India will host the 18th edition of the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad and Juan Carlos Basto Pineda, professor of the School of Physics and member of the Halley Group of the Universidad Industrial de Santander, will be part of the ‘Colombian Team’ that will be in the Asian country.
There, his role will be that of coach and co-leader of the four young people who will test their knowledge in astronomy theory, astrophysics, in addition to solving problems from data analysis during the international event.
“It is a great honor to represent Colombia in this Olympiad and help the kids with my experience in similar events. We are in a phase of preparation for the competition and they are high school students who passed a national qualifying round and have excelled with their results because there in India they will face demanding tests,” said Basto Pineda, who is a physicist and electronic engineer UIS and since 2018 he has been working as a professor at his alma mater.
Juan David Landazábal Rangel, Cristian Camilo Echeverri Valencia, Mateo de Jesús Pirela Pulido and Mario Andrés Guerra Vega are the teenagers who make up the Colombian delegation. The first of them is a native of Bucaramanga, recently graduated from Fundación Colegio UIS and his other three companions come from Barranquilla. Cristian Goez Theran, director of the Colombian Astronomy Olympiad and teacher-coach, will also travel.
“They stood out in the Colombian Astronomy Olympiad, they will face demanding tests in components such as theoretical problems, another of use of instruments and recognition of the sky and the remaining in data analysis, that’s why the kids are in a camp in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), which serves as preparation for India,” added the professor.
Basto Pineda has stood out for being a professor at the UIS since 2018 and from his art and creativity he created ‘The great bastini’, a character with which he teaches in a more playful way to young people about science, astronomy, mathematics and other topics of interest.
The International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad aims to promote the growing interest in Astronomy and related STEM disciplines, especially through the general education of young people, and enhancing the development of international contacts between different countries to promote astronomy and astrophysics in schools.
