University of Windsor.
The University of Windsor was fortunate to have Byung as a student, not only for his phenomenal mathematical abilities but also for his tremendous generosity in helping students and the department. Byung put his experience with math contests to good use at Windsor. He gave a series of lectures on topics ranging from geometric inversion to the pigeonhole principle, which illustrated his talent as an educator. Byung also helped fellow undergraduate students train for the Putnam Undergraduate Mathematics Competition. He was also an enthusiastic and integral part of the team that hosted the Canadian Mathematical Society’s National Mathematics Camp (a training camp for roughly two dozen students identified as having the potential to represent Canada at the IMO) in the three years that it was held at the University Windsor.
After graduating with a Master's degree, Byung was hired to teach at Upper Canada College which puts him in the illustrious company of former UCC instructors such as the author Robertson Davies and the author and political scientist Stephen Leacock, both of whom were fellows of the Royal Society of Canada. Following graduation, Byung has continued to altruistically volunteer for the Canadian mathematics community. He continued to be an instructor, organizer, and house parent for the National Mathematics Camp. He runs a math circle for high school students in Toronto.
Byung says, “My job at UCC is incredible: I have the freedom to explore different techniques with students and time is specifically allotted for me to grow professionally. I have resources to seek out conferences which appeal directly to my own needs. When working with students, I am encouraged to highlight the different paths mathematics can take and to encourage students to actively seek out a strong mathematical background. I also have free rein to offer the most demanding courses and to challenge even the brightest students.”
About the University of Windsor, Byung says, “While there are undeniably more course offerings and specializations offered in larger universities, there are also huge benefits from operating from a small campus. This ranged from modifying classes to suit your own program to intense personal support offered by professors. I regularly talk about the time where I sat in my Quantum Physics professor’s office for the first month of classes trying to make heads or tails of a difficult subject.”
Byung says without a doubt that the atmosphere of the University of Windsor worked well for him. “The mathematics community is tight-knit and study groups formed naturally and easily. The professors were easy to approach and extra help was readily available.” He praises the university for being “incredibly supportive of its students” and for showing great flexibility in its course offerings. Byung adds, “The staff at the university was incredibly helpful in ensuring that I had everything I needed for my studies and to navigate the inevitable red tape that arose.”
“First and foremost, university prepares you for work by requiring dedication and work ethic to succeed. But more specifically, Windsor helped me by allowing me to advocate for my own needs.” This ensured that the department could look after his personal development.
Byung also enjoyed living in Windsor. “Most university campuses I have visited tend to change the neighbourhood around them: Lots of student housing and fast food places as well as convenience stores. The area around Windsor felt natural while still having the requisite student housing and convenience stores.”
Byung says about studying mathematics, “Most students still have the impression that a degree in mathematics leads to either working in a university or working as a teacher; although recently statistics has become more common and students add in working as a statistician. While these are of course common jobs that arise from mathematics, they by no means are even close to the bulk of mathematics majors.
“Mathematics is a broad subject: broader than any other field out there and its uses are immensely practical. While Optimization and Statistics are likely the most readily applicable to a business world, any organization would benefit from a mathematician. The most important facet of a mathematical degree is not the ability to problem solve (although this is a key feature) but rather the ability to boil down a problem into its most basic assumptions. Finding a new solution to an old problem means that you need to be willing to strip away any assumptions and old solutions while still retaining the knowledge learned from old methods. Mathematics is about the application of logic to any set of requirements and this sets a mathematics degree apart from every other field.”