Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Yiming Zhao Receives NSF CAREER Grant to Study Two of Oldest Geometry Problems

Wednesday, March 6, 2024, By News Staff
Share
College of Arts and SciencesfacultyNational Science FoundationResearch and CreativeSTEM Transformation

Yiming Zhao will explore new variations of two of the oldest problems in geometry—the isoperimetric problem and the Minkowski problem—with a $434,697 CAREER grant, the National Science Foundation’s most competitive award for early-career faculty who may serve as academic role models in research and education.

Isoperimetric problems go back to the ancient Greeks.

Yiming Zhao

Yiming Zhao

“They wanted to know how to enclose as much area as possible with a thread of fixed length,” says Zhao, assistant professor of mathematics. “The answer is you make the thread into a circle. In the second type of problem, the Minkowski, you find how to reconstruct a geometric shape when you have only partial information.”

The problems are connected. “In classical cases, they can be two sides of the same coin,” says Zhao. “If you know the answer to one, you usually know the answer to the other.”

But not always. Zhao will explore isoperimetric problems or Minkowski problems in various settings when answers to one exist while answers to the other remain elusive.

“In new mathematical variations over the last few decades, sometimes we only know the answer to one,” he says. “I want to use our existing knowledge of one answer to a problem to find the answer to the other.”

Applications of solving these problems extend beyond mathematics into engineering and design.

The CAREER award calls on faculty members to integrate their research into instruction. Zhao will organize a series of events for K-12 students, high school teachers and the public about mathematics at a local science museum, high schools and community centers. These events will expose the fun and exploratory side of Zhao’s research to young students, raise society’s awareness and interest in mathematics and promote mathematics among historically underrepresented populations.

Zhao will encourage youngsters to think about mathematics differently, conducting an educational session for K-12 students at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology (MOST), a science and technology museum in downtown Syracuse.

“Math is about discovery, not just about people applying a set of formulas on an exam,” Zhao says. “I plan to get kids involved in an old problem, a toy version of the Minkowski problem I’m working with, which I could easily explain to them.”

Zhao’s project will involve graduate and undergraduate students in research and educational activities. Graduate students will help plan programs for K-12 students and the public, gaining crucial training opportunities to explain research to different audiences.

Zhao’s CAREER award brings the total to 10 A&S researchers since 2022. Read about the 2022 and 2023 CAREER grant winners.

This story was written by John H. Tibbetts

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Doctoral Candidate Wins Grant for Research on Infrastructure, Violence and Resistance in Pakistan
    Friday, August 1, 2025, By News Staff
  • Co-President of Disability Law Society Eyes Career in National Security Law in Washington
    Thursday, July 31, 2025, By Jordan Bruenger
  • Lender Center New York Event Gathers Wealth Gap Experts
    Wednesday, July 30, 2025, By Diane Stirling
  • After Tragedy, Newhouse Grad Rediscovers Her Voice Through Podcasting
    Wednesday, July 30, 2025, By Chris Velardi
  • Back-to-School Shopping: More Expensive and Less Variety of Back-to-School Items
    Tuesday, July 29, 2025, By Daryl Lovell

More In Campus & Community

Doctoral Candidate Wins Grant for Research on Infrastructure, Violence and Resistance in Pakistan

Bramsh Khan, a Ph.D. candidate in social science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has been awarded a prestigious Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant. The Wenner-Gren Foundation, established in 1941, is dedicated to advancing anthropological knowledge throughout…

Co-President of Disability Law Society Eyes Career in National Security Law in Washington

Kaitlin Sommer L’26 is always planning ahead. Throughout her life, she has continuously asked herself, “Is there a better or more efficient way to do this?”, “Am I advocating for what I need?”, “How can I figure this out by…

National Grid Summer College Scholars Program Invests in Energy Literacy

National Grid and Syracuse University’s Office of Pre-College Programs have partnered to inspire the next generation of innovators through the National Grid Summer College Scholars Program. The program will support selected Syracuse City School District high school students for the…

Bowlers Wanted for Faculty and Staff Bowling League

Do you enjoy bowling? Would you like to try bowling? Are you looking for a fun activity with your colleagues? The Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) Faculty and Staff Bowling League is seeking new…

Lender Center New York Event Gathers Wealth Gap Experts

Nearly 30 Syracuse University faculty and postdoctoral researchers and nationally known thought leaders who study the wealth gap in America explored the issue at a recent event in New York City hosted by the Lender Center for Social Justice. The…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.