Multi-award winner from Espírito Santo has guided tour of IMPA Tech
Alice Palaoro dreams of studying for a degree and was welcomed by the director general
06/06/2024
Alice Barros Palaoro, 16, from Guarapari (ES), was lucky enough to be given a “luxury tour” of IMPA Tech in Maravalley Port, under the guidance of IMPA’s director-general, Marcelo Viana, last week. Alice is a multimedalist in knowledge Olympiads, such as OBMEP (Brazilian Public School Math Olympiad), OBM (Brazilian Math Olympiad) and Canguru, and intends to study for a degree in Mathematics of Technology and Innovation at IMPA Tech.
On a visit to Rio, she asked her parents to visit IMPA Tech. Initially “barred” at the gate, because the building is not yet open to visitors, she ran into Marcelo Viana, who started talking to the family and offered to show them around. Alice will soon be going to the United States to take part in Sigma Camp Next, a math and science summer camp in Connecticut. The program offers a unique opportunity to delve deeper into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) with professors from MIT, Yale, Stony Brook University, Princeton, Stanford, among other universities. She came to Rio to apply for a travel visa at the US Consulate.
Excited and thrilled at the opportunity to visit IMPA Tech alongside Marcelo, she could hardly contain herself when she saw the national and international books in the library. “Wow, this one I’ve already studied online, it’s a reference!”
As a souvenir of his visit, he was also able to choose a book to take home. “I was lucky enough to visit IMPA Tech, this wonderful institution where I would like to study in the future. Professor Marcelo Viana showed me the laboratories and the library. The structure here is wonderful, I was surprised, it’s certainly a dream,” said the capixaba. “She can’t believe it,” said her mother Jully Barros, an engineer and banker, alongside her husband, military officer Rodrigo Palaoro, and their youngest daughter, Cecília, 10.
The multimedalist is in her second year of high school at the Guarapari campus of the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo (IFES), and participates in the OBMEPJr. Scientific Initiation Program ( PIC ) thanks to her two bronze medals from the Olympiad, in 2021 and 2022. The program’s classes are held on the IFES campus in Vitória (ES), where he takes part in extra activities and expands his scientific knowledge.
Alongside the traditional high school curriculum, Alice also participates remotely in the classes of the New Supplementary Education (NES), a supplementary program focused on mathematics and data science, offered by Professor Krerley, from the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL).
Despite Alice’s lucky break, IMPA Tech is not yet open to visitors. The site is restricted to students, teachers and staff.
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