Aditya Birla World Academy to conduct the finals of “Infinity 2023 – The Ultimate Math Championship” in January 2023
Mumbai : Aditya Birla World Academy (ABWA), India’s leading international school under the aegis of Aditya Birla Education Trust, in association with BITS Pilani and the University of Waterloo (Faculty of Mathematics), has organised Infinity 2023 – The Ultimate Math Championship, a one-of-a-kind, international initiative for students to demonstrate their mathematical prowess and refine their skills in the subject. The finals of Infinity 2023 – The Ultimate Math Championship will be conducted on 14th and 15th January 2023 at Atlas SkillTech University, Mumbai, which will witness participation by over 500 number of students from over 100 schools across India and other countries, in two categories – Senior Mathematicians (grades 9 and 10)and Advanced Mathematicians (grades 11 and 12).
The competition aims to foster students’ love for mathematics and dispel the perception of it being a boring or difficult subject. It will also challenge students in terms of their critical-thinking and analytical abilities, which have worth well beyond mathematics and academics. The finals of Infinity 2023 – The Ultimate Math Championship will comprise interesting and unique competitions, such as Pass the Baton, where each member of the team will work on parts of the solution, with the third member providing the final answer, and Bulb Your Ideas, where the teams will be required to present their solutions to the jury as a dance, song, skit or in another innovative and interesting way.
Discussing the competition, Mrs. Radhika Sinha, Principal, Aditya Birla World Academy, said, “It is well known that most students find mathematics to be intimidating. According to a 2021 study, 82 percent of students from Grades 7-10 said they fear the subject, with motivation levels dropping further in higher classes. Our goal, through Infinity 2023 – The Ultimate Math Championship, is to demonstrate that mathematics can be fun and interesting, and inculcate the joy of problem solving in students. We have devised some innovative competitions, which combine maths with other skills to make things more challenging and engaging, as part of the tournament. This event is also unique because it allows students from across the country, as well as the world, to come together on one platform, to indulge in their love for mathematics.”
Dr. Souvik Bhattacharyya, Vice Chancellor and Senior Professor, Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani, said, “Infinity took the shape of a national competition and then international competition in the subsequent years. I understand that due to increased number of participating schools, this year onward, the competition will be held at zonal levels first and the top few teams will be selected to participate in the final competition. There is immense potential in this competition to nurture the love that students have towards the subject and make them succeed in their endeavors of solving problems innovatively”.
Prof. Ian VanderBurgh, Director, Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing, University of Waterloo, Canada, said, “We need young people with the passion, talent and persistence to tackle the challenges that maths presents. The world has many problems, and we need problem solvers — while all of the problems and their solutions are not necessarily mathematical, a grasp of the problem solving skills that mathematics teaches us will set you up to be the problem solvers that we need.
Infinity, the ultimate Mathematics challenge organised by Aditya Birla World Academy is one such platform to identify such problem solvers”.
The preliminary rounds, held virtually and closely monitored by about 400 investigators, included participation from more than 449 teams, from India and countries such as UAE, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Qatar. Prominent schools from India following national and international curriculum also participated in Infinity.
Senior Mathematicians category, Arjun Narsimhan from The Shri Ram School’s Moulsari Campus in Gurgaon, Haryana, India, won the round in the North Zone, while the West Zone champions were Suhaan Mobhani from Aditya Birla World Academy and Atharva Ahire from Children’s Academy, Ashok Nagar. In the East, South, and International Zones, the preliminary round was won by Taradrita Routh from The Future Foundation School, Naman Jain from The International School Bangalore, and Arun Jeewaka Sumathiratne from The British School in Colombo, respectively.
In the Advanced Mathematicians category, Aditya Nautiyal from Sanskriti School, won in the North Zone. The West Zone winners were Aditya Krishna from Neerja Modi School, Hrishit Asar from Cathedral and John Connon School, and Arya Saranathan from Oberoi International School. Soham Dasgupta from The Future Foundation School, Shivatmica Murgai from The International School Bangalore and Ayush Anand from DPS STS School, respectively, won the rounds for the East, South, and International Zones.
The finalists will travel to Mumbai in January for the finals. During the event, a workshop on how to make maths interesting will be conducted by James Tanton, renowned mathematician and educator; PhD, Mathematics, Princeton University; and Mathematician in Residence, Mathematical Association of America. The questions for the final rounds will be set by a group of mathematics wizards, and a winner will be adjudged Mathematician of The Year.
All winners will be presented with awards during the closing ceremony following the finals of Infinity 2023 – The Ultimate Math Championship.