Involving High Performing STEM Students in International Olympiads and Competitions

Brief Description

There are several international and national competitions in STEM subjects for undergraduate students. The aim of the project is to promote these competitions and recruit AUT's high performing  STEM students to participate in them. The annual NASA International Space Apps Challenge is on such competitions. It is an international mass collaboration focused on space exploration that takes place over 48-hours in cities around the world. The event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing relevant open-source solutions to address global needs applicable to both life on earth and life in space. The team of four computer science students from AUT were the winners in New Zealand in 2013. In 2014, our team was a runner-up. We plan to continue organizing this event in New Zealand (hosted by AUT). In addition, we plan to involve our students in two mathematical modelling contests – one national run by the University of Auckland and the other international run by the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP), USA.

Team members

1. Prof. Sergei Gulyaev (project leader)
2. A/Prof. Sergiy Klymchuk
3. Jordan Alexander
4. Kerri Spooner

Funding

NASA Apps Challenge is supported by the Embassy of the USA in New Zealand.

Contact

Project leader – Professor Sergei Gulyaev sergei.gulyaev@aut.ac.nz