I took Mathematical Modelling Basics course during the last couple of months. It was produced by Delft University of Technology, offered for free on edX. Thanks TUDelft and edX!

It is a great course introducing mathematical modeling. I like the fact in this short course, 3 important areas are covered with good practices: mathematics, computer programming, and technical writing.

• The math involved is modeling with system of ordinary differential equations. Both analytical and numeric solutions to said model are introduced and practiced with good exercises;
• The programming part is using Python to solve the system of ordinary differential equations numerically, with NumPy, using Euler’s method. Plotting is also introduced and practiced with Matplotlib;
• Finally the course asks students to write a technical report using LaTex.

I also like the fact that the course encourages students to form a team and work together. I was very fortunate to be able to work with Zeus Garyulo, an Argentine currently working in Finland. Zeus is a wonderful teammate, very smart and has a much better grasp of math involved than I have. He broke down problems into actionable items quickly and provided the majority of the modeling, analysis, and validation work. Thanks Zeus!

The problem we chose to tackle is the spread of fake news. Without further ado, below is our report.
[pdf-embedder url=”http://www.haidongji.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FakeNewsMathModel_Z.pdf”]