Porto de Galinhas (Brazil), September 24, 2024 - At the conclusion of the 2023 edition, held in Bonito (MS), the Brazilian Society of Applied and Computational Mathematics (SBMAC) knew that the 43rd National Congress of Applied and Computational Mathematics (CNMAC), in Porto de Galinhas (PE), would face even higher expectations. After five days, the event exceeded expectations by bringing together around 700 participants, including researchers, professors, and students from across the country and abroad.
Caption: Participants from all over Brazil and abroad attended CNMAC 2024 in Porto de Galinhas
The rooms and auditoriums of the Armação Resort Convention Center were packed throughout the week, from September 16 to 20. Attendees had the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of activities, from plenary sessions to mini-courses and mini-symposia, as well as poster sessions showcasing cutting-edge work in Mathematics and Computer Science by Master's, Ph.D., and undergraduate students.
Mathematics Exchange
Paulo Neves is an undergraduate Mathematics student at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), which is one of the co-organizers of this edition of the event alongside SBMAC, the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), and the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). After starting his studies in Mechanical Engineering, he found his true passion in Mathematics and attended his first CNMAC in Porto de Galinhas.
For him, connecting with many prominent Brazilian and international figures in the field is an experience that will not only enrich his resume but also provide valuable experience for his future career as a teacher.
“Participating in this first event is incredible. You get to see how the various fields of Applied Mathematics work, how professors conduct their research, and how researchers actually apply Mathematics. I had never seen that before. I always had questions about how the fields of Applied and Pure Mathematics research worked, and this event helped clear up many of my doubts. I made friends with several people here, including from other countries. So, it's constant learning, not only in Mathema tics but also in terms of networking. It's an amazing and indescribable experience,” said Paulo, who also helped with the event organization as an usher and technical staff at CNMAC 2024.
Caption: Dozens of posters were presented at CNMAC 2024 by students from all over Brazil and Latin America
From Rio de Janeiro, Wellington Silva represented the graduate program of the School of Applied Mathematics at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV EMAp). Attending his first CNMAC, the student was impressed by the diversity of related topics and appreciated the exchange of knowledge with other research fields, which will benefit his future projects.
“It’s a very inspiring event where you can present your work to people outside your university circle, new ideas emerge, and you have the opportunity to showcase your work while observing others and the topics they cover. CNMAC is very rich in content. I had contact with people from all over Brazil, with more experienced and renowned researchers. You interact about what you are working on and receive feedback from people with more experience in the field. I would say that this diversity is something that greatly helps research,” the student commented.
Gabriela Piffer de Oliveira is an undergraduate Mathematics student at Unesp in Rio Claro and aims to shine in her academic career. For this reason, she made a point of strengthening ties with renowned professors across the country and exploring topics that will help expand her mathematical knowledge.
Caption: Gabriela Piffer de Oliveira, a student from Unesp in Rio Claro, was very pleased with the knowledge exchange at CNMAC 2024
“For it being my first time at a CNMAC, it was very productive, and I’m leaving with a lot of great ideas. It’s important to build these connections with professors because I want to pursue an academic career. It’s also crucial to get to know other amazing projects that can contribute to my own work. In the technical sessions, I saw people applying a lot in Modeling, which is a field I really enjoy. I saw people using it in games for children, bringing Mathematics in a more playful way. I found that idea incredible—bringing the interdisciplinarity of Modeling, which is part of education, together with Applied Mathematics,” Gabriela approved.
Bridging Research and the Market
Present in 2023, Venturus Institute once again stood out at CNMAC in Porto de Galinhas. On the third day of the event, the technology, development, and innovation company evaluated 30 research posters in subject areas aligned with the projects developed at the Institute. Three of them received awards and will soon have the opportunity to incorporate their ideas into Venturus' initiatives.
“Venturus’ relationship with SBMAC has grown to the point where we’ve created a center of excellence in quantum computing, bringing in more academic experts to put this research into practice, ‘package’ it, and bring it to market. This model has been very successful, and Venturus is positioning itself as an international research reference due to its partnership with the academic sector,” explained Daniel de Haro Moraes, Head of Emerging Technologies at Venturus.
“That’s why we decided to offer this award at CNMAC 2024—to encourage people working on projects applied to problems aligned with Venturus. In other words, these are solutions that could be integrated into our day-to-day operations. I evaluated 30 projects, all of very high quality, and it was tough to choose just three. But very soon, we’d like to talk to everyone and, in some way, incorporate these research lines into products we have on the market. If successful, we’ll have an even greater collaboration between researchers and Venturus,” added Moraes.
Caption: Taízia Félix Torres' work was recognized by Venturus
One of the winners was Taízia Félix Torres, with a project that explored the mathematical concept of the Fibonacci Sequence and how it can be applied to the financial market, under the supervision of professors Lucas Antônio Caritá and Marcos William da Silva Oliveira from the Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of São Paulo (IFSP).
The idea was to develop an algorithm that uses a technique derived from this sequence to help predict the best times to buy or sell stocks in the market. Attending her first CNMAC, Taízia appreciated both the award and the event as a whole.
“It was an incredible feeling. CNMAC gathered many high-quality projects, and being recognized by Venturus among so many research efforts was a great honor. I was extremely happy, especially because this project was a joint effort with my advisors, and seeing this recognition is very gratifying,” she said.
As Moraes hinted, Taízia now has the opportunity to continue her project within the institute, which excites her even more. “I received a partnership proposal from Venturus, which left me extremely excited about the potential of this collaboration. I plan to discuss the proposal with my advisors and carefully assess the conditions to ensure that the project is expanded in the best way possible. I’m very motivated by this opportunity and eager to explore how this partnership can turn our work into a practical application in the financial market,” she said.
In 2024, the event had the honor to receive the ICIAM Conference Support for Applied and Industrial Mathematics in Developing Countries. With this support, the organizers launched two calls for ICIAM Fellowships aimed at Brazilian students and Latin American researchers, respectively. The fellowships provided some financial support to cover part of the expenses for attending the conference. There were 129 applications, from which 21 were selected by the organizing committee based on the CVs, an application letter, and diversity criteria. Students from most regions of Brazil and researchers from Paraguay and Peru benefited from the support.
Anja Buggenthin, a Civil Engineering undergraduate student at Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic, was one of the recipients of the grant. She highlighted the organization of the CNMAC: “This event is very special for mathematicians. It is related to our research topics. In my case, the field of Civil Engineering. And I know that it is also a good opportunity to showcase results, meet more people and make new connections. Being part of this conference makes me want to investigate more, learn more about this, see all this research, learn more about the world, because I want to work in the field.”
High-Level and Interdisciplinary Work
Helenice Florentino, a professor at the Institute of Biosciences (IB) at Unesp in Botucatu, was one of the key speakers in the plenary sessions at CNMAC 2024. She presented projects related to Biosystems, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Agriculture, and Waste Management, revealing results of new computational techniques linked to the control of COVID-19 and dengue.
Caption: Professor Helenice Florentino from Unesp was one of the plenary speakers during CNMAC
For Helenice, the CNMAC in Porto de Galinhas met all requirements and allowed hundreds of students to explore many topics within Applied and Computational Mathematics.
“The CNMAC was a success, as the lectures and technical presentations were of high quality. The number of participants was quite significant, providing everyone the opportunity to showcase their research results. New researchers had the chance to learn new techniques to expand their collaboration network, gain experience, and acquire information from more experienced researchers,” observed Helenice, who was part of the SBMAC Council from 2011 to 2017.
The Differentiators of CNMAC 2024
As the Local Coordinator of CNMAC 2024, Professor Pablo Martín Rodríguez emphasized the significance of hosting the event for the first time in Pernambuco. The number of submitted works for the Porto de Galinhas edition surpassed that of the 2023 edition, and the number of representatives from the Northeast region was also significant.
“In this edition, we were very pleased because it far exceeded our expectations. We had international speakers for the plenaries. There were over 700 registered for the event, with 200 more submissions than last year, and we saw much greater representation from the Northeast region, which was our goal. We had 20% of participants from the Northeast, and I also noticed groups from the interior, students coming from rural areas to present their work,” said the professor from UFPE.
The President of SBMAC, Carlos Hoppen, highlighted the presence of several international researchers at CNMAC in Porto de Galinhas, which enriched the event with knowledge and cultural diversity.
“We managed to hold the event in a more attractive location from a tourism perspective, which attracted a large number of participants. We had many foreigners attending; our semi-plenary sessions were largely made up of international participants, and there were mini-symposia with foreign guests, which certainly enriches the event for the Brazilian community. It allows students to interact with more people to expand their opportunities in the research field. Additionally, it also creates a need or opportunity to use a foreign language, which is crucial in Science,” stated the professor from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).
Caption: Carlos Hoppen, President of SBMAC, emphasized the number of foreign researchers at the 2024 event
In Rodríguez's view, one of the activities in the event's program that has gained more participation is CNMACquinho, which consists of workshops and playful activities designed for children to stimulate curiosity and interest in Science. These activities were highlighted in the program from Monday to Friday, in both morning and afternoon sessions, and brought together nearly 30 little ones.
For Hoppen, the 2024 edition was important for integrating CNMACquinho into the annual program of the event.
“We are increasingly gaining experience regarding this. The Local Committee organized several activities and encouraged parents to include CNMACquinho in their calendars, as it provides the advantage of having a space where they can leave their children for a while. It is, particularly, a very rich space with fun and constructive games. It’s a part of the event that has been a great success and has been growing each year,” he added.
Caption: CNMACquinho brought joy to the children, like Arthur Richardson, with playful activities related to Mathematics
Arthur Richardson, an 11-year-old from Imperatriz (MA), has loved Mathematics since childhood, always receiving support from his parents at home. At CNMACquinho, he was particularly drawn to the activities related to games.
“I love Mathematics. This is my first time participating in CNMACquinho, and I enjoyed it a lot. Not only do the adults learn, but the children also take the opportunity to learn many things. There were various games that I liked; it's really cool to learn Mathematics this way,” said Arthur, who is in the 5th grade of elementary school.
SBMAC has already defined the locations for the 2025 and 2026 editions. The organization has confirmed that the XLIV CNMAC will be held at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV EMAp) in Rio de Janeiro. In 2026, the event will celebrate its 45th edition at UNESP in Presidente Prudente.