UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Aziz Inan

Farewell Birthday Brain Teaser for Provost Emeritus Tom Greene

University of Portland provost emeritus Tom Greene officially retired on June 30, and as a token of his esteem, Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering, put together the following farewell birthday trivia brain teaser to thank him for his leadership and friendship:

  1. Multiply the left and right halves of Tom’s birth year Y1Y2Y3Y4 to obtain the number X. Then, look up the Xth prime number. Next, subtract the Xth prime number from the reverse of Tom’s birth year, namely Y4Y3Y2Y1 and read the result backwards. Surprise!
  2. Further, if Tom’s full birthday M1M2/D1D2/ Y1Y2Y3Y4 is split into M1M2, D1D2, Y1Y2, and Y3Y4, interestingly, half of the sum of M1M2 and D1D2 yields Y1Y2, and twice the difference of M1M2 and D1D2 results in Y3Y4.
  3. Tom’s birthday this year (2020) is numerically special: double the sum of the squares of the month and day numbers of his birthday. What comes out?
  4. The reverse of the difference of the squares of the digits of Tom’s new age this year equals the sum of the letter numbers of his last name, Greene.
  5. Tom’s 75th birthday will be special since the reverse of 75, namely 57, equals the sum of the letter numbers of his middle name, George.
  6. Tom’s 76th birthday will also be special since 76 equals the sum of the letter numbers of Thomas. Additionally, the rightmost two digits of that year equals the difference of the month and day numbers of his birthday.
  7. Tom’s 83rd birthday will be special too since 83 equals the sum of the reverses of the month and day numbers of his birthday, namely (M2M1 + D2D1).
  8. Tom’s 89th birthday will be a five-digit palindrome date. Also, 89 is the 24th prime number (see item # 6).
  9. His 90th birthday will be special too since Y3Y4 = M1M2 + D1D2.
  10. Tom’s 100th birthday expressed as M1M2/D1D2/ Y1Y2Y3Y4 has a special property: Y1Y2Y3Y4 = 2(M1+M2+D1+D2).
  11. Tom’s 153rd birthday in the year Y1Y2Y3Y4 will also be special: Y1Y2Y3Y4 = M1M2D1D2 + D2D1M2M1. Moreover, count the number of days left in the year after Tom’s birthday.
  12. Tom’s 189th birthday will be a seven-digit palindrome date.
  13. Lastly, Tom’s 508th birthday contains every whole number from 0 to 7, each appearing once.

For more information or to commission your own brain teaser, contact Inan at ainan@up.edu.

 

 

 

Happy 100th Birthday, Donald Shiley!

January 19, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Donald Pearce Shiley (pictured at left with his wife, regent Darlene Shiley), namesake and benefactor of the Shiley School of Engineering. Donald Shiley was a 1951 University of Portland alumnus who studied mechanical engineering. He went on to great success as the inventor of the Bjork-Shiley tilting-disk artificial heart valve. In his honor, Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Egineering, has prepared the following mathematical curiosities to celebrate Shiley’s life and to express appreciation for his genius and generosity:

  1. If Donald Shiley’s 100th birthday expressed as 1/19/20 is split as 1, 19, and 20, 1 plus 19 equals 20.
  2. Half of 100 equals the sum of the letter numbers of Donald.
  3. The prime factors of the reverse of Mr. Shiley’s birth year, namely 0291, add up to 3+97=100.
  4. The sum of the letter numbers of Donald Pearce Shiley equals 174. The number of days in any leap year (e.g., 2020) from Mr. Shiley’s birthday onwards equals twice 174.
  5. Additionally, Mr. Shiley’s 100th birthday expressed as 01/19/2020 is split as 01, 19, and 2020, the sum of 01 and 19 multiplied by the sum of the reverses of 01 and 19, namely 10 and 91, equals 2020.
  6. Moreover, if Mr. Shiley’s 100th birthday expressed as 01/19/2020 is split as 0119 and 2020, one third of their sum yields 713 and the reverse of 713 is 317. Note that 317 interpreted in the day/month format as 31 July is the day Mr. Shiley died in 2010.
  7. The sum of the prime factors of July 31 expressed as 731 equals 17+43=60 and 60 equals the sum of the letter numbers of Donald Shiley’s wife Darlene Shiley’s maiden name, Loran.
  8. Lastly, if 01/19/2020 is split as 01, 19, 20, and 20, the sum of these numbers yields 60 too.

IEEE Meeting, Sept. 24

The Oregon and SW WashingtonEMC and PSES joint chapter of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, September 24, at 6:30 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 232. UP alumnus Gregory Larson ’06 of Intel will speak on “Wavelength Cutoff Effect of Vehicular Tunnels Demonstrated with Zero Span Spectrum Analysis” and “Circular Aperture Effect on Radiated Emissions of Electrostatic Discharge Events.”

Gregory Larson received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering in 2006 from UP and his M.S. in engineering management in 2014 from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. He spent 11 years as an engineer for the U.S. Navy in satellite communications system electromagnetic interference testing before joining Intel Corporation two years ago.

Please RSVP to David Britton at dlbritt@comcast.net  by Monday, September 23 to allow time to order enough food for the dinner. For more information contact  Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering, at ainan@up.edu.

 

Happy 91st Birthday, Dr. Arthur Schulte, Jr.

Friday, March 15, 2019 was the 91st birthday of Arthur Albert “Art” Schulte, Jr., who served the University of Portland exceptionally for 45 years. Schulte arrived on The Bluff in 1958 as an accounting professor. Later, he served as the dean of the business school and graduate school, executive and financial vice president, special assistant to the president, and twice as acting president. Schulte retired from University of Portland in 2003. Among his many contributions, Schulte is remembered for his distinctive role in transitioning University of Portland from a financial crisis in 1971 to a fiscally stable institution in 1975. He passed away last year on September 24, 2018, at the age of 90.

In appreciation for Schulte’s extraordinary leadership and service, Shiley School of Engineering professor Aziz Inan constructed a collection of arithmetical birthday trivia in his honor. See the full collection here.

Happy 99th Birthday, Donald P. Shiley!

Faculty, staff, and students in the Shiley School of Engineering celebrated the 99th birthday of the late Donald P. Shiley on Friday, January 18. In addition to paying tribute to the life and accomplishments of Mr. Shiley, professor Aziz Inan prepared the following article:

Saturday, January 19, 2019 marks the 99th birthday of Donald P. Shiley, namesake and benefactor of the Shiley School of Engineering. Mr. Shiley was a 1951 alumnus of University of Portland with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering. He died on July 31, 2010, at age 90.

I prepared the following number curiosities in his honor:

  1. Shiley’s 99th birthday expressed as 01/19/2019 is special because switching the places of numbers 20 and 19 in the rightmost four digits of 01192019 yields his original birthday, 01/19/1920.
  2. Furthermore, if 01/19/2019 is split as 01, 19, 20, and 19, these four numbers add up to 59. Coincidentally, the sum of the numbers assigned to the letters of Mr. Shiley’s wife’s name, Darlene, also equals 59.
  3. The sum of the digits of Mr. Shiley’s new age, namely 99, equals 18 and interestingly, Mr. Shiley’s full name, Donald Pearce Shiley, consists of 18 letters.
  4. Note also that 18 equals the difference of 01 and 19, the month and day numbers of Mr. Shiley’s birthday.
  5. 2019 equals 3 times 673 and 3 and 673 are the 2nd and 122nd prime numbers. Interestingly, 122 divided by 2 minus 2 yields 59 (Darlene).
  6. If Mr. Shiley’s birthday, 01/19/1920 is split into 01, 19, 19, and 20, the product and the sum of 01 and 19 equals 19 and 20, respectively.
  7. Moreover, the sum of the prime factors of 01191920, namely, 2, 5, 47, and 317, equals 371 and twice the reverse of 371, namely 173, yields 346. Interestingly, each non-leap year has 346 days left after Mr. Shiley’s birthday.
  8. Further, 317 is the 66th prime number and 66 rotated 180 degrees results in Mr. Shiley’s new age, 99.
  9. Additionally, the reverse of 317, namely 713, times 3 equals the sum of the leftmost and rightmost four digits of 01192020, Mr. Shiley’s 100th birthday to occur in 2020.
  10. Also, 317 interpreted as 31/7 represents 31 July, the day Mr. Shiley died in 2010.
  11. Lastly, Shiley’s birth date expressed as 0119 (January 19) equals 7 times the 7th prime number, namely, 17.

Happy 99th birthday to Donald P. Shiley!

Aren’t Numbers Amazing?

According to brain-teaser wizard Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering: “This Tuesday, December 4 will mark Brother Godfrey Vassallo’s 125th birthday, and I thought you might be interested to note that Br. Godfrey’s birthday number last year (his 124th birthday), that is his current age, was special too because it matches his birth date, December 4 (12/4). Br. Godfrey served at UP for 45 years and coincidentally, next year, September 14, 2019, will mark the 45th anniversary of his death, since he died on September 14, 1974.”

Thanks Aziz, any way we can keep the memory of “BG” alive is okay with us.

Happy 98th Birthday, Donald Shiley

Friday, January 19, 2018 marks the 98th anniversary of the birth of Donald Pearce Shiley (pictured at left with his wife, regent Darlene Shiley), namesake and benefactor of the Shiley School of Engineering. Donald Shiley was a 1951 University of Portland alumnus who studied mechanical engineering. In his honor, Aziz Inan, engineering, has prepared the following mathematical curiosities to celebrate Shiley’s life and to express appreciation for his generosity:

  1. If Mr. Shiley’s 98th birthday expressed as 1/19/18 is split as 1, 19, and 18, 1 and 19 differ by 18.
  2. Furthermore, Mr. Shiley’s full name Donald Pearce Shiley contains 18 letters.
  3. Also, if numbers 1 to 26 are assigned to the letters of the English alphabet, the sum of the numbers assigned to Shiley equals 78 and the prime factors of 78, namely 2, 3, and 13, add up to 18 too.
  4. Shiley’s 98th birthday would have been the first day of the 99th year of his life where the sum of the digits of 99 also gives 18. Additionally, the product of the digits of 99 equals 81, which is the reverse of 18.
  5. The product of the digits of 98 equals 72 which is 4 times 18 where 4 plus 18 equals the sum of the digits of Mr. Shiley’s 98th birthday, 1/19/2018. Further, 72 equals the product of the digits of 1/19/18.
  6. If Mr. Shiley’s 98th birthday 1/19/2018 is split as 119, 20, and 18, the difference between 119 and the sum of 20 and 18 equals 81, which is again the reverse of 18.
  7. Moreover, if 1/19/2018 is split into 1, 19, 20, and 18, the sum of these numbers equals 58 where the sum of the squares of the digits of 58 is 89 and the reverse of 89 gives 98.
  8. The sum of the numbers assigned to the letters of Donald Pearce equals 98 too.
  9. Shiley’s birth date January 19 expressed as 119 equals 7 times 17 where 7 plus 17 equals 24 and the 24th prime number is 89, again, the reverse being 98.
  10. Lastly, the reverse of 119, namely 911, is the 156th prime number where half of 156 equals twice 78 (Shiley).

For more information contact Inan at ainan@up.edu.

Donald P. Shiley’s Birthday, Jan. 19

shiley2The late Donald P. Shiley was born 97 years ago on January 19, 1920, according to Aziz Inan, engineering. Inan prepared the following birthday brainteasers in celebration of Shiley’s birth and “to express my appreciation for his generosity.”
  1. The sum of 97 (Mr. Shiley’s new age) and its reverse, namely 79, equals 176. Coincidentally, If numbers 1 to 26 are assigned to the letters of the English alphabet, the sum of the numbers assigned to the letters of Donald Pearce Shiley equals 176 too.
  2. Mr. Shiley turns 97 in 2017 where both 97 and 2017 are prime numbers. Further, 2017 is the 306th prime number where 306 equals 2 x 3 x 3 x 17 where the sum of these prime multipliers is 25 and the 25th prime number is 97.
  3. The reverse of 2017, namely 7102, equals 2 x 53 x 67 where these three prime numbers add up to 122 which equals 97 plus 25 where the 25th prime number is 97.
  4. Mr. Shiley’s new age 97 times three yields 0291 which is the reverse of his birth year, namely 1920.
  5. If Mr. Shiley’s 97th birthday expressed as 1/19/2017 is split as 1, 19, and 2017, these three numbers add up to 2037 which equals 21 times 97 where 21 coincides with the sum of the digits of 1/19/2017.
  6. Lastly, if Mr. Shiley’s birthday 1/19/2017 is split as 119 and 2017, the sum of these two numbers equals 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 89 where these prime multipliers add up to 98 signifying the fact that if Mr. Shiley was still alive, he would have started the 98th year of his life today.
Happy 97th birthday to Donald P. Shiley!
For more information contact Inan at x7429 or ainan@up.edu.

Happy Birthday, Donald P. Shiley

shileys150January 19 will be the 94th birthday of the late Donald P. Shiley, whose $12 million gift made possible the renovation of the University’s engineering building, renamed in his honor as Shiley Hall. A later $8 million gift from the Shileys resulted in the renaming of the engineering program as the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering. While the generosity of Mr. Shiley and his wife, University regent Darlene Shiley, has played a huge part in furthering the University’s mission, the Shileys have long been known as philanthropists and friends of higher education around the country. Donald Shiley passed away on July 31, 2010.

In honor of Donald Shiley’s birthday, engineering professor Aziz Inan has looked into how the numbers add up, using Mr. Shiley’s birthdate of 1-19-2014, or 1192014:

  • Split the full date of Donald Shiley’s 94th birthday, 1192014, into two numbers by separating the odd-numbered and even-numbered digits as 1904 and 121. Then, switch the places of digits 9 and 4 in 1904, yielding 1409. Also, 121 equals 112, where 11 minus 2 equals 9. Now, go ahead and multiply numbers 1409, 9, and 94. What comes out? Answer: 1192014!
  • Donald Shiley’s birthdate, January 19, can be expressed as 119. If 119 is split as 11 and 9, 11 minus 9 equals 2. Interestingly enough, the full date of Mr. Shiley’s 94th birthday can be obtained from numbers 119 and 2 in a “magical” way and here is how: 119 x (2 x 2)2 = 1904 and 119 + 2 = 121. Intertwine numbers 1904 and 121. What did you obtain? Answer: 1192014 again!
  • 2014 = 2 x 19 x 53, where twice the reverse of the sum of these three primes equals 94.
  • 94 equals 30 plus 64, where the product of these two numbers yield Mr. Shiley’s birth year, 1920.
  • The reverse of the square of the sum of the digits of 2014 yields 94.
  • Before Darlene Shiley married Mr. Shiley, her name was Darlene Loran. Assign numbers to the letters of “Darlene Loran” (A = 1, B = 2, etc.) and the sum of the letters of Darlene and Loran come out to be 59 and 60, respectively. Adding these two numbers results in 119, which can be interpreted as Donald Shiley’s birth date, January 19.

To see Inan’s entire article, go to http://tinyurl.com/lk7kwe2. For more information contact the Shiley School of Engineering at .7292 or stroheck@up.edu.

Howard Vollum’s 100th Birthday

vollum_howard_1The Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering will celebrate the 100th birthday of Charles Howard Vollum, co-founder of Tektronix, on Friday, May 31, from 3 to 5 p.m., in Shiley Hall, according to Aziz Inan, engineering. The celebration will include an invocation by Rev. David Sherrer, C.S.C., welcoming remarks by engineering dean Sharon Jones followed by presentations by former and current Tektronix employees and Vollum’s sons, Don and James Vollum, and the unveiling of an extremely rare, vintage Tektronix 511 oscilloscope found recently in storage in Shiley Hall. All faculty and staff are invited; please RSVP to Jamie Strohecker, engineering, at 7292 or stroheck@up.edu by Tuesday, May 28.

Charles Howard Vollum was born in Portland, Oregon, on May 31, 1913 and died on February 5, 1986, at age 72. He enrolled at the University of Portland (then named Columbia University) in 1931 and completed a two-year program in engineering in 1933. He then transferred to Reed College where he majored in physics, graduating in 1936. Following his graduation, in the midst of the Great Depression, Vollum worked as a radio technician before he was inducted into U.S. Army in 1941. Vollum’s wartime experience gave him the opportunity to study state-of-the-art technology on Cathode-Ray-Tube (CRT) displays and to collaborate with other experts in this field.

In 1946, Vollum co-founded a company to design, manufacture, and market laboratory oscilloscopes. The company was first named Tekrad, but then a month later changed its name to Tektronix (drawn from “technology” and “electronics”), due to a trademark conflict. Tektronix built its first high-performance, low-cost oscilloscope, the 511, using electronic parts purchased from government surplus. When released in 1947, the 511 was superior to any oscilloscope on the market. Over a period of forty years, Tektronix turned into a $1.5 billion-per-year, 20,000 plus employee electronics company. Tektronix engineers built many different types of electronic test and measurement instruments as well as other products such as television monitors and computers. By many, Vollum is considered to be the “father” of Oregon’s electronics industry (Silicon Forest). He was a major donor and contributor to the University of Portland and served on its board of trustees from 1955 until his death in 1986. The Vollum Study Room, located in the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering, is named in his honor.