UMW senior Hannah Frederick boiled a summer’s worth of scientific research down to a single hypothetical question. Cool and collected, she asked a crowd yesterday: How can math be used to keep Eve from accessing online conversations between Alice and Bob?

Despite the easy-to-digest synopsis, Frederick’s project – Applications of Circulant Matrices Over Finite Fields for a Key Exchange Protocol – was packed with complex concepts, intricate formulas and implications for far more than a trio of imaginary people. “This could be amazing used in real life for things like online shopping and foreign intelligence,” said Frederick, who got hooked on cryptography last spring in a class with Professor of Mathematics Randall Helmstutler. “It’s just such an interesting topic.”

She was among 21 students chosen for their promise – and their curiosity – to take part in UMW’s Summer Science Institute (SSI). The program gives undergrads an intense 10-week research experience and a jumpstart on projects they plan to continue during the school year. Read more.

The University of Mary Washington is a premier, selective public liberal arts and sciences university in Virginia, highly respected for its commitment to academic excellence, strong undergraduate liberal arts and sciences program, and dedication to life-long learning. The university, with a total enrollment of more than 5,000, features colleges of business, education and arts and sciences, and three campuses, including a residential campus in Fredericksburg, Va., a second one in nearby Stafford and a third in Dahlgren, Va., which serves as a center of development of educational and research partnerships between the Navy, higher education institutions and the region’s employers.