Magazine 2018

Q&A Session L e a r n e r s M a k i n g W a v e s Thé Mathematical Genius Emile Tredoux has played with numbers since a very young age. Everything always had to be counted and he loved finding patterns. Already from an early age he showed an exceptional talent for problem solving. From grade 6 Emile was in the school’s first Mathematics Team. In Grade 7 he was selected for the Cape Town team to compete in the International Intercity Mathematics Competition in Bulgaria where he won a Merit Medal. Since Grade 8 he has been selected for the Western Province A team who won the Inter-Provincial Mathematics Competition each year. In high school Emile also entered the UCT Mathematics Competition and the South African Mathematics Olympiad. He has been in the top ten of the UCT competition each year. His achievements in these competitions opened doors to other opportunities which included training groups and camps at the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Pretoria. Many weekends and holidays have been spent contemplating gruelling problems and ultimately finding elegant solutions. In 2017, Emile received his SA colours when he was selected as a member of the official team to represent his country in Morocco in the Pan-African Mathematics Olympiad where he won a Bronze medal. In 2018 he finally reached his goal when he was selected to represent South Africa in the world’s most difficult Mathematics competition: the International Mathematics Olympiad. This is the oldest and most prestigious Science Olympiad where nearly 600 of the world’s top Mathematics students from more than 100 countries compete by attempting to solve 6 diabolical questions. He was ecstatic to win a medal at this event, and proud to have won the only medal of all the African participants. This year he obtained 100% in the first round of Die Burger competition. He also took part in all three rounds of the UCT Maths competition receiving a gold award for his achievements. In October this year Emile was invited to the South African Mathematics Foundation Awards Function for this year’s Olympiad. Out of 106 000 learners participating in the 2018 competition, Emile made the final round and was eventually awarded the silver medal as runner-up in the Senior Devision. Out of 106 000 learners participating in the 2018 competition, Emile made the final round and was eventually awarded the silver medal as runner-up in the Senior Division. Emile is not only a brilliant Mathematician, but also a brilliant Programmer. Lately Emile has also taught himself to code in C ++ and did well enough in the National Computer Olympiad to be selected for the South African team to compete in the International Olympiad for Informatics which took place in Japan in September. Although he has only recently started programming, his background in mathematics enables him to break the problems into smaller parts and code a simple solution for the whole. In the 2018 Computer Programming Olympiad, Emile again qualified for the final round in October. He was awarded the silver medal at the Awards Ceremony. Emile is a very talented mathematician, but it has been perseverance and an extraordinary commitment to hard work that has put his goals within reach. He hopes to inspire young students to improve their mathematical ability and to show them that mathematics isn’t as evil as they make it out to be. “It’s not the end-solution that matters, but the process of getting there.” What is your favourite field of Mathematics? There are 4 main fields of Mathematics I was introduced to through my Olympiad training, namely Geometry, Number Theory, Algebra and, my preferred of the four, Combinatorics. I enjoy combinatorics because most of the solutions do not rely on some high-level theorem to solve it. Combinatorial Geometry is my favourite category in combinatorics due to it combining both the elegance of combinatorics and the visual aspect of geometry. How do you prepare for an Olympiad in Mathematics? Generally I do Olympiad Mathematics for the better half of every Saturday or Sunday. The practice started with me learning new methods to solve questions, namely modular arithmetic, ratio chasing in geometry and various inequalities. After the initial learning period my time was mainly focused on applying the knowledge I acquired on increasingly difficult and abstract problems. How do you prepare for an Olympiad in Programming? Due to the questions at the Programming Olympiad being Mathematical in nature, I only had to focus on understanding how to code the basics and solving the problems on paper. To improve in these skills I continue to practise every weekend and tried to code up a question or two as practice. What are your plans for the future? I plan to study Actuarial Sciences at UCT. Any words of advice for aspiring Olympians? If you’re willing to give up some of your free time to practise something you want to get good at, and you regularly challenge yourself, you will improve. You have to sacrifice some of your free time, but this will allow you to acquire higher level concepts you learn later in life more easily. It will be time well spent. Did you know? In Gr 10 Emile formulated his own version of the proof of the Mid Point theorem which received very positive feedback from other teachers. 117. parklands.co.za