With ten plenary speakers of international recognition and prestige, between January 15 and 19, the WONAPDE 2024 congress will take place on the central campus of the Universidad de Concepción, UdeC: Seventh Chilean Workshop on Numerical Analysis of Partial Differential Equations organized by a group of researchers from the Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering, CI²MA, from that university, who are also members of the Center for Mathematical Modeling, CMM, of the U. of Chile.  

This congress has been held at the UdeC for two decades, bringing together around two hundred specialists in numerical analysis of partial differential equations in Concepción every three years to carry out activities such as plenary talks and thematic mini-symposiums, among others.  

“This is a congress created here at the UdeC and has established itself as one of the most important conferences in Numerical Analysis in the world, explained the academic of the Department of Mathematical Engineering at the UdeC, Manuel Solano Palma. “The first version of WONAPDE was in 2004 and has been held every three years (with a pause due to the pandemic). During these 20 years, a great effort has been made to continue with the organization of this already traditional congress and maintain its prestige”.  

“Many people are fond of WONAPDE, because in addition to the scientific quality of the talks, a very pleasant atmosphere of camaraderie is generated”, he added.  

Meanwhile, her colleague from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Physics of the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC), Jessika Camaño Valenzuela, explained that “as in previous WONAPDE, it is expected to have the participation of around two hundred people, with talks of a very good level and different instances to be able to share”. 

“WONAPDE also stands out”, she added, “for being a congress with a good number of participants in the sense that interaction between them is not difficult, thus generating a very pleasant and welcoming atmosphere”. 

WONAPDE 2024 will have 18 mini-symposiums and ten plenary talks, which will be given by: 

Stefan Diehl, a researcher at Lund University in Sweden, has participated in all versions of WONAPDE since 2013 and emphasized that "it is one of the best organized conferences I have attended in all aspects. It is good that the number of participants "not too big. One of the main reasons for my participation is the close collaboration I have with Professor Raimund Bürger from Concepción, in the joint supervision of several doctoral students at both universities." 

The scientist defines himself as “an applied mathematician who investigates all aspects of the chain: modeling of real processes in industry or biological sciences using equilibrium laws; mathematical analysis of direct and inverse problems; creation of numerical schemes and their analysis; and dissemination of our results to applied sciences, mainly mineral processing, wastewater treatment and chemical engineering”. 

In this sense, their objectives for participating in WONAPDE 2024 relate to the fact that "the adequate size of the conference and the excellent programming that leaves plenty of time during lunches and coffee breaks provide excellent opportunities throughout the week to meet up with old and new colleagues, partly for socializing and partly for scientific discussions. Although we have many digital meetings today, it is essential to meet live from time to time." 

Sara Zahedi, academic at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and awarded in 2016 by the European Mathematical Society for her important contributions to the development of Numerical Analysis, is a specialist in "the development, analysis and implementation of computational methods to solve differential equations." (PDE) defined in time-dependent domains". 

"PDEs", she detailed, "on dynamically changing geometries model, for example, the dynamics of incompressible and immiscible fluids. A key challenge in such simulations is to accurately and efficiently resolve such PDEs while preserving physical quantities and identities such as the mass". 

Although she has not participated in WONAPDE meetings before, she stated that, after reviewing the information available about previous events, "I hope to encounter many interesting talks and research debates as well as new colleagues and collaborators." 

WONAPDE 2024 is sponsored by the Universidad de Concepción, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering, Center for Mathematical Modeling (FB 210005), Computational Mathematics for Desalination Processes 'dsalt' (ACT 210087), Group Project (ACT 210030).