Soaring to new heights in Int’l Math Olympiad

On 13 July 2018, Ahmed Jawad Chowdhury got on stage of the 59th International Math Olympiad (IMO) in Romania’s capital Bucharest to receive his first ever gold medal for the country. This remains Bangladesh’s biggest achievement in an international competition where over 100 countries took part.

Almost 10 years before that, Prothom Alo started a Math Olympiad named ‘Neurone Onuronon’ (Resonance in Neuron) in its discontinued weekly supplement ‘Bigyan Projonmo’ (Generation of Science). In 2003, under Prothom Alo’s sponsorship, the inaugural National Math Olympiad took place at the Shahjalal Science and Technology University in Sylhet. In 2004, Dutch-Bangla Bank joined as the sponsor of this celebration of math. Students from Bangladesh have been taking part in the IMO since 2005. Under Dutch-Bangla Bank’s sponsorship and Prothom Alo’s management, Bangladesh Math Olympiad Committee successfully staged the nationwide programme.

In 2011, at just 11 years of age, Ahmed Jawad became the “Champion of the Champions” in the primary category in his maiden participation in a Math Olympiad. That opened the doors for him to take part in the Math Camp, which changed the direction of young Jawad’s life. He discovered a new world outside of his textbooks, the fascinating world of math.

“Math camp taught me how I can solve a problem by myself, how I can get deeper into a problem. It showed me that it’s more satisfying to continue trying to solve a problem than learning the solution from someone else,” Jawad had this to say about his experience in the Math Camp.

Jawad gradually made his way to winning gold in IMO. In 2016, he won bronze, the next year he bagged the silver medal before finally taking home gold in 2018. Jawad said that Math Olympiad and Math Camp played a huge role in growing his interest in math.

Prothom Alo was first in Bangladesh to start staging Math Olympiads. Upon the requests from professor Muhammed Zafar Iqbal and professor Mohammad Kaykobad, the Prothom Alo editor took the initiative in June of 2004.

In 2011, other than the first place medal, Jawad also received his first internet modem. Jawad recalled how that changed his life, “That modem introduced me to the internet. After that I’ve learnt a lot through the internet.” His mother Syeda Farzana Khanam and father Ahmed Abu Junayed also supported and encouraged him at every step of his journey.

Jawad said, “I have represented Bangladesh thrice in three different countries, gained a lot of experience. I have made a lot of friends, have seen many famous mathematicians up close and have heard them speak.”

Jawad has continued climbing new heights since his Math Olympiad days and is now studying at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), one of the leading universities in the world.

Dutch-Bangla Bank’s executive director Abul Kashem Md. Shirin told Prothom Alo that DBBL is delighted and proud to be a part of the Dutch-Bangla Bank-Prothom Alo Math Festival from nearly the beginning. This has given us the opportunity to showcase the talents of our youth to the world. Not only in International Math and Physics Olympiads, our talented youths are now proving their merit in world famous universities and Silicon Valley. It has also initiated a qualitative change in the way math is taught in the country. All of this has been possible thanks to the math committee’s leadership, our assistance and Prothom Alo’s management.

* Munir Hasan is Head, Youth Programme and Events, Prothom Alo