More than twenty talks on the latest advances in Mathematical Analysis and Numerical Analysis of Partial Differential Equations, distributed over three days, were part of the workshop 'MASC+: Major Advances in numerical Schemes for Conservation laws + other topics', organized around the trajectory of Dr. Mauricio Sepúlveda Cortés in the context of his 60 years. 

The event, which took place at the Nevados de Chillán hotel (Pinto commune, Ñuble region) was organized by a group of former students of Professor Sepúlveda, led by Dr. Verónica Anaya Domínguez, academic from the Department of Mathematics of the Faculty of Sciences at the Universidad del Bío-Bío and associate researcher at the Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering (CI²MA) of the Universidad de Concepción. 

“The workshop in recognition of the career of Prof. Mauricio Sepúlveda ended successfully”, highlighted Dr. Anaya, also member of the Center for Mathematical Modeling, CMM, of the U. de Chile, “we have had the participation of researchers nationals and foreigners who presented current results of their research topics, talks that gave rise to interesting discussions, and possible future collaborations between the participants.” 

This event was supported by the National Research and Development Agency (ANID), Universidad del Bío-Bío, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad de La Serena, Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering, Center for Mathematical Modeling (FB210005), Center for Exact Sciences, and Ci2030 Consortium. 

“We all enjoyed the event because of the scientific discussion, nature, and in particular because of the pleasant and friendly atmosphere in which the workshop took place. On the other hand, I want to thank each of the sponsoring people and entities that made the realization of this important scientific event possible," explained the alternate director of the 'dsalt' Group Project (ACT210087). 

“For me, this event in my honor, organized in such detail by my former doctoral students, was very exciting, surprising and emotional. I especially highlight the meticulous and delicate work, very well carried out by Professor Dr. Verónica Anaya, former thesis student and current colleague, who led the organization of this workshop in such a beautiful place in the mountains”, explained Professor Sepúlveda, who also thanked “all the expressions of affection from the 26 guests, plus the three members of my family: my sons Francisco and Mauricio and my wife Mercedes”.  

“It was very pleasant”, he explained, “to meet former collaborators such as François James (University of Orleans, France), Marie Postel (University of Paris-Sorbonne, France) who gave a brilliant online talk from France with affectionate words, Carlos Conca ( U. of Chile) who was also my guiding teacher, Ricardo Ruiz-Baier (U. of Monash, Australia) who, although he is a former collaborator and former student, visits us regularly in Concepción, as well as more recent collaborators, such as Jaime Muñoz Rivera (LNCC), Valeria Domingos Cavalcanti (U. de Maringá), Marcelo Cavalcanti (U. de Maringá), and Wellington Côrrea (U. Tecnológica de Paraná), all of them colleagues from Brazil in international collaboration work within the framework of the MathAmsud project MATH2020004”. 

The honoree also highlighted the participation of “Rodrigo Vejar (U. de la Serena) and Aissa Guesmia (U. de Metz, France) working and with a recently submitted article, Luis Miguel Villada (UBB and CI²MA-UdeC) with whom I collaborate currently within the framework of the ECOS-ANID C20E03 and INRIA-Anaconda (France) projects and we are finishing a work that we will surely submit for publication this coming week; Verónica Anaya and Felipe Jara (Transsa Consultores) with whom we are working on a manuscript that we hope to finish at the end of the year, and lastly, without forgetting my collaborators with whom I continue to keep closeness, whether geographical, in recent publications such as Aníbal Coronel (UBB), Fernando Huancas (Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana), David Mora (UBB and CI²MA-UdeC) and Raimund Bürger (CI²MA-UdeC) and/or through the joint project Basal CMM-Universidad de Chile FB210005: Jessika Camaño (UBB and CI²MA -UdeC) and Ricardo Oyarzúa (UBB and CI²MA-UdeC). 

This, he explained, “along with these collaborators, I also appreciate the visit and participation of my former students of doctoral courses, Eligio Colmenares (UBB), Luis Gatica (UCSC and CI²MA-UdeC), Felipe Lepe (UBB), my former memory student the Mathematical Civil Engineering degree (ICM), Jorge Espinoza, my colleagues Igor Kondrashuk (UBB) and Eduardo Cerpa (PUC), and my former colleague from the ICM degree at the University of Chile, Sergio Gutiérrez (PUC), with whom I worked professionally in a project of the Mining and Metallurgical Research Center (CIMM) many years ago, and more recently in the accreditation of a career as peer evaluators. That is why, in addition to the interesting scientific exhibitions in these three days, the meeting was full of details of affection, thanks and beautiful memories from each of those mentioned with very pleasant and entertaining conversations and exchange of knowledge”, Prof. Sepúlveda highlighted. 

Professors, colleagues and former students 

Professor Sepúlveda is a Mathematical Civil Engineer from the U. of Chile and a Doctor in Applied Mathematics from the École Polytechnique (Paris, France), Full Professor of the Department of Mathematical Engineering (DIM) of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the U. of Concepción, UdeC, where he is also a member of the Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering, CI²MA, in addition to being an associate researcher at the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the University of Chile, where he is part of the group of specialists in Numerical Analysis of Equations Partial Differentials. All affiliations that reflect a prolific and extensive research career and, therefore, a powerful network of national and international collaborators in which he enjoys great prestige, both for his scientific and academic work and for his human quality. 

One of the scientists participating in the event was Dr. Carlos Conca, academic from the Universidad de Chile and member of the CMM, who stated that he received the invitation from the organizers “with pleasure, because I felt honored to have the opportunity to recognize and highlight Mauricio's contribution to the community of mathematical engineers and applied mathematicians in the country. All the flavors with which I returned are very pleasant, starting with having reviewed his academic career, and not ending being enchanted by the significance that his research work has had, and continues to have. I also returned with a feeling of pride, realizing that, over time, he became a person of value to the community, more than having simply invested in being a successful academic”. 

“I was lucky,” Conca explained, “to meet him very early in his life, I have the best memories of that time, around the years 1987-90. First, as a student in DIM specialty courses, and then as a guide to his engineering memory. It was a true introductory research work, mainly focused on numerical aspects and computational simulations, which led to a publication in the International Journal of Numerical Methods for Calculation and Design in Engineering (1989), which would be its first paper reported in MathSciNet”. 

“I would say that his reflective spirit,” added the researcher from the University of Chile, “his discretion and respect are the traits of his personality that characterize him, and that have made him such an appreciated and appreciated person.” beloved within the community. With certainty, I would dare to say that no one has ever heard Mauricio speak ill of someone or any institution. It has been many years since we did mathematics together, the memory I have is that it was entertaining, we enjoyed it a lot, because Mauricio has a well-refined sense of humor, which we fully share, and which enlivened our work meetings." 

Among the international speakers, Dr. Valeria Domingos Cavalcanti from the Department of Mathematics of the Universidade Estadual de Maringa (Brazil) was included, who received the invitation through another member of the organizing committee, Dr. Rodrigo Véjar Asem from the U. de La Serena. “The organization was wonderful, the place where it was held is dazzling and they were days of knowledge exchange at the highest level, the conferences were excellent and the daily contact favors the consolidation of new alliances and subsequent friendships. It was a wonderful event in all aspects”. 

“Before personally meeting Mauricio”, the researcher explained, “I knew about his scientific career and his high-level contributions to mathematics. Now that I know him personally, I know a kind, polite and very calm human being and, at the event, I had the opportunity to meet his wonderful family”. 

Another of the foreign participants in MASC+ was Dr. Aissa Guesmia from the Institut Elie Cartan de Lorraine (IECL) of the Université de Lorraine – Metz (France) who stated that “since I have known Mauricio for more than 6 years with a collaboration Continuous joint since my first visit to the University of Concepción in 2017, Professors Rodrigo Adolfo Véjar Asem and Verónica Anaya Domínguez were kind enough to invite me to this event; invitation that gave me great joy and that allowed me not only to participate in the conference, but also to make a third 11-day visit to the Universidad de Concepción to continue and strengthen my collaboration with Mauricio; a very beneficial collaboration for our research and very rich in results, since three papers have been published and another one is presented”. 

“The workshop,” the French scientist explained, “was very interesting and rich in high-level presentations given by renowned speakers from different countries. Furthermore, it was organized in a very pleasant and comfortable environment and in a magnificent location” and regarding the honoree, Dr. Guesmia highlighted that, “in addition to his quality as a great mathematician with notable results during a career rich in research and diverse collaborations, I would like to highlight Mauricio's ability to find a balance (not always easy to find) between a professional life very rich in scientific activities and a personal life with sports and other passions. I find that this ability to maintain each of his two lives by dedicating the necessary time to them is a notable quality in Mauricio that deserves to be highlighted”. 

Meanwhile, among the youngest attendees at the event was Felipe Jara Zubieta, recently graduated as a mathematical civil engineer from the U. de Concepción. “I was invited by Professor Verónica Anaya, since she and Prof. Sepúlveda were my thesis directors in a work which consisted of the study and control of epidemiological processes of indirect transmission between two populations”. 

For him, participation in the event, “was an enriching experience, from an academic point of view, due to the high level of the topics in the exhibitions and it was also in terms of interpersonal relationships: due to the nature of the event, it was perceived an atmosphere of deep fraternity and sincere camaraderie between each of the attendees”, and regarding Prof. Sepúlveda he added that "I highlight his patience, understanding and support for his thesis students, both undergraduate and graduate, and above all his high level of expertise in the topics on which he works”. 

Among the local specialists who presented was Dr. Jessika Camaño Valenzuela, academic at the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción and principal researcher at the CMM and associate at CI²MA. “It is well known”, she stated, “that Mauricio is a professor of the PhD program from which several people graduated who are currently working as academics in different institutions, both in Chile and abroad. Many of us had the opportunity to receive lectures on courses taught by Mauricio and there are also several graduates of the program who were trained by him”. 

“In addition to everything that has to do with academic learning, which, by the way, is of a very high level”, the scientist added, “one creates bonds with their teachers. For the same reason, because of that affection that exists, some of his PhD students got together and decided to organize this congress and, in my case, since I had classes with him and I have known him for years, I was excited to attend the congress. and accompany him. The event was very well organized by his former students, very emotional, with an account of Mauricio's academic career, with the company of colleagues and friends. It was a very familiar conference”. 

“Mauricio”, she emphasized, “is a very nice person, accessible, relaxed and easy to get along with. As a student of the program, his responsibility and concern for his teaching must also be highlighted.” 

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Photos: 
1: group attending the 'MASC+: Major Advances in numerical Schemes for Conservation laws + other topics' workshop 
2: the honoree, Dr. Mauricio Sepúlveda Cortés 
3: one of the workshop talks; in this case, Prof. Marcelo Cavalcanti from U. Estuadual de Maringá (Brazil) 
4: Prof. Sepúlveda with his family: Mercedes, Mauricio and Francisco