Motivated to represent NHH

PhD student Mario Guajardo represented NHH this year at the "Forsker Grand Prix" competition held last Friday, September 23. Mario's enthusiasm to represent NHH appears as a keynote of his motivation to participate in the competition.

28.09.2011 - Carmen Codreanu

Last Friday, the "Forsker Grand Prix" competition kicked off with 9 participants from the Bergen universities, a large audience and 3 judges who gave their opinion, evaluated and voted on the participants' presentations. The event was flavored by an extraordinary atmosphere of goodwill and humor. Mario's performance managed to qualify in the first round for the finals.

According to many present at the competition, Mario managed best to draw the audience's attention and sympathy. "The audience loved you, and so did I", said one of the judges after Mario's first presentation.

Mario Guajardo qualified in the first round and competed further with the other three participants. He didn't qualify in the finals for the National Competition, but he is very happy with his research and for representing NHH.

"Mathematics on the ball:scheduling a football league"

The theme of Mario's presentation was "Mathematics on the ball: scheduling a football league." During the four minute presentation Mario declared himself a big fan of football and a lover of mathematics. So, the next question was: "How can I combine mathematics with football?" and the researcher had four minutes to present this and to persuade the audience.

Motivation comes from NHH

When asked about his motivation to participate, Mario said that this came from thinking it an honor to represent NHH: "The school needed someone to represent it, and I was happy to do it. I would have been happier to win and to give it as a prize to NHH for the 75th anniversary year, but I am glad anyway that I participated."

Receiving coaching

In the following, Mario describes the coaching sessions and the support that he received for his presentation: "The other participants and I started with an information meeting when we found out the rules of the competition, the program of the coming coaching sessions and also how to present our research in order to make the best use of the four minute presentation. The coach helped me in various ways: how to structure my materials, how to be clear and easy to follow by the audience and how to move on the stage. I also simulated the presentation at two of the coaching sessions."

Self-confident

Mario seemed to be very confident on the stage, and in next remarks he confirms this: "I was pretty sure that I will qualify. The feedback that I received from the audience and from the judges after the first presentation confirmed me in my thoughts of confidence. Of course, I was happy when I heard the results in the first round."

He concludes: "It was a really good experience and I had fun. I took it like a responsibility to represent NHH in this competition, and also like a great honor. I totally recommend taking this experience to the all other PhD students."