Bruce Bukiet, PhD, associate dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts and associate professor in the department of mathematical sciences, one of NJIT’s most popular professors, focuses his research efforts on the mathematical modeling of physical phenomena. That includes studying detonation waves, healing of wounds, and dynamics of human balance. He has also applied mathematical modeling to sports and gambling, in particular for understanding baseball and cricket.

Bukiet has appeared on CNN Headline News, the Jerusalem Post and Fox Radio’s Roger Hedgecock Show, KOGO, San Diego and more. Bukiet, an avid Mets fan, uses his mathematical model to determine whether it is worthwhile to wager on games during the  season. His picks are posted on www.egrandslam.com. 

His model computes the probability of a team winning a game against another team with given hitters, bench, starting pitcher, relievers and home field advantage. It is based on his 1997 article for Operations Research featuring his algorithm.

In 2010, Bukiet, with help from Kevin Fritz, published an enhanced model in the International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sports. A paper by Bukiet and his students concerning modeling of no hitters and perfect games will appear in the Baseball Research Journal. 

Bukiet, a dedicated learning professional, also trains math and science teachers for high-need schools. He is currently working on a project to bring computational research projects into high schools in Newark. The National Science Foundation supports these efforts. 

In 2008, Bukiet received the Mathematical Association of American-NJ Section Distinguished Teaching Award; in 2006 he received the NJIT Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Work.

Bukiet received his PhD in mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. 

Last update: March 31, 2011