Noticias en español
Last December Spain warmly welcomed Carlos Conca, researcher at the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of FCFM- Universidad de Chile, in order to honor him in his 60 anniversary. Now, in April, was the turn of the South of Chile, the land of his birth. Specifically, the XXVIII Congress of Mathematics in the South Zone organized by Universidad del Bío-Bío (UBB), which attracted more than 200 participants from 22th to 24th April 2015 in Chillán.
As Igor Kondrashuk, chairman of the Organizer Committee explained, this event, unlike past editions, aimed particularly to honor Carlos Conca. Kondrashuk also highlighted in the opening speech the crucial contribution of the CMM to the science and technology in Chile.
Patricio Cumsille, professor at the UBB, stressed the relevant influence that Carlos Conca has had in many generations of researchers and lecturers. For instance, he has developed applications of the Bloch Waves for homogenization problems that are about matters with highly heterogeneous properties. He has also designed mechanical interaction models of fluid solid type that analyze the movement of solid bodies immersed in a viscous incompressible flow.
Carlos Conca expressed his gratitude for those people that have shared an academic life with him, learning, teaching and creating new mathematics. “Mathematicians seek to build a better understanding of the world. Their work is meaningful as long as it is useful for students “, pointed out the National Prize for the of Sciences 2003.
Conca also pointed out that, even if researching is exciting, human experiences give the most important sense to life. He said: “When I look back, the things that I regret or that made me happy are mostly related with people. My parents, family, friends and colleges made me lucky”.
From Santiago to the South of Chile travelled some of his colleagues to accompany him in the event. Thus, Benjamín Obando, CMM project engineer, remembers him as a lecturer very concerned about the students ´ performance”. Another one was Raúl Gormaz, CMM researcher, who described Conca as “one of the first ones who did applied mathematics for real problems. In addition, he has a big charisma to motive in the classroom”.
Lecturers of Universidad de Chile also attended the event. Among them, Manuel Duarte, from the Department of Electric Engineering. He made a presentation about the portable ultrasound scanner, a low cost device with 800 grams weight that was created by Carlos Conca and his team.
Carlos Conca is a mathematical civil engineer from Universidad de Chile. He obtained a PhD in Mathematics in the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris and a Docteur d´Etat in Applied Mathematics (1982 and 1987, respectively), as well as Doctor Honoris Causa from the Universidad de Metz (France). The Universidad de Chile, where he has lectured for more than 40 years, recognized him twice as best professor.
