Former Dubbo student targets maths doctorate

Mitch Hawkins graduated from Dubbo College in 2007 with “a real passion” for mathematics.

“The college played an important role in developing my interest in mathematics and I think it really started at Delroy when I did an accelerated course with (my teacher) Mrs Woodley in year 9,” Mr Hawkins said.

“At Senior Campus I wanted to continue with higher level maths, so I accelerated again in years 10 and 11. 

“In Year 12 I had a great time studying four-unit maths with [teacher] Mr Tarlinton, despite the early morning starts. 

“It was the subject I really thrived on and from there I decided to study it at tertiary level.”

The 23-year-old completed his Bachelor of Mathematics (Advanced) at the University of Wollongong in 2010 and went on to achieve First Class Honours in 2011.

“I study a field of mathematics called operator algebras, which was developed to better understand quantum mechanics and has been a fruitful area of research for both theoretical physics and pure mathematics during the past 70 or 80 years,” Mr Hawkins said. 

“Specifically, I investigate algebraic structures called Algebras, assigned to objects called topological graphs. 

“This generalises an area that has been studied extensively in recent years. 

While this approach is not as tidy as others, it is greater in scope and provides a far more interesting class of examples.”

When Mr Hawkins completes his PhD he hopes to become an academic.

Peter Tarlinton, who continues to teach top level maths at Dubbo College Senior Campus, said Mr Hawkins was part of an exceptional class.

“I had the pleasure of teaching Mitch in extension maths in 2007,” he said. 

“Six out of the eight students in the extension two class scored a final mark of 80 or higher and Mitch was in the top three in every assessment task he was given. 

“He was always enthusiastic and he showed significant improvement throughout the year, which has clearly continued during his tertiary education.”