He takes Math both as profession and hobby, his classes are viewed as demanding (to say the least) by many students.
What an amazing professor!
Let us have a closer look into this man’s life as we interview Professor Thomas Honold.
In ZJUI there are two undergraduate classes students perceive as particularly difficult. Some would even jokingly say “we are learning in vain”, realizing that they haven’t made much progress towards understanding the subject after grinding on the notes for a whole night. Thomas Honold, the teacher of these classes, gained fame among students as they banter about the high difficulty of the courses. Interestingly, although students often struggle in Prof. Honold’s classes, they also find themselves lured into and in love with the subject in inexplicable ways.
To unravel the mystery behind these apparently contradicting views on Prof. Honold’s classes, we shall introduce this Math geek to you in more detail.
Rigorous Teaching vs Allowing Bringing Notes to Exams
Although a considerable part of his work is in applied mathematics, Prof. Honold rates himself as a pure mathematician. He brings the rigor of mathematics into his lectures, as his classes rely heavily on the fundamental concepts of ‘definition’, ‘theorem’, and ‘proof’. Prof. Honold believes that proving mathematical assertions forms an essential part when learning Mathematics, because only with a rigorous proof at hand we can be sure that we haven’t been fooled by our perceptions and (perhaps unjustified) assumptions about the matter. To quote an example from his Calculus III lecture: If one side of a rectangular cardbox with prescribed surface area is made infinitely large, does it follow that the volume of the cardbox becomes infinitely small? Proving a mathematical theorem is a process where one puts together all the tiny fact (“bricks”) known about the subject and combines them into an established logical structure (“building”). Prof. Honold sees mastering Mathematics as something that can be taught only in face-to-face lectures with dedicated examples and then by assigning lots of exercises where students can practise and interact with tutors and with each other, but not through reading textbooks having a thousand pages. It is only through this long and often painful process that students will develop the habit to connect the “knowledge dot” and embody the mindset of conceptual learning and eventually develop systematic thinking. Prof. Honold believes that the ultimate goal of teaching is to turn students into masters of the subject. Dispersed “knowledge dots” might be good at acing exams; in real life applications, however, this is a pointless skill. That’s why Prof. Honold insists on precise reasoning at each step, in the hope that students will cultivate a beneficial learning habit. That is also the secret why his classes make learning a magical journey of exploration. If students can successfully follow his reasoning, they will be rewarded by the beauty of mathematics of and the creativity to advance it.
For students not majoring in Mathematics, Prof. Honold has the expectation that they should at least understand the basic mathematical concepts underlying his courses and be able to apply these concepts successfully to selected exercises/problems. But they are not required to reproduce proofs in an examination. As a noteworthy aside, Prof. Honold usually allows students to bring an A4-sized handwritten cheating sheet to his exams, which are otherwise closed-book. When preparing for the exam, students can write on the sheet whatever they consider as important. Prof. Honold explains that the purpose of these notes is to organize the exam preparation process rather than having the cheating sheet available during the examination.
A life that revolves around numbers
Prof. Honold said his life is mostly occupied by work, even during holidays. When asked about what he would do to kill time, he said “think about mathematical problems or theories, because Mathematics is also my hobby”. One might think someone so in love with Mathematics certainly studied it from the earliest days. But Prof. Honold told us that he discovered his interest in Mathematics only during his last two years at high school (after an earlier focus on languages like Latin and Greek) and started off in university with a major in Computer Science and a minor in Physics/Astronomy. Then, while learning Calculus, he fell into love with it and changed his minor from Physics to Math, and two years later delved completely into the study of Mathematics.
Motivated by his mentor Prof. W. Heise, an incidence geometer and coding theorist at TU Munich, Prof. Honold started to work on Algebraic Coding Theory as a master student and later obtained his PhD in 1994 with a thesis on QR codes (at that time referring to so-called quadratic residue codes and not to the ubiquitous quick response codes we now use every day). Algebraic codes are used to detect, and if possible correct on the fly, errors when transmitting messages over noisy communication channels, such as the low-bandwidth channels used for communication with distant space satellites or the more reliable (but still many errors producing) channels involved when recording/playing audio CDs, writing/reading data CDs, or scanning a quick response code with a smartphone. By using algebraic error-correcting codes it is possible to make such transmissions virtually error-free, at the expense of modestly lowering the transmission rate, respectively, in the case of a data CD or quick response code modestly decreasing its storage capacity/number of data pixels.
Since moving to Zhejiang University twelve years ago, Prof. Honold gradually shifted his focus from theoretical aspects of Coding Theory (weight functions for codes, codes and geometry over so-called finite chain rings) to more applicable areas, for example codes for Random Linear Network Coding. Currently, when time permits, he does research on the so-called Main Problem of Subspace Coding, an area linking Network Coding to Finite Geometry and where progress relies heavily on number crunching, computer calculations and experiments - the perfect combination of Geometry, Combinatorics, and Computer Science.
Through his work at ZJUI, Prof. Honold is now also experienced in teaching Engineering Mathematics. He commented that Mathematics and Engineering Science share similar impeccable proofs and conceptions. Prof. Honold enjoys the certainty and reliability of strict mathematical reasoning. According to him, good mathematical models ignore the many irrelevant aspects of a complex problem and focus only on a few key aspects. This often allows for a relatively simple yet representative solution. But finding a good mathematical model is normally not easy and can be considered as a form of art. It also provides the foundation for engineering applications.
During the interview, the “calm” professor’s eyes shine repeatedly when talking about Mathematics, which is quite understandable since nobody could work for a long time in such a tough and for outsiders dry subject without profound passion.
What brings Professor Honold to China and ZJUI
More than 12 twelve years ago, Prof. Honold immigrated with his wife to China, taking the position of Adjunct Professor at the College of Information Science and Electronics Engineering of Zhejiang University. Initially planned only for a few years, the visit to China has turned into a long-term stay and job, sometimes paved with difficulties because of the language problem – Prof. Honold recalls that he had to rely on his master students when doing the paperwork for his courses and other administrative things in Chinese –, but now continued in the fully internationalized environment of ZJUI.
Twelve years’ life and teaching in China have deepened Prof. Honold’s understanding and personal connections towards China and ZJUI. Regarding the change of environment he recalls, somewhat nostalgically, that although the West Lake is still the West Lake, the surrounding metropolitan area of Hangzhou has delevoped dramatically over the past 12 years. Among the many new infrastructure projects completed during this time he rates the metro transportation system as particularly useful. Asked about his vision for the next few years, Prof. Honold is confident about the eventual growth of ZJUI and its partner institutes at the International Campus into a world-renowned university.
As someone who has studied in Germany and taught students from several other countries, Prof. Honold feels that in terms of mathematical skills and knowledge, students from China are on a par with those from Germany and other European countries, and often have had a better high school math education to build upon than their counterparts in the US. Also he recalls being very surprised when holding his first final examination for students of Zhejiang University that virtually all students showed up for the examination, whereas in Germany they would always discover a certain percentage of “non-active” students on that occasion.
Prof. Honold observes that although Chinese students are initially quite shy when enrolled in English-based classes, the situation improves greatly over time as students build up their vocabulary and become more comfortable with interacting in English. The efforts Chinese students put in learning English deserves high praise, Prof. Honold says. Another thing that impressed Prof. Honold is the engagement of Chinese students during work and discussion of intellectual topics.
There are students who found Prof. Honold’s classes too difficult, but many realized his good intentions and how blessed they were to have him as a teacher in retrospective. Prof. Honold stands firm by his beliefs and keeps his academic standards high despite the fundamental changes universities have undergone during the past decaces. His passion and persistence in Mathematics shapes him into a great mentor, not just in class but in other aspects of university life as well.
ZJUI is proud to witness that lives of students have been changed by Prof. Honold ’s integrity and love, and is grateful to have Prof. Honold in our team.
At the end, Prof. Honold leaves a message for all the students out there: “Don’t be discouraged by the many obstacles the Covid-19 pandemy has put in your way. Once you will be back and running in the same, or even a stronger, way than before.”
Introduction
Prof. Thomas Honold studied Mathematics and Computer Science at Technical University of Munich. After obtaining his PhD degree in Mathematics 1994, he worked there for several years as assistant professor and obtained his Habilitation (the qualification for university teaching in Germany) in 2000. Since then he has held various appointments at universities in Germany, Singapore, and since 2007 in China. Focusing in his research on Algebraic Coding Theory and related areas of Mathematics (Combinatorics, Finite Geometry), Prof. Honold is a dedicated and passionate educator who strives to nurture his students as individuals thinking holistically.
