Aligarh: The Department of Mathematics at Aligarh Muslim University organised a symposium, along with a Quiz competition in different categories, a poster-making competition on the topic ‘Mathematical Patterns in Nature’ and a PowerPoint presentation on the topic ‘Open problems in Mathematics’, to mark the National Mathematics Day.

The event celebrated the legacy of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the Indian mathematician who without any formal training made various substantial contributions to mathematics, especially in Number Theory and Infinite Series.

Certificates were distributed to the winners of different competitions. Prof Amber Habib of the Shiv Nadar University of Delhi and Prof Harishchandra of Banaras Hindu University addressed the audience, highlighting the importance of mathematics and the contributions of Ramanujan.

Dean, Faculty of Science, Prof Sartaj Tabassum stressed the importance of the quality of research publication and its impact. Mohd Imran, Registrar of the University, highlighted the beauty of mathematics in patterns, self-similarity and the importance of mathematics in solving real-life problems.

Prof Shahid Ali, Chairman of the Department, talked about the legacy of mathematics in the department since the days of Prof Andre Weil back in 1931-32.

Prof M Kalimuddin Ahmad, Convener of the symposium, appreciated the teamwork of colleagues in arranging various events. He described the intellectual sharpness of Ramanujan by examples.

Prof Aslam Siddeeque proposed a vote of thanks. The program was conducted by Dr Musavvir Ali.

Various competitions saw enthusiastic participation by the students. In the quiz competition for the students of AMU Schools and University Polytechnics, the first prize was shared by Zainab Fatima and Vivek Kumar. The second prize was shared by Upendra Singh and Aditya Kumar Saxena, while Maryam Majid of Girls High School secured the third position.

In the quiz competition for the UG students of the Faculties of Science and Engineering and Technology, Abdul Kadir, Priyanka Varshney, and Ritik Sharma received the first, second and third rank respectively.

Megha Sharma, Mohd Asad Husain, and Khalid Raza Ansari got the first, second and third ranks respectively, in the quiz competition for the PG students of the Faculties of Science, and Engineering and Technology.

In the poster-making competition on the mathematical patterns in nature, Avni, and Shivani Singh shared the first position, while Irshad, and Saara Sazid Khan, shared the second rank. Priyanka Varshney and Shivangi shared the third prize.

In the PPT presentation on open problems in Mathematics, Mohd Junaid and Vijendra Kumar Varshney, from the Department of Mathematics received prizes.