Dr. Uwe Leck, an associate professor in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at UW-Superior, is among the invited plenary speakers for the 42nd Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computations to be held from March 7 to 11 in Boca Raton, Fla.

Although Leck has spoken at approximately 50 conferences, including the Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computations, this is his first time as a plenary speaker at this conference. As a plenary speaker, he is one of four main speakers and will give two one-hour talks in the realm of discrete mathematics.

Discrete mathematics excludes calculus and other "continuous" mathematics, instead focusing on objects with distinct, unconnected parts. It is the mathematics of sets whose elements can be counted.

Leck will speak on extremal combinatorics and on design theory, both branches of combinatorics - the study of how certain mathematical objects are arranged or structured. "It's pure math, laying the foundation for possible applications," Leck said. It is implicit in mobile phones, navigation systems in air control, scheduling, algorithms, data security such as online banking, and DVDs among hundreds of other applications.

Although Leck has many published works and a notable speaking past, he hadn't been expecting this invitation. "It's quite an honor. It came as a surprise," he said. "For me, this is quite exceptional."