Applied mathematics uses mathematics to solve problems that come from the sciences, engineering, computer science, business, and industry. While the motivation is often to solve particular problems, the theory developed can be of wide-ranging interest. Much classical applied mathematics involves developing mathematical models of a problem and solving them, often in the context of solving differential equations or optimizing some process. This dates back to the development of calculus, and continues to be important today. Here at JMU, our entire applied mathematics group uses differential equations in some way to solve problems in a wide range of disciplines. Another important strand of applied mathematics is computational mathematics, the study of algorithms and techniques to approximate the solutions to problems that can't be solved exactly. Many JMU faculty use computational techniques to aid them in their research.