After a hiatus of 8 years, the second edition of the Gheorghe S. Nadiu mathematics and computer science contest for high-schoolers took place on 11th of May, 2019. But this didn’t happen by chance. The close collaboration between professors, volunteers, and local companies was needed. We sat down with the main organizer and with a member of the jury, to talk about how it all happened.
The idea of a mathematics contest came in 2011 when Oradea hosted the National finals of the Mathematics Olympics. Together with Dorel Luca, Mircea Balaj, Szabo Tiberiu, Omer Ismet, and Cristian Andru, we decided to organize a challenge for the student’s who didn’t make it in the national team. The name of the competition honors the late Gheorghe S. Nadiu, the former Director of the Department of Mathematics at the Faculty of Science of the University of Oradea.
As the first edition was a major success, we wanted to organize another edition the next year, but we were not able to find sponsors who would offer cash prizes to the winners.
Knowing that Qubiz is involved in a handful of local educational and social projects, I approached Marcel Anghel to ask him to be sponsor and partner of the event.
As he accepted this role, the contest was organized in partnership with Qubiz, the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Oradea, the Bihor County School Inspectorate and the Bihor Branch of the Romanian Mathematical Society.
As a novelty, this year we decided to have two sections: Mathematics – an individual competition similar to the other Mathematics competitions, and Computer science – a team competition of IT projects. In both sections, the cash prizes were offered by Qubiz.
The second edition of the “Gheorghe S. Nadiu” Mathematics and Computer Science Contest took place on 11th of May, 2019 at the University of Oradea. 38 students attended the Mathematics section, most of them being mathematical Olympians. The competition subjects were of high difficulty, being compiled by Dorel Miheţ from the West University of Timişoara and Mircea Balaj from the University of Oradea. Six teams participated at the Computer Science section. Their projects impressed the jury so much, that the committee decided to award each of them. The committee was composed by IT professionals from Qubiz, and professors from the Bihor County School Inspectorate and the University of Oradea.
an excellent training opportunity for students preparing for the National Mathematics and Computer Science Olympics.
I hope that the Gheorghe S. Nadiu math and computer science contest will continue to be worthy of the name that it bears.