‘Applied Mathematics Day’ details IMPA laboratory projects

The event “Applied Mathematics Day“ brought together visitors, including young people, families, undergraduates and postgraduates, on Tuesday (27) at IMPA’s headquarters in Jardim Botânico. The event presented the work carried out by the institute’s main laboratories in the area of applied mathematics, with lectures by researchers from Pi Center (IMPA Projects and Innovation Center), from Visgraf (IMPA’s Computer Graphics Laboratory) and the Fluid (Fluid Dynamics Laboratory).

During the morning, the visitors learned about the possibilities for teaching and research in the area and the institutional presentations of the laboratories. Researcher Roberto Imbuzeiro spoke about postgraduate possibilities and areas of activity in the job market and the academic world. “IMPA is a different environment. Here we produce science at the highest level,” he said. The institute currently has 46 researchers, three project scientists and 130 full-time postgraduate students. It also welcomes young people from all over Brazil for the undergraduate course in Mathematics of Technology and Innovation at the IMPA. IMPA Techin the port area of Rio de Janeiro.

The program included presentations by researchers Luiz Velho, Pavel Petrov and project scientist Lucas Nissenbaum. The speakers talked about Visgraf, Fluid and Centro Pi, respectively.

Velho defended the integration of the job market with research, especially in a scenario of rapid technological evolution. “Anyone who does applied mathematics doesn’t necessarily have to stay in academia. It’s possible to go out into society and do applied work in companies, or even artistic work. And those who do mathematics at IMPA are able to combine these two things: staying in academic life and being in society and companies,” he said.

The visitors also learned about the Institute’s projects carried out in partnership with the productive sector. “The Pi Center integrates with industries, NGOs and the government, always developing innovative solutions and research based on real problems. We work with AI, optimization, statistics, computer graphics, fluid dynamics and many other ideas to build solutions for our partners,” said Nissenbaum.

Throughout the afternoon, doctoral students from IMPA shared behind-the-scenes information on the development of some projects, such as the Rio de Janeiro Rainfall Project. Developed in partnership with the city government, the project combines real-time meteorological data and advanced machine learning algorithms capable of anticipating extreme weather events up to three hours in advance. The initiative was detailed by Leonardo Voltarelli.

The Biomes Project, carried out in partnership with Imazon (Institute of Man and the Environment), was presented by Rodrigo Schuller. Based on the integration of satellite images, machine learning and computer vision, the method makes it possible to automatically detect changes in the Amazon’s forest cover.

The event marked 17-year-old Kaio Kristian’s first visit to IMPA. A resident of Nova Iguaçu and a former student at CIEP 324 Mahatma Gandhi, the young man has been tutoring basic mathematics for three years. “I’ve always had an easy time with the subject, so I wanted to adapt what I knew to help teach math. Today, I do a lot of research into the area and being here today is an incredible opportunity, I’m opening my mind to new possibilities,” he said.

José Antônio Teixeira, a 53-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, is a civil engineer with a degree in Physics and Mathematics. Together with his wife and daughter, he attended the event as a family and praised the Institute’s work. “Last year we went to IMPA Portas Abertas and we really enjoyed it. I’m fascinated by IMPA’s work and I’ll be here whenever I can. These events are important for disseminating and demystifying mathematics, making it easier not only to learn the subject, but also other areas. I understand the difficulty with mathematics, but it shouldn’t be a headache,” he said.

IMPA researcher Augusto Gerolin, post-doctoral student Erika Ortiz and doctoral student Márcio Marques also gave presentations on topics such as optimal mass transport, spontaneous stochasticity and acoustic propagation modeling. Check out full broadcast of the eventavailable on IMPA’s YouTube channel.