(-- The Beacon)
By Amanda Blas Staff Writer blas13@up.edu
Meet Dr. Aziz Inan: A native of Turkey, who moved to the United States at 22, graduated from Stanford and became an electrical engineer. While this may be his 22nd year teaching at UP, there's more to this engineering professor than just circuits and electromagnetic fields.
Inan used to play soccer. He enjoys jogging, walking and long- distance swimming. He loves spending time at the beach because the water makes him happy.
He's fond of the puppets on Sesame Street, especially The Count because he's all about numbers.
So is Inan.
"In case you haven't heard already, my hobby is numbers," Inan said.
His fascination began about five years ago.
"It started with my interest in math puzzles," Inan said. "I used to go to Powell's Bookstore and buy old math puzzle books for me to solve. After a while, I started constructing math puzzles myself."
Since his first number game, Inan's work with numbers has led him to make several findings involving calendar dates.
One such discovery is "perfect square dates" – dates that when combined into a single number make up a perfect square. It's also a number that is made when you multiply a number by itself. For example, April Fool's Day in 2009 – "04122009" – is the square number of 2003.
"The timing of the discovery was perfect," Inan said. "I made it at the beginning of a century that contained the highest number of perfect square dates."
Inan also discovered palindrome dates, which are dates that can be read the same way forwards as backwards.
Inan recently celebrated one of 12 eight-digit palindrome dates that will occur this century: Nov. 02, 2011, which makes the palindrome date 11022011.
"I asked my freshman class to make palindrome-shaped triangular paper hats with the number 11022011 written symmetrically on them," Inan said.
Many students recognize Inan for his interest in palindromes.
"Even those who aren't engineering majors know him for it," said senior electrical engineering major Kelsey Lajoie.
Inan's palindrome discoveries have appeared in several newspapers such as The New York Times, USA Today and The Los Angeles Times.
Inan's passion for numbers inspired him to find connections between numbers and his own life, from his name to his birth country to his office room number.
"He jokes around that his room number is the highest power out of all the engineering offices in Shiley because his room number backwards is 512, or 2 to the ninth power," junior civil engineering major Vincent Mallada said. "It's amazing how he's able to interpret numbers."
So why has Inan put so much effort and interest into numbers?
"I believe numbers have their own world," Inan said. "We use them but we don't appreciate them."
Inan knows that his passion for his numbers isn't exactly normal.
"I know you're probably thinking, ‘This guy is crazy going on and on about numbers,'" Inan said.
However, his students don't seem to mind at all.
"Dr. Inan is a man who embraces the joys of exhaustive exploration of numerical patterns in everyday things, be it discovering palindrome dates or manipulating seemingly arbitrary sums based on the letters in a person's name," senior electrical engineering major Adrian Gorman said in an email. "Dr. Inan is an intensely passionate man who carries a spirit of childlike wonder that is the envy of all he meets."
In fact, Inan's students find his interest in numbers a nice twist to engineering.
"He says he always brings in palindromes and number puzzles to keep us from falling asleep," Lajoie said. "It really works."
But don't be fooled. Numbers aren't the only thing that he counts as a hobby.
"I also enjoy buying old, used books," Inan said. "I can go to Powell's Bookstore and literally spend hours there without getting bored."
Powell's Bookstore even featured him in their "Customers in the Stacks" profile.
One day, Inan hopes to combine his love of books and numbers to stress the importance of numbers.
"I dream of writing a children's storybook where numbers get upset at people for being unappreciated," Inan said.
