On the morning of December 4^th, the Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematics, in collaboration with the The VNUHCM-University of Sciences and the Department of Education and Training, HCM successfully organised Math Open Day with the theme “Mathematics Unites” attracted more than 2000 students.

The event is a series of open activities about Math and STEM to create opportunities for a wide range of students, parents, mathematicians, and educators to experience and interact with each other towards the sustainable development of Viet Nam mathematics. The event was first held in Hanoi in 2015 and expanded to many provinces nationwide. This year’s event is hosted by the Faculty of Mathematics – Informatics of the University; the Faculty is also one of the three faculties of Mathematics that prioritise the development of the Viet Nam Mathematics program from 2021-2030. In addition, the program also receives the companionship of higher education institutions that provide math education, high schools, and centres and organisations for math and STEM training.

In his speech, Professor Ngô Bảo Châu, Director of Science at the Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematics, shared the development stages of the Open Mathematics Festival over the years.

 

 

“We hope that teachers and students will have a more vivid and different perspective in the process of teaching and learning math” – Professor Châu emphasized his expectation.

Representative of the HCM Department of Education and Training, Mr Nguyễn Bảo Quốc – Deputy Director of the Department, also emphasized that today’s event will promote more math education programs in the city. He also expressed his hope that high schools will accompany the Department to help students have more passion for mathematics to apply to solving practical problems.

 

 

As the host, Assoc.Prof.Dr Trần Minh Triết – Vice-Rector of the University, happily shared: “With the spirit of the Festival of Mathematics United, this is an opportunity for all parents, students, teachers, schools, institutes, organizations, enterprises and generations to be connected. Today, I have the opportunity to meet my teachers and their younger generation, hoping this event will contribute to further promoting the passion for mathematics of the young generation.”

Besides the introduction section, the program also has a thematic lecture by Mr Phí Anh Tuấn – Director of P.A.T Consulting – USAID – IPSC expert. In his talk, Mr Phí Anh Tuấn described the actual picture enterprises are facing to solve problems related to supply chains, emphasizing that the market is still in dire need of quality human resources from math students to come up with more optimization solutions.

 

 

“The most important thing about learning math is to have a systematic mindset”, Mr Phí Anh Tuấn shared.

The talk show session “Why does the logistics industry need math?” with the presentation of 04 guests, including Professor Ngô Bảo Châu, Mr Phí Anh Tuấn, Mr Nguyễn Anh Nguyên (Deputy General Director of AA Corporation) and Dr Trần Nam Dũng (Vice Principal of High School for the Gifted, VNU-HCM) had lively discussions on issues surrounding the nature of math learning, human resource issues in the field of logistics and supply chains.

Many people work in optimisation but need a deep connection to real problems. What needs to be done is connecting with business practices to improve current math training programs – Professor Châu shared his concerns.

 

 

“In fact, there are many math lessons that can contribute to real-life problems such as linear programming, calculus, linear algebra, discrete math, etc. essential for data analysis and solving problems for later optimization”, Dr Trần Nam Dũng explains the concerns surrounding the applicability of mathematics in current training programs.

Mr Nguyễn Anh Nguyên shared his experiences about the value of high-quality human resources in logistics: “In the general picture of the business, the parts related to supply chain planning have a high income. For example, in the supermarket industry, there is a very important indicator for the survival of supermarkets, which is the profit from internal logistics operations, and the people involved in the operation of that stage have a higher income, up to a million dollars a year.”

At the end of the program, the guests advise students to actively study well, not rush, but deepen their professional knowledge. In addition, they should learn and practice at organizations and businesses while still in the University. The ability to learn at the University is the principle, which is the basic foundation for launching future success.

Pictures were taken at the festival: