School of Computing and Mathematics
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- Dr David Bedford
My first degree was in Mathematics and Economics from Surrey University. I then gained an MA in Economics from Essex University before coming to my senses and studying for a PhD in Mathematics back at Surrey. My research centred on using algebraic structures, such as groups, loops and neofields, to construct Latin squares with properties useful in the construction of experimental designs, error-correcting codes and cryptography (but don't tell anyone). Two years into my PhD I took up a lectureship in Statistics and Operational Research at Essex University but my real interest was always in pure mathematics and I came to Keele, following the retirement of Hans Liebeck, as a lecturer in Pure Mathematics in 1992. Since then I have continued my research and am interested in almost any area of mathematics that does not involve differential equations.
Much of my recent work has been in the area of Mathematics Education. I am an Associate of the Further Maths Support Programme and manage the Keele Further Maths Centre; this involves teaching A-Level Further Mathematics to Sixth Form students from local schools and colleges. I am an examiner and coursework moderator for OCR.
I am involved in a variety of outreach activities designed to enrich student learning and hopefully inspire students to study mathematics further. These range from Royal Institution masterclasses for Year 8 pupils all the way up to talks for A-Level students.
Most of all I am interested in ideas in mathematics; if you come across anything which you think I may find interesting then please share it with me.
My main area of research is in the application of algebraic structures, such as groups, quasigroups and neofields, to the construction of combinatorial designs in general and Latin squares in particular. Latin squares play a central role in many areas of combinatorics, and several interesting accounts exist on the web. Kathy Heinrich from Simon Fraser University has written an article on Partying with a Latin Square, a more extensive introduction to the subject may be found at cut-the-knot.
Selected Publications
Full Publications List show
Journal Articles
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2000. Products of uniquely completable partial latin squares. UTILITAS MATHEMATICA, vol. 58, 195-201. link>
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2000. New and old values for maximal MOLS(n). ARS COMBINATORIA, vol. 54, 255-258. link>
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1999. Enumeration of transversals in the Cayley tables of the non-cyclic groups of order 8. DISCRETE MATHEMATICS, vol. 197(1-3), 77-81. link>
Other
MAT-10039: Calculus I
MAT-30001: Graph Theory
MAT-30013: Group Theory

