‘IMPA Tech was a total change of perspective for the future’, says student
Igor Roberto Alves, 19, left São José dos Campos (SP) to give mathematics a new chance in Rio de Janeiro. The first member of his family to reach higher education, the student was not always a fan of the discipline, but he found in IMPA Tech the possibility of changing his professional trajectory. Learn about the history of the undergraduate student at #BeyondEquations.
“Life here is a paradise, it was a total change of perspective for the future. The aid helps us a lot and we just need to study, we have all the time to dedicate ourselves to what we really need now. The colleagues here also support each other a lot, we have a good support network”, said Igor. IMPA Tech offers student accommodation, food stipends, and financial aid.
In the 2nd year of graduation, the student takes the emphasis on Data Science and wants to train more and more. “I want to overcome my limits, because I went through some difficulties at the beginning of graduation, but I developed. I never thought I would have a degree as a mathematician on my certificate, but now I see my future. The expectations are the best possible.”
Medalist of the OBMEP (Brazilian Public School Mathematics Olympiad), Igor recalls the relationship with the competition. “My trajectory in mathematics started a little late. I participated in OBMEP for the first time in high school and moved on to the second phase. I had no prospects, I didn’t know much about this Olympic branch, but I saw that I had the possibility of winning a scholarship,” said the student.
In his first participation, in 2022, the young man won a bronze medal. “I was very happy. I even wondered if mathematics was for me, but from then on, I started to study more because I wanted to improve my performance in the next one.” In 2023, the silver came.
Initially, it was the medals that motivated the student to continue studying. “I thought about doing Physical Education or training to become a jiu-jitsu fighter, but OBMEP showed me that I could follow other paths and be successful. I saw that if I studied and dedicated myself, it would give me a return in the future.”
From then on, Igor joined the PIC (Jr. Scientific Initiation Program) classes and also started to help his classmates. “The PIC was very important, it totally changed the scenario. In class, I had access to content that I didn’t have at school and then I taught my classmates what I learned in the program. And I also had the scholarship, which helped me a lot,” she recalled.
Before coming to IMPA Tech, while waiting for the result of the selection process, the young man even started the Computer Engineering course at Unicamp. “I was a little insecure during the selection process, because I didn’t know if I had done very well in the interview, so I didn’t create many expectations. But when I received the email, I didn’t even think twice and decided to come to IMPA Tech”, he said.
Now, in Rio, Igor is satisfied with the change of city and life. “I came from a place, from a family, that didn’t believe in studying at all. Of course, the importance of studying was talked about, but the need to work came first. I believe that being here, as everything happened, was very lucky. Now, I feel obliged to show everyone who came from the same place as me, who don’t believe they can get there, that it’s possible. Everyone must be as lucky as me. I have a moral duty to bring these people closer and show that studying does give a future.”
In addition to undergraduate classes, the student participates in PICME (Scientific Initiation and Master’s Program), under the guidance of IMPA project scientist Lucas Nissenbaum. “PICME is very cool, one of the things that motivates me the most here. We presented some chapters of the book in class and set up a project on medical image analysis with artificial intelligence. So, it is already a sample of what we can do in the job market”, he said.
Igor is excited to put his knowledge into practice in the future, but without leaving his studies aside. “I want to do a good education, I want to do a master’s and a doctorate first, but I certainly want to go to the corporate universe. And being here at Porto Maravalley certainly makes a difference”, he concluded.
Currently, Porto Maravalley has 70 companies and 45 resident startups. The hub seeks to integrate students into the innovation and technology ecosystem. The idea is that students can get closer and closer to companies, either through effective participation in internships and trainee programs or in events.