AI Captain! Exploring the Highlights of the 35th Mathematical Sciences Week

The celebration of the 35th Mathematical Sciences Week concluded with a grand success, showcasing the sheer brilliance and unyielding enthusiasm of students, educators, and math enthusiasts.

Hosted by the University of the Philippines Los Baños Mathematical Sciences Society with the theme, “AI CAPTAIN! Exploring the Vast Expanse of Artificial Intelligence”, the week-long celebration became a testament to the incredible potential of artificial intelligence and the future minds that may contribute to the further development of such. The applications of artificial intelligence were further showcased as the organization’s ideals to cultivate deeper appreciation and wide application of the mathematical sciences were reaffirmed in the events prepared by the organization. Let’s take a closer look at the highlights of each event that makes the 35th Mathematical Sciences Week simply unforgettable.

Puzzle of the Week

Every week showcases a trivial and complex puzzle that is meant to be solved by anyone who comes across the problem. For each week, there are three chosen winners.

35th National Mathematical Challenge

The 35th National Mathematical Challenge (MATHEMATCH) makes a huge comeback during this year’s celebration—it has finally returned to face-to-face. As the cornerstone of the 35th Mathematical Sciences Week, students from over 57 schools participating nationwide gathered around at the preliminary round to test their skills and prowess in mathematics. The selected top 15 schools then competed in the final round where complex mathematical questions were tested orally to see who is this year’s cream of the crop.

Philippine Science High School - Main Campus (Team B) with John David F. Magnaye, Jence Enrico P. Dela Fuente, and Michael Gerard R. Tongson emerged as the undeniable champions of this year’s MATHEMATCH. Philippine Science High School - Main Campus (Team A) secured the second spot with the members Benjamin L. Jacob, Armea Helena Sien G. Dimayacyac, and Zion Skye Earl Carmelo C. Uy. Last but not least, Philippine Science High School - CALABARZON Region Campus (Team A) rounded out the top three of this year’s MATHEMATCH with the members Reuben Joseph R. Felix, Maria Bernadette M. Landicho, and Vinz PJ Z. Rayos.

Teachers’ Seminar

As the preliminary round for the National Mathematical Challenge was ongoing, a teacher’s seminar for the coaches was held simultaneously to highlight the importance of artificial intelligence in education. In addition to this, ethics in the usage of artificial intelligence were also discussed with the teachers.

Poster Making Competition

An artistic twist to the 35th Mathematical Sciences Week is the Poster Making Competition to show appreciation and applications of mathematical science in the form of the arts. This year’s theme for the poster-making competition is the overall theme of the 35th Mathematical Sciences Week: AI CAPTAIN! Exploring the Vast Expanse of Artificial Intelligence. Students captivated their knowledge about the use of mathematics in the field of artificial intelligence as other aspects of artificial intelligence have never been shown before.

Grabbing the attention of professionals in the arts, Josh Francois M. Omiping from Tanza National Comprehensive High School emerged as the winner of the poster-making competition. They were followed by Shean Federick S. Alabat from the Sisters of Mary School - Adlas, Inc. as the honorable second placer and Christine Joy D. Busto from Divine Word College of Calapan as the third placer.

47th Annual Search of the University of the Philippines Los Baños Math Wizard

After a long hiatus, the Annual Search of the UPLB Math Wizard makes a huge comeback which is the second cornerstone event of the 35th Mathematical Sciences Week. With 83 participating students from various degree programs, these participants showcased their mathematical reasoning to explore complex mathematical questions given in the preliminary round. The top 15 of these 83 were chosen to participate in the final round wherein a timed oral quiz with varying rounds of difficulty challenged these mathematical prodigies.

Winning as 2nd runner-up, we have Jay Lord M. Ugaddan from BS Mathematics. The 1st runner-up is Lance Chrysler V. de Jesus from BS Computer Science. Last but not least, UPLB’s 47th Math Wizard is Charles Dwight M. Pelaez from BS Mathematics.

The 35th Mathematical Sciences Week celebrates the beauty and relevance of mathematics as we continue to explore the vast expanse of artificial intelligence. The exceptional talents of students nationwide and educators who aided in the development of these students were the greatest highlights of this week-long event. As we look back on the week-long celebration, the mathematical sciences are deeply appreciated by the masses as we continue to spread the applications for the use of the Filipino people.

The UPLB Mathematical Sciences Society highlights the importance of the impact that the mathematical sciences have on Filipino society. May it be artificial intelligence or another field, the organization believes that the enthusiasm for mathematical sciences should continue to grow. Until the celebration of the next mathematical sciences week, may the joys of the mathematical sciences inspire people to continue exploring the vast expanse of it and circulate the applications of the field for the use of the development of the Filipino nation.