21/05/2024

Medalist at the Junior Olympics is a game developer.

Passionate about mathematics, Tom de Farias Souza Monteiro won a gold medal in the OBMEP-Mirim (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Children) at the age of 11. A student at Colégio Pedro II in Rio de Janeiro, he received the recognition in 2023, when he participated in his first mathematics olympiad.

Inspired by his father, Fernando Tiago Monteiro, the medalist applies mathematical concepts to practical day-to-day activities, such as programming and game development. "I think mathematics is the foundation of everything; it's a science I enjoy. In programming, it's essential!" he stated.

When he was younger, Tom made his own toys on a 3D printer. “I never bought a toy for Tom. He made everything on the printer or worked with wood. He designed the first skateboard and helped cut it,” his father added.

Fernando is an entrepreneur who develops art and technologies for brands, events, and galleries in Rio de Janeiro. During the artistic productions and installations, his son became fascinated by the relationship between mathematics and his father's profession. "Since he was little, Tom has accompanied me in the installation of art projects. It started at the Museum of Tomorrow in 2017, when he participated in the process. Tom kept an eye on the Arduino programming and became friends with the programmers," he said.

The process in question was the assembly of an installation for the exhibition “Inovanças: Criações à Brasileira” (Innovations: Brazilian Creations). Alongside his father, Tom followed the process of a collaborative work with four bicycles that generated kinetic energy to power a set of LED lights.

But it was from 2020 onwards, due to the social isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, that the student began to develop his own projects. “I told him that we couldn't just stand still and that we were going to study on our own. I gave him the computer at home just so he could develop projects. We created a research method and he started studying open-source programming. From that, Tom developed his own game, with a metaverse,” said the proud father.

In addition to programming the game, the medalist became interested in branding and experience design to create the visual identity of the material. With his father's help, Tom sought out online courses and improved his knowledge in the field.

In 2021, he also participated in the development of a game for a postgraduate project at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) by a family friend, Marlus Araújo. The young student was a junior collaborator and helped with the visual construction of Marlus's interactive work. Combining art and strategy, the game was a success.

Following his postgraduate experience, Tom was invited to teach children's workshops at SESC Tijuca during the school holidays. The opportunity to interact with a "junior teacher" increased the other children's interest in the areas of mathematics presented by Tom, and together they created new games using programming concepts.

With the success of his classes at SESC, Tom was invited to the "Olhares Cariocas" project, which offered short courses for children in Mangueira. During the classes, he showed participants how to edit videos using CapCut, a mobile editing software, and how to create experiences using Roblox, a game creation platform.

Now in 6th grade and at age 12, the student is excited to participate in the 19th OBMEP 2024, the largest scientific olympiad in Brazil, and hopes to become a programmer in the future.

The first phase of OBMEP will be on June 4th and the second on October 19th. The results of this edition will be released on December 20th.