CV and General Information

John Montalbo M.Sc.

Graduate Teaching Assistant
The University of Texas - Arlington
Primary Email: john.montalbo@mavs.uta.edu
Office: Pickard Hall 410


Previous Information:

GAAN Fellow
Graduate Research Assistant
The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley


Education:

The University of Texas - Arlington
PhD in Applied Mathematics - In progress

Relevant Coursework:

1. Numerical Solutions to ODE's
2. Real Analysis 
3. Mathematical Analysis I
4. Mathematical Analysis II
5. Linear Algebra
6. Ordinary Differential Equations
7. Scientific Computing
8. Numerical Analysis I
9. Numerical Analysis II
10. Modern Algebra 1
11. Complex Analysis
12. Concept and Techniques in Pre-Calculus

The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley

M.Sc - [ Mathematics ] - ( Mathematical Sciences ) - July 2016

Relevant Coursework:

1. Integrable Systems
2. Topology
3. Partial Differential Equations
4. Applied Functional Analysis
5. Analysis I
6. Analysis II
7. Ordinary Differential Equations
8. Modern Algebra I
9. Modern Algebra II
10. Advanced Sampling
11. Mathematical Modeling
12. Statistical Methods 

The University of Texas - Pan American

B.Sc - [ Mathematics ] - Cum Laude - ( Pure Mathematics ) - 2014

Relevant Coursework:

1. Linear Optimization
2. Complex Analysis
3. Analysis I
4. Topology
5. ODE's
6. Applied Linear Algebra
7. Cryptology and Codes
8. Discrete Mathematics
9. Number Theory
10. Probability and Statistics
11. Boundary Value Problems

South Texas College
A.Sc - [ Mathematics]

Relevant Coursework:

1. College Algebra
2. Pre-Calculus
3. Calculus I
4. Calculus II
5. Calculus III
6. Elementary Statistics

Audit:

i) Signals and Systems for Electrical Engineers


Publications:

Publication: Co-Author and Development Team Member of UTPA - HB5 College Prep Course
Website 1: https://webwork.utpa.edu/CollegPrep-fall2014.html

Publication: Compressive Sensing for Noisy Video Reconstruction
Published: Proc. of SPIE Vol. 9484 94840C-1

Publication: Sparse Representation for ISAR Image Reconstruction
Published: Proc. SPIE 9857, Compressive Sensing V: From Diverse Modalities to Big Data Analytics, 98570B (May 10, 2016); doi:10.1117/12.2228095


Pre-Publication: Compressive Sensing and Radar Imaging
Published: Proc. SPIE 9857, Compressive Sensing V: From Diverse Modalities to Big Data Analytics, 98570B (May 10, 2016); doi:10.1117/12.2228095


Publication: Masters Thesis - Compressive Sensing and Radar Imaging


Newspaper Articles:

Article: Discovering the formula for success
South Texas College News
Link: Link

Article: Students Come Together to Investigate Imaging Problems
The Shorthorn
Link: Link


Article: Ambartsoumian leading NSF-funded project to develop new math theory for improvement of imaging technology
COS News
Link: Link

Article: UTA RESEARCHERS TO DEVELOP NEW MATH THEORY FOR IMPROVEMENT OF IMAGING TECHNOLOGY
UTA News
Link: Link


Article:UTA researchers to rise new math speculation for alleviation of imaging technology

Link: Link

Extra Curricular:

i)   Student Chapter President of the Society of Applied Mathematicians (2015)

ii)  Student Chapter President of the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (2015)

iii) Phi-Theta-Kappa - International Honors Society - Chapter President (2008-2010)
      -- Inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Region V Hall of Honor for Service and Outreach
            a) Represented Beta Epsilon Mu at Regional and International Events
            b) Managed the over 300 chapter members
            c) Coordinate community outreach and service events
            d) Coordinate scholarly events for members and general student population

iv) Student Government Association - member


Graduate Projects:

UTA - Maverick Experience Associate Lead
** Manage anywhere from 5 to 12 tutors that are embedded in UTA math classes
** Hire and oversee the work of highly motivated and skilled mathematics tutors
** Train MEA staff in tutoring techniques and mentorship strategies
** Work directly with the UTA mathematics dept. to embed highly qualified tutors into classes with high D/F/W rates
** Data collection and layout


Texas House Bill 5 - College Preparation and Readiness Mathematics Course
**  Coordinate with faculty in the implementation of state-wide standards course
**  Personally wrote final exams
**  Code and re-code WebWork learning modules
**  Represented UTPA in administrative meetings (Region 1) with local high school faculty
**  Led instructional sessions for High School Teachers to acclimate them to WebWork

Publication: Co-Author and Development Team Member of UTPA - HB5 College Prep Course


WebWork Graduate Assistanship
** Monitor up and downtime for servers
** Take questions from the students
** Create and upkeep WebWork sections
** Import students, create final reports
** Assist faculty with WebWork interface
** Code problems for local use
** Overall technical support


Graduate Teaching Assistant
** Attend classes and instruct students on an individual basis
** Administer tests and quizzes
** Grading and Recitation
** Motivate students to excel
** Hold office hours
    -- Developmental Math
    -- College Algebra
    -- Calculus II
    -- Introduction to Mathematical Software
    -- Applied Linear Algebra


Teaching Experience:

The University of Texas - Arlington
1) Math 1426 - Calculus I - Recitation Leader
2) Math 1426 - Calculus I - Recitation Leader
3) Math 1303 - Contemporary Mathematics - Instructor
4) Math 1301 - Trigonometry - Instructor
5) Math 1301 - Trigonometry - Instructor

The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley
1) Math 1314  (College Algebra) - Instructor
    Course Evaluations
2) Math 4357  (Real Analysis)      - Substitute
3) Math 3343  (Introduction to Mathematical Software) - Aid / Recitation Leader
4) Math 2318  (Linear Algebra ) - Aid
5) Math 2414  (Cal II) - Aid / Recitation Leader
5) Math 2414  (Cal II) - Aid

South Texas College
1) Pre-Calculus - Supplemental Instructor
2) Calculus I - Supplemental Instructor
3) SAT Prep  - South Texas College
4) STAR Prep - South Texas College
5) Plane Geometry workshop - South Texas College
6) How to Improve Student Note-taking Skills -South Texas College




Research Interests:

1. Non-linear Waves / Solitons
2. Image Processing and Data Reconstruction
3. Compressive Sensing
4. SAR/ ISAR / MIMO Systems
5. Mathematical Physics
6. Algorithms
7. Convex Optimization
8. Functional Analysis

Awards

GAANN Fellowship - The University of Texas - Pan American
   ** Graduate Assistants in Areas of National Need Fellowship
         ** $30,000 in funding

Presidential Graduate Scholarship
   ** The Presidential Graduate Scholarship is an institutional scholarship that assists returning graduate students with tuition expenses
         ** $1,000 in funding

Texas Grant - T. EX. AS (Towards EXcellence, Access and Success) Grant
 ** Grant to make sure that well-prepared high school graduates with financial need could go to college

South Texas College Student of the Week
  ** http://news.southtexascollege.edu/?p=2570

Phi Theta Kappa - Region V - Hall of Honor
  ** Ceremonial Pin and Certificate given for outstanding service and leadership

UTPA Undergraduate Mathematics Competition
  ** 1st place

UTRGV High School Research Scholars Program
  ** Mentor - Student won 3rd place

Letter from appreciation from Governor Rick Perry

Certificate of recognition from Texas State House of Representatives
  ** Representative Veronica Gonzales

Certificate of Academic Recognition from Congressman Henry Cuellar

Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congressman Ruben Hinojosa



Work Experience:

The University of Texas - Pan American 
- Supplemental Instructor
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
- Research Assistant

South Texas College 
Mathematics - Student Learning Assistant
- CRLA Certified - Level II - Current

** Over 2,500 students helped
** Over 1,200 student contact hours
** TSI/THEA Prep


South Texas College - Mathematics - Supplemental Instructor
        -- Calculus
        -- Pre-Calculus

South Texas College
- Department of Academic Excellence

South Texas College
- Department of Library Services


Presentations:

Here is a partial list of the talks I have given:

1) Phi Theta Kappa - International Honors Society - Chapter President

      Talk: Society Recruitment and Informational Sessions  x 5
      Location: Various throughout the South Texas College Campuses

      Talk: How to Motivate Community Outreach
      Location: Pecan Campus

      Talk: Hispanic Excellence through Education
      Location: Pecan Campus

      Talk: Honors Seminars x 6
      Location: Pecan Campus


2) Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematicians - Student Chapter

        Talk: An Introduction to Solitons
        Location: The University of Texas - Pan American


3) Society for Optics and Photonics - SPIE 2015 - Defense and Security Conference

       Talk: Compressive Sensing for Noisy Video Reduction
       Location: The Baltimore Convention Center
       URL: http://spie.org/profile/John.Montalbo-6941

4) Undergraduate Research Presentations -

     Talk: On the distribution of Eigenvalues of Randomly Generated Symmetric Matrices
     Research Adviser: Dr. Virgil Pierce

     Poster: Using Fourier Series to Compute Representations for Novel Sums
     Research Adviser: Dr. Zhaosheng Feng


5)  GAANN and NHARP Program Student Training and Supervision Seminar

                    Supervised by: Dr. Zhijun (George) Qiao

Imaging and PDE's Seminar - Group of students and professors that come together to form a research team. These are the talks I gave for the seminar:

 ---- Fall 2014

     Talk 1: Radar Physics and Data Acquisition
     Talk 2: Modeling SAR Radar through Maxwell's Equations
     Talk 3: Radar Fundamentals
     Talk 4: Detection of Signals in Noise
     Talk 5: The Radar Ambiguity Function
     Talk 6: Maxwell's Equations
     Talk 7: Wave Propagation in 2-D and 3-D
     Talk 8: Antennas
     Talk 9: Synthetic-Aperture Radar

---- Spring 2014

     Talk 1: Functional Analysis and Sobolev Spaces
     Talk 2: Normed Spaces
     Talk 3: Bounded Linear Operators
     Talk 4: Adjoint Operators
     Talk 5: Sobolev Spaces

---- Summer 2014

     Talk 1: Image Processing and Pattern Recognition
     Talk 2: Fundamentals of IP
     Talk 3: Image Enhancement
     Talk 4: Mathematical Morphology
     Talk 5: Image Segmentation


---- Fall 2015

    Talk 1: Sparse Representations for Radar
    Talk 2: Radar Systems / Signal Processing
    Talk 3: Introduction to Sparse Representations
           -- Signal Coding Using Sparse Representations
           -- \ell_0 vs \ell_1 -minimizations
           -- Sparse Recovery Algorithms
    Talk 4: Dimensionality Reduction
           -- Manifold Learning
           -- Principal Component Analysis
           -- Non-Linear Demensionality Reduction Techniques
    Talk 5: The Handbook of Mathematical Methods in Imaging
           -- Compressive Sensing
                -- Background
                -- Mathematical Modeling and Analysis
                -- Numerical Methods

---- Fall 2016
    Talk 1: Compressive Sensing and Radar Imaging


Conferences:

1. Phi Theta Kappa Regional Conference  - Dallas Texas
2. Phi Theta Kappa Regional Conference - McAllen Texas
3. Phi Theta Kappa International Conference - Orlando, Florida
4. 2014 CBMS Conference - Inverse Scattering and Eigenvalues Problems
5. Texas PDE Conference - Texas State
6. Texas PDE Conference -University of Houston
7. SPIE DSS 2015 - Baltimore Maryland
8. SPIE DSS 2016 - Baltimore Maryland

Volunteer Work:

1) Palm Valley Animal Shelter:
     ** Dog Walker
     ** Pet Goomer

2) RGV Food Bank
     ** Raised close to 200 lbs of food during food drive
     ** Collected Toy donations for the Women's Shelter
     ** Volunteered for McAllen Police Dept. Toy drive
          -- Handed out toys to kids

3) American Cancer Society - Relay for Life
     ** Close to 1000$ raised for cancer research through community donations

4) School Tools Program
     ** Volunteer / ran campaign that brought in essentials for teachers ( Notebooks / Pencils / Etc)

5) Keep McAllen Beautiful
    ** Volunteered for trash pick-ups
    ** Volunteered for house painting

6) 1st Annual Gulf Coast Regional Conference

7) Calculus Bowl

Awards from left to right:

** Phi Theta Kappa Gold and Blue Honors Cords
** Honors College White Cord
** Phi Theta Kappa Chapter President Pin
** Phi Theta Kappa Honors Medal
** Phi Theta Kappa Honors Medallion
** Phi Theta Kappa Chapter Pin
** Phi Theta Kappa - Region V - Hall of Honor Pin
     -- Given for Service and Leadership
** Honors Medallion










Example of events for Phi Theta Kappa!

 My Talk in Baltimore:

I was nervous because the SPIE conference in Baltimore had 5000 people in attendance (plus the gentleman that had gone before me was amazing). But it turned out very well! In total we were in Baltimore for a whole week. I learned about new radar equipment as well as theoretical work.

Very Nice City:

Me and Menqi were able to spend a day in Baltimore looking around in between sessions for the conference.

Our Research Team ( Non-Linear Waves & Radar Imaging Group )

 From Left to Right:

Hiacheng Gu // Eric Tovar // Dr. Zha // Me!! // Dr. Tong // Dr. Hu // Menqi Hu

Not Pictured:

Dr. Qiao  // Dr. Wu









Conference for Inverse Problems and Transmission Eigenvalue Problems at UT - Arlington:

This was a week long conference during the summer. I had the opportunity to talk with Dr. David Colton who was the main speaker, along with Dr. Fioralba Cakoni about applying the theoretical work to radar systems.






























Dr. Poletaeva giving a talk at a SIAM + Mathematical Physics seminar.