Umberto Mosco

Biography

Education: BS Mathematical Sciences University of Rome, Italy 1959 BS Physics University of Rome, Italy 1961 PhD Physics Italy 1967 Being part of WPI is an enriching professional experience. Our students are motivated and work hard. I adjust my teaching to their background. By focusing on basics, and keeping the matter simple, students respond with accrued concentration and interest. For many, learning develops into investigation, and eventually, into research via an independent study, a project, a dissertation, and resulting, possibly, with a publication. My research utilizes applied analysis, focusing on the study of partial differential equations with singularities. Several bodies and surfaces, when observed at the increasingly high resolution made possible by the new experimental devices, reveal an irregular structure, possibly of fractal nature. These irregular structures behave as singularities when they interact with the surrounding medium. We study the singular equations that describe such interactions. Both graduate and undergraduate students are involved in this research, which is a rewarding experience for both students and me.

Research Interest

Partial differential equations; Optimal control; Homogenization; Fractals; Singular boundary value problems