RWTH Learning Lab Wins Award
CAMMP receives 2021 LeLa Award from the German Association of Learning Labs
The approximately 400 learning labs in Germany make a significant contribution to providing young people with education outside of school and preparing them for an increasingly global world. The diversity of these offers reflects the creativity of the lab operators. The LeLa Prize, which is endowed with up to 5,000 euros, honors this wealth of ideas and represents a special recognition of the learning labs’ innovative developments. It is awarded by LernortLabor, the German Association of Learning Labs, or Bundesverband der Schülerlabore e.V., in the following categories: Experiment of the Year, Virtual Learning Lab, STEM Teachers Education, and School Project of the Year.
The prize in the STEM Teachers Education category awards particularly motivating concepts for supporting STEM teachers’ training and further education. Here, RWTH’s CAMMP learning lab - short for Computational Mathematical Modeling Program learning lab - took first place with its 2020 offerings. The German Ministry of Education and Research is funding the LeLa Award.
CAMMP is organized by the AICES Graduate Schools, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and the Mathematics Department. Various event formats offer pupils the opportunity to work with scientists to solve challenging problems from everyday life, industry, or research. The teams use mathematical methods and computer simulations to do this. CAMMP applications include challenges in the areas of finance, aerospace, video game design, medical imaging, and ecology. The problems investigated are all a familiar part of young people’s everyday lives. For example, they get to grapple with the mathematics behind the recommendation algorithms used by streaming services, understand how the Google search algorithm works, or optimize the boarding process for airlines. CAMMP thus gives pupils a valuable glimpse into the professional world of mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers.