With this initiative, the Innovation Committee of the Dutch Platform for Mathematics draws attention to the value of mathematics for society. The CWI Best Thesis in Applied Math Award is given to bachelor's and master's theses that use mathematics to find innovative solutions for companies, government agencies or non-educational institutions. The winners will give a lecture at the CWI.
Finale
Three finalists in both the MSc and the BSc categories pitched their theses in just a few minutes. Rosa de Haan from NHL Stenden Hogeschool Leeuwarden was the winner in the BSc category. For Van Wijnen Components she developed an algorithm that determines feasible combinations of configuration options for apartments. The jury praised the clarity of the presentation, which discussed complex mathematics in an accessible way.
The winner of the MSc category was Pieter Knops. He worked on predicting (the distribution of) consumer energy demand in order to make better use of batteries. This work was carried out for Energyworx. The jury chose Pieter because his presentation struck a good balance between what he did and how he did it, with just the right amount of maths.
High quality
Overall, the quality of the entries was high, which led to a lot of discussion among the judges about who should go through to the final. And choosing the final winners was not much easier. The 2023 edition of the award 'has once again highlighted the excellent work being done and the mathematical talent that exists in the Netherlands'.
