Wir blicken zurück auf eine erfolgreiche CAMMP week 2024! 

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem CAMMP Team aus Aachen fand vom 23.-28.06.2024 unsere mathematische Modellierungswoche in Voeren, Belgien, statt. 40 Schüler*innen sind dabei über sich hinausgewachsen und haben hervorragende Ergebnisse erreicht. 

 "Insgesamt war die Woche durch sehr viel Spaß, aber auch durch das Erreichen von Höhen und das Überwinden von Tiefen geprägt. [...] Zusammenfassend handelt es sich bei der CAMMP-week um eine weiterbringende Erfahrung, welche ich allen, die Spaß am Arbeiten in diesem Bereich haben, weiterempfehlen würde.Vielen Dank an alle, die uns diese besondere Zeit ermöglicht haben und für alle Momente der Woche, in denen wir über uns selbst hinauswachsen konnten."
Auszug aus einem Teilnehmerbericht. Der ausführliche Bericht der Woche von Paula (Teilnehmerin) ist HIER zu finden.

Ein großes Dankeschön auch an die Firmenvertreter*innen für die Bereitstellung und Betreuung der Probleme aus ihrem Unternehmen oder ihrer Forschung. Ebenfalls danke an die wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiter*innen, welche die Schüler*innen die Woche über betreut und unterstützt haben. Ohne euch wäre das nicht möglich gewesen!

Do you enjoy working in a team? Are you creative, enthusiastic, independent and committed? Would you like to work with students and teach them about mathematical modeling? Are you interested in a varied student assistant job?

Then you've come to the right place! We run one-day and one-week events with groups of school students in which they work on authentic problems from everyday life using their mathematical school knowledge. Your task would be to supervise one-day workshops together with us and to actively and committedly help out in the team. This also means that parts of the organization can be taken over by you and of course your own ideas will also be considered and integrated.

If you are interested or have any questions, please contact us now by e-mail: cammp∂scc.kit.edu

You can find a calendar of dates and events here.

The online CAMMPweek was once again a complete success! A total of 40 students worked for a week on 7 different exciting research questions. The 7 groups achieved amazing results and can be very proud of their work!

Quote from a student who took part: "The week was characterized by the fact that you could find solutions to a complex mathematical problem with a lot of fun, perseverance and teamwork. Despite the great distance, you could experience working together with people with whom you could grow into a team during CAMMP week without knowing each other beforehand. Especially for gaining new experiences, be it in the field of programming, mathematics, presenting or writing a scientific report, participation in the CAMMP week is highly recommended and I would participate again without hesitation. Especially towards the end of the school years, it is also helpful to be able to concretize your personal future wishes regarding your studies through detailed study information."
Read her full report on CAMMPweek here.

Quote from a student who took part: "To summarize, you can say that by taking part in CAMMP week you gain a very good insight into real scientific work and studying itself and at the end you are really proud of your real applicable solutions."
Read his full report on CAMMPweek here.

A report by participant Erik Wu from Kurfürst Friedrich-Gymnasium Heidelberg

How can you set up wind turbines to get the maximum energy?

Due to the coronavirus, CAMMP week took place online and not, as usual, in a youth hostel, where the students met for a week. The week started on a Sunday evening, when everyone gathered in a virtual conference room. While waiting, faces of other participants popped up here and there, but they quickly deactivated their video function again. Then the welcome meeting began with a short introduction to mathematical modeling and the presentation of the problems.

In order to get to know each other better afterwards, the supervisors came up with something new, as everything was done digitally: Everyone was given their own circle on a whiteboard, which everyone had editing rights to. They then had around ten minutes to draw things in the circle that they wanted to reveal about themselves.
After the ten minutes, everyone was then allowed to present their artwork and, if they had a camera, to show their face. To be honest, I was quite excited as the supervisors got closer and closer to my circle, as you don't often introduce yourself in front of a bunch of black, emotionless boxes (with little names in the corner). After a few more games, it was getting quite late and that was the end of the first meeting.

The next day we came back to the meeting room refreshed, partly because it always started at 9 a.m., and after a brief welcome, the distribution of projects was announced. In a team of four, we were given the task of optimizing wind farms. There were also other exciting problems about optimal solar cell alignments and the loading of large freight vehicles.

After this meeting, everyone met in their own group meeting, including their supervisor. First of all, we had to understand the tasks and clear up any ambiguities. Then we got down to modeling.

The problem with wind farms is that the wind turbines influence each other through their wind shadow, so that the wind turbines behind sometimes get much less wind and therefore deliver less power. So the first step is to find out what such a wind shadow actually looks like. At 12:30 there was a lunch break, which ended with the break express. There, volunteers were able to recover from sitting for so long and relax with yoga and the like. After a short announcement from the supervisors, the groups went back to their own meetings and ideas were diligently exchanged and work continued on the shared whiteboard.

The week went on like this, but it was by no means boring, as we were constantly busy discussing, listening, writing code, wondering why the code wasn't working and staring into the air thinking. If you got stuck, the supervisors were very helpful and were able to point you in the right direction. In between, there were also interesting lectures about studying at KIT or RWTH Aachen and virtual games to clear your head again.
On Thursday, the tension rose a little because we now had to prepare for the presentations immediately, but the group was still very close to the finish line. However, the rehearsal presentations went quite well, so there was really nothing to worry about.
On Friday, the last day, all participants, supervisors, etc. met again in the large meeting room before going to the Zoom meeting, where each group gave their presentation. In addition to the students and supervisors, many parents, teachers and relatives came to listen to the virtual presentations.
After each presentation, the problem solvers were also allowed to speak, who praised the groups in many cases, but also gave tips for improvement.

All in all, CAMMP week was a lot of fun, despite the long distances between the participants, and I can definitely recommend it to others.

A report from participantTheresa Fretz from GSG Mannheim

Hello, my name is Theresa and I attend J1 at GSG Mannheim. I took part in the virtual CAMMP Week in October 2020. I was in a group of four with a great supervisor. We dealt with the question of how a computer program can recognize the illustrations on pages from medieval books and distinguish them from initials (decorated initial letters). The idea behind this is that these books should be sorted thematically, which is not possible based on the text due to the old script.

Sunday was the first meeting with some information and games to get to know each other. I have to be honest and say that I wasn't particularly convinced. But that changed abruptly on Monday. First, we got our project and our group. We started by collecting ideas on a digital whiteboard. We had to consider several things here: How can we differentiate the images from the text? What distinguishes an illustration from an initial? And how does our program even know where the page is not printed?

Before we could start implementing and testing our program, however, we first had to learn how to program. Although we all already had a basic understanding of programming, we were not yet familiar with the various possibilities and the Python 3 programming language. That's why we were given an introduction by our supervisor.

We then started programming before the lunch break on Monday. We started by reading in the pages for the actual task. We then wanted to filter out and narrow down both illustrations and initials. To do this, we developed a process that works using pixel ratios. When we realized that we would have to write quite a lot of program code for this, we split the group: two continued to work on it, the others started with a different solution that uses the line structure of texts to recognize and delete them. Ultimately, this was the more effective approach, which we continued to use.

Nevertheless, the different approach taught us a few things for problems that may arise later, such as the possible errors with some commands. It also taught us something important about scientific work and our project. Just because you have an idea doesn't mean you can't keep looking for other solutions. It was also a successful week in terms of the organization and implementation of the project. Our program only had problems with a few specific pages, which we were only able to find and then solve through extensive testing.

What I personally particularly liked was the close cooperation within the group. At school, there is often an imbalance in the distribution of work because the motivation is quite different. At CAMMP Week, everyone worked hard and we made good progress. Not everyone was able to do everything, but at least one person always had an idea that we could implement together. At the same time, everyone was able to hand over tasks to others without any worries, and they were then dealt with thoroughly and reliably by someone else.

We were also able to try out a lot of things, but still received tips in situations we couldn't solve. There was also a supporting program that ensured breaks and the opportunity to deal with other topics. All in all, I am very satisfied with my participation in the CAMMP Week and my expectations were exceeded.

A report by participant Ivo Lasinskifrom Liselotte-Gymnasium Mannheim

I first heard about CAMMP week when my math teacher asked me if I would like to take part in a one-week program for students interested in mathematics. I didn't have to think twice, because I am interested in mathematics and I can very well imagine choosing a math and science degree course, which is why I applied for CAMMP week 2020 shortly afterwards.

At the beginning of CAMMP week, we were divided into small groups, in which we then spent a week working on a problem set by a company. As the CAMMP week had to take place digitally this year, all of us - participants, supervisors and problem solvers - had to communicate online via video conference or group chat. The CAMMP week organizers also provided us with various programming and modelling programs, a whiteboard for collecting ideas and cloud storage for working on the problems. These programs were all collaborative, so that all group members could make changes simultaneously.

The respective days of CAMMP week were divided into working hours, during which we worked on our problems in the groups. Between these working times, there were lectures on the topics of "Studying at KIT", "Studying at RWTH Aachen University" and a lecture on "Mathematical Modeling", which, together with the "Pausenexpress", which brought sport and exercise into the week, provided variety during CAMMP week.

We got on very well within our group very quickly and were able to start working on our problem straight away. What fascinated me was that we had never met before and were sitting in front of our desks several hundred kilometers away from each other and yet we grew together quite well as a group. After a busy week, we managed to deliver a successful result, summarize it in a scientific report and finally present it to the participants, supervisors, teachers, parents and problem solvers. CAMMP week 2020 was a complete success for us as a group!

Personally, I was able to take a lot away from this CAMMP week. I learned how to work with people I didn't know before. In addition, my programming skills have expanded, as we had to program to solve our problem. I also learned how to write a scientific report and how to work on a problem over a longer period of time. Furthermore, the lectures about studying at KIT and RWTH Aachen University as well as the practical experience gave me an insight into what I would like to do in the future.

In summary, I can say that CAMMP week 2020 was a very enjoyable and, above all, informative experience for me and I would definitely take part again!

This year's CAMMP week took place from 27.09. to 02.10.2020, for the first time inonline format, took place. During this week, 25 students from grade 10 and above from Baden-Württemberg and the Aachen city region worked in small teams on various research questions. The questions were open problems posed by companies and institutes. The student teams were supported in their work by scientific staff from KIT and RWTH Aachen University.

Using various digital communication tools (a platform with chat and video conference functions), a digital whiteboard and an online programming environment, the students worked intensively on the problems and presented their great results to the company representatives and other interested guests at the end of the week.

We are pleased that the CAMMP week was an exciting and profitable experience, even in virtual format, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can meet again in person next year.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the supervisors, problem solvers, sponsors and other supporters who made this CAMMP week possible.However, a special thanks goes to the students who worked so motivated on the questions!

Quotes from participating students:
"I learned to work in a team, to solve a problem independently and to present ideas to the group."
"I gained an insight into mathematical research, which will help me in my career choice."
"The week was fun and broadened my horizons. Thank you!"

As a joint project between the CAMMP locations in Aachen at the RWTH and the KIT in Karlsruhe, the CAMMP day workshops can now also be carried out as online CAMMP days.
These can be carried out on site at school or in self-study by the students. We also offer online CAMMP days for classes or courses via a conference tool.

All that is required is a web browser. It is not necessary to install any programs.

Further information and a contact form for providing access data can be found on the CAMMP project website for all locations.

From October 17 to 26, 2019, Martin Bracke (TU Kaiserslautern), Maren Hattebuhr (KIT), Sarah Schönbrodt (KIT), Janna Tinnes (RWTH Aachen University) and Kirsten Wohak (KIT) visited the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California(UABC) in Tijuana as representatives of the CAMMP (Computational And Mathematical Modeling Program) and KOMMS (Competence Center for Mathematical Modeling in STEM Projects in Schools) projects. There, Mexican students were given insights into problem solving with the help of mathematical modeling in the form of several modeling days and a parallel modeling week.

First of all, an introduction to the idea and aims of CAMMP and KOMMS was given to the scientific staff helping out on site. With their support, we started a series of successful one-day workshops and a modeling week at the beginning of the new week.

The approximately 160 students were consistently motivated, enthusiastic and interested. They also took away a lot of valuable knowledge from these new experiences and were able to expand their modeling skills. We also gained many instructive and exciting experiences while working with pupils from a different culture.

A big thank you goes to the organizer Luis Ramon Siero Gonzalez (UABC) and Professor Martin Frank (SCC). It was a successful and very eventful time for us.

On July 11, 2018, Gudrun Thäter invited us to report on her participation in the CAMMP week in Voeren, Belgium. In conversation with her were Elly Bastian (student at Goethe Gymnasium Gaggenau), Christian Beitzinger (student at Tulla Gymnasium Rastatt), Kirsten Wohak (research assistant at KIT, participated in the role of teacher) and Maren Hattebuhr (research assistant at KIT, participated as group supervisor and organizational representative of Karlsruhe). You can find the podcast here.

From June 24-28, 2018, Nils Rauscher (student at Tulla Gymnasium Rastatt) took part in the CAMMP week in Voeren, Belgium. Read about his experiences here.

"The CAMMP week: A week where interested students come together to solve a task set by companies with the help of mathematical modeling. It has been taking place for several years now for young people from Aachen and the surrounding area from Year 10 up to their Abitur. This year, for the first time, it also took place for students from Karlsruhe, so that we, ten boys and girls from this region, were able to make our way to Voeren in Belgium on June 24th with our supervisors Maren Hattenbuhr and Kirsten Wohak. After a five-hour drive, we arrived at our destination, where all 42 students, around 14 teachers and 7 supervisors gradually gathered. The week began with a game to get to know each other. In teams of six, the task was to build something from limited materials in 15 minutes that would keep two eggs in the air for as long as possible and allow them to land as safely as possible. This game not only broke the ice between us students, but unfortunately also a few eggshells. Prof. Dr. Martin Frank then explained to us what mathematical modeling actually is using GPS. After this lecture, we were even more excited to find out what our task for the week would be.

The next morning, the seven tasks were presented by the respective supervisors. The group work then began. The aim of each task was to write a code in MATLAB to solve the respective problem. The groups progressed at different speeds. Setbacks were the order of the day and therefore the level of frustration was sometimes relatively high. What united all groups, however, was the ambition to solve the task at hand no matter what. This was reflected in the fact that they often worked beyond the time set in the plan and the phrase "How - there's food already?" was not uncommon. On Wednesday, a presentation was given on studying at RWTH Aachen University to show the students the wide range of opportunities offered by this university. This was followed by a soccer tournament, in which the standard of play was sometimes higher than that of the match between Germany and South Korea. The sobering outcome of the match persuaded some of us to continue working on our projects, as we were due to visit some of the task creators in the evening who wanted to follow the progress of their task. With new impetus and encouragement from this meeting, we continued the fight against our tasks the next day. Nervousness slowly set in, as by the afternoon we had to prepare our presentations to be given to parents, task setters and classmates the next day for a mock presentation and finalize the report on our task. However, some of us were far from finished with our codes. Many groups were only able to meet this deadline to a limited extent, meaning that some worked on the report, codes and presentation late into the morning.

Unfortunately, the next morning was the last in Voeren. The bus to Aachen departed at 9:30 and after a 45-minute drive, during which we excitedly went over our own parts of the presentation again, we arrived at the Sparkassen-Forum in Aachen. At 11:15, the presentations of the individual groups began, during which the solutions were presented and the task setters thanked the students for their hard work on their problem. After four hours of interesting presentations and the plundering of the rich buffet, it was time to say goodbye, which was very difficult for us, as the atmosphere was great and many new friendships were made. But we were also looking forward to catching up on the sleep we had missed on the drive home.

The conclusion of this week was extremely positive. Over the course of the week, each group managed to find a solution to a problem that often seemed unsolvable at the beginning by minimizing unnecessary time wasting, for example through sleep.

Many thanks to the responsible organizers at RWTH Aachen University and KIT for making this great week possible! We look forward to participating again next year."

by Nils Rauscher

Experiences with "CAMMP day" on the topic: "How does Google actually work and what does it have to do with math?" at Tulla-Gymnasium in Rastatt in June 2018.

At the end of the 2017/18 school year, Tulla-Gymnasium Rastatt took part in the KIT's "CAMMP day" with the entire course level after the written Abitur exams on the topic: "How does Google actually work and what does it have to do with math?".
In the Google module, the students had the opportunity to discover the secret of the most widely used search engine in the world. The module was very appealing and easy for pupils to understand, so that all pupils - regardless of whether they were less or more interested in math - were able to explore the topic step by step. In teams of 2-3 students, simple MATLAB programs were used to search the internet (starting from any page) and a ranking list of the pages found was created. Through didactically very well guided experimentation with small networks, the students were then able to understand the underlying mathematical theory step by step. Thanks to the problem-oriented approach, the pupils learned new mathematical concepts in a playful way and in passing.
The practical relevance was certainly also important. In the past, in the "advanced course times", matrix multiplication was a topic in the curriculum. This module would also have been a great offer in this context. Today, however, it seems even more important to show students a real-life application - especially if it has something to do with their everyday lives.
Another important aspect is certainly the fact that this workshop focused on linking different content from the fields of stochastics, linear algebra and analysis.
That's why we will definitely be back next year!

The Tulla team

On April 19, 2018, Kirsten Wohak spoke with Gudrun Thäter about the background to CAMMP days. You can find the podcast here.