The 59th International Mathematical Olympiad will be organized in CLUJ-NAPOCA, ROMANIA, between the 3rd and 14th July 2018, in order to gather the best high school students in the science of Mathematics. More than 600 secondary school students from over 100 countries will attend the event organized in the Polyvalent Hall from Cluj-Napoca.
The Event in Brief
Romania and Cluj-Napoca have a very good reputation in mathematics and the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is the largest, oldest and most prestigious scientific Olympiad for high school students. IMOțs 1st edition was held in Romania with seven countries participating: Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and USSR. Afterwards, the event was organized each year (except 1980) in a different country.
Today, over 100 countries from 5 continents attend the prestigious event. Each country can send a team of up to six secondary students or individuals who have not entered University or the equivalent, as of the date of celebration of the Olympiad, plus one team leader, one deputy leader, and observers if desired. During the competition, contestants have to solve, individually, two contest papers on two consecutive days, with three problems each day. Each problem is worth seven points.
The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2018 is organized with the support of the following organizations and entities: the Romanian Government, the Ministry of National Education, Cluj County School Inspectorate, the Romanian Mathematical Society, the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy “Simion Stoilow”, the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, the University of Bucharest, the University Politehnica from Bucharest, Cluj Local Council, Cluj City Hall, “Babes-Bolyai” University from Cluj-Napoca and the Technical University from Cluj-Napoca.
Math is a Fundamental Pillar for Computer Science and Software Development
Since computer science has derived from mathematics departments and it relies on logic, at SOFTECH Cluj we know that math skills are necessary for top programming. Due to the recent app development technologies it is true that it was heavily promoted the concept of not needing math skills to code. However, there are real situations when math skills lead you further!
For being able to compare algorithms and data structure’s performance, you will certainly need to understand and use number theory. When building mobile apps with custom animations modeled on springs, some geometry essentials are mandatory. Programmers for user interface usually need to understand and handle graphing. In testing, when you try to make randomized sequences reproducible, it is less likely that you can handle this task without basic probability understanding. Next, getting the minimum and maximum value of a function will help you make programs run faster or perform better, that is to optimize them. Linear algebra are necessary anytime you work with recommendation engines.
Math Skills Will Open the Doors for Creative Programming
Programming highs-scale systems and predictive modelling is not simple coding; it is quite a complex task. That is why we consider that to be at the edge of programming, fundamental mathematics skills are a must for the future software engineers generation in Cluj-Napoca and worldwide.
In addition to all the above, we at SOFTECH Cluj draw attention on the fact that transitory technologies are not enough to help you or understand and handle the new computer engineering science concepts. Chances are that without basic mathematic skills this completely new computer science universe will turn into an inaccessible field. Why not do the right steps now?
This being said, we encourage the young generation to learn both math and programming and to be ready for a new journey in the computer science arena from Cluj-Napoca.
