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Fergus Quinn
Fergus has spent the latter part of his career providing analysis and modelling services to a number of companies in a variety of industry sectors. He knew of the increasing use of sophisticated mathematical tools like the Black-Scholes Theory being used for modelling purposes in the financial services sector and wanted to be able to use them himself. He has spent the past few years taking two postgraduate degrees. The first was an MSc in Pure & Applied Mathematics at the Open University and the second was an MSc in Mathematical Finance at the University of York.
He is working on a dissertation on valuation techniques for weather derivatives. The focus of the dissertation is on derivative contracts which are not quite as straightforward to value as other more standard derivatives and these derivative contracts are of increasing interest. However, that said, there is a weather derivative version of the famous Black-Scholes equation. His supervisor for the dissertation is Prof. Marek Capinski who has published a number of books on Mathematical Finance and has just co-authored a set of ten textbooks on the subject for Cambridge University Press. He expects to complete the dissertation in June 2012.
His other mathematical interest is in number theory with the Goldbach Conjecture being of particular interest to me. This simply understood problem, namely proving that every even number greater than 2 can be written as the sum of 2 prime numbers, has confounded the finest mathematical minds since at least 1742 when Christian Goldbach wrote to the great Leonhard Euler about it. Even he, Analysis Incarnate, could not prove it. This is often the way with problems in number theory - so simple to state but so very difficult to prove.
Gardening and fishing provide lighter relief from maths. At Innisfree, he and his family are steadily working to create a productive and beautiful garden on their acre of land. There are enough lakes and rivers within a short radius of home to keep him and his son, James, very busy. They love nothing more than being seated by one of the local lakes fishing for tench and bream on a summer's evening.
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Sarah Quinn (née Hockley)
Sarah hails from the lovely village of Cobham in Surrey. She studied Sociology at Kingston University and was Director of a Market Research firm in London before staying at home to raise her family and animals. She does a great deal of voluntary work for various charities.
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