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'Attentive listeners' of Abacus Friday 5 February 2021 11:47
We are happy to announce Abacus has two 'attentive listeners'! Do you need to get something of your chest, or would you like to talk to someone in confidence? You can then send Raymon or Mariya an email. They will introduce themselves shortly:
"Hello, my name is Raymon, I'm 21 years old, and am currently in my third year of Applied Mathematics. I grew up in Klazienaveen, a small town in the northeast of the Netherlands, where I lived for the first 19 years of my life, before moving to Hengelo to study at the University of Twente. My hobbies include playing guitar, reading, practicing karate, playing videogames and playing tabletop role-playing games with friends." You can contact him on: raymon@abacus.utwente.nl
"Hi there! My name is Mariya and at the moment I am entering my last year of study. In the past years I have enjoyed the student life a lot: I joined quite some committees and have done a board year at Abacus. During these years I have met tons of new people, who have helped me to grow as a person and to learn how to help others out. At the moment I’m less active in the student community, but I do fill up my spare time with friends, housemates and some casual activities like playing the guitar and crocheting." You can contact her on: mariya@abacus.utwente.nl
Note that they are not accredited counsellors, and that they are doing this on a voluntary base.
Work prospects on the site Friday 22 January 2021 11:21
As of today, 'Work prospects' is added on the site. You can find this by clicking 'Education'. On this page, there are stories about alumni. About what they do in their daily life, and about how they got where they are.
If you have a story you think should be added to this page, please mail it to board@abacus.utwente.nl
Flowers from the Education Committee Tuesday 17 November 2020 16:57
Last week, the Education committee has rewarded Nelly Litvak with a bouquet of flowers. She deserved this because of her hard work for the students and the effort that she put in her work.
Due to the current situation, the form in which lectures are given is very different and needs changing to fit the needs of students. Contact is also an issue, so hearing the opinions of students has become a lot more difficult. Nelly put a lot of time and effort during Module 1 in order to ensure the best possible support for first year students. She recorded interactive lectures for students to watch and learn through and ensured that a lot of material and possibilities to exercise were made available to students. This second one was done through quizzes, 3 problem sets, extra problems and practice exams. She in addition added a new feature to the course: tutor groups. Students were divided into 10 different tutor groups. These groups would meet once per week with an older year as tutor to discuss any issues the students might have, what they liked and disliked about the course and strategies on how to properly learn for the exam.
Nelly has tried to offer as much as she could to students and tried to give them a voice even in these times during which communication is not as direct and clear as we wish it were. She showed she cared about the students she teaches to and deserves, therefore, a token of appreciation for the passion she showed for what she does.
Thank you for your effort and hard work, Nelly. Keep it up!
Corona road map Abacus Wednesday 11 November 2020 19:51
After the government made a Corona road map, we now made a Corona road map regarding Abacus! You can find it at 'Documents of W.S.G. Abacus' at 'Other Abacus documents'.
Room closed until further notice Wednesday 14 October 2020 22:50
Due to the new corona measures we have decided to close the abacus room and the service desk until further notice. The university urges us to work/study as much as possible from home, so we as board will do that. Of course we are still available for all questions, complaints etc via WhatsApp or Discord. We hope to welcome you in Educafé soon, but for now, stay safe and stay home!
Much love,
The 53rd board of W.S.G. Abacus
On Tuesday the 1st of September, the 53rd board of W.S.G. Abacus is constituted as follows: Friday 4 September 2020 10:04
Daan Velthuis - Chairman
Luuk van der Werf - Secretary & Officer Internal Affairs
Daan Pluister - Treasurer
Jorn de Jong - Officer External Affairs
Anouk Beursgens - Officer Educational Affairs
Clara Stegehuis - General Adjunct
Obituary Dr. Harry Aarts Sunday 16 August 2020 19:02
With pain in our hearts, we share that Dr. Harry Aarts passed away last Sunday, the 9th of August. He was 59 years old.
Harry, who graduated as mathematician in Nijmegen, obtained his PhD at the University of Twente in 1994. As a teacher, he was a member of the Discrete Mathematics and Mathematical Programming group. He worked for the University of Twente for almost 25 years.
Although Harry had outstanding qualities as a researcher, his true passion was teaching. His unique qualities as a teacher led to no less than five teaching awards. Apart from that, Harry had a major responsibility in the mathematics component of all engineering programmes of the university.
Harry had to give up his fight against cancer, that started in 2018. We'll deeply miss his quiet presence and performance, his friendly nature, his humor and his smile. Many students highly valued his lectures.
Our deepest sympathies go to his family and friends.
On behalf of the board,
Linda, Martijn, Sanne, Marjolein and Tugce.
Flowers from the Education committee Friday 26 June 2020 14:58
The past weeks, the Education committee has rewarded several employees with a bouquet of flowers. They deserve this because of their hard work for the students and the effort that they put in their work
The first one to receive a bouquet was Pranab Mandal. He has only been the programme director of AM for half a year and is working on the implementation of TOM 2.0. With that, he now also has to deal with the current Covid-19 situation. These have a quite a lot of workload and having to juggle both definitely deserves a bouquet!
Also, Jasper de Jong has received some flowers. He always puts a lot of effort in his lectures and is very enthusiastic about his topics. This motivates students and he is also very involved in the student's interests. For all this, a colorful bouquet of flowers is in the right place.
Furthermore, Lilian Spijker, our study advisor, received flowers too. Even though she is not a teacher, she still does a lot for students in the background, especially in these times.
Last but not least, Gjerrit Meinsma received the most votes in our poll. Due to the current situation, lectures have to be given in another form. The students’ opinion is that Gjerrit has very clear online lectures and responses to his email quickly if student's have questions. For dealing with this situation so well, it deserves flowers.
Thank you all for your effort and hard work. Keep it up!
FAQ - AM Q&A Tuesday 26 May 2020 14:34
Dear students,
At the moment there are many questions regarding the current form of education and related issues like TEM 2.0. Afterward the Q&A of Pranab Mandal of last week the following document was set up. This is meant to answer the most common questions. If there is anything you would like to know that is not mentioned in the document you can always get into contact with the officer of educational affairs (Linda ten Klooster), the study advisor (Lilian Spijker), or anyone else, depending on the question.
Here is the link to the document with frequently asked questions.
Candidate board 2020-2021 Wednesday 6 May 2020 21:02
The 52nd board of Wiskundig Studiegenootschap Abacus has the pleasure to announce the candidate board for the 53rd board. We expect them to be constituted as follows on the 1st of September:
Chairman - Daan Velthuis
Secretary & Officer Internal Affairs - Luuk van der Werf
Treasurer - Daan Pluister
Officer External Affairs - Jorn de Jong
Officer Educational Affairs - Anouk Beursgens
General Adjunct - Clara Stegehuis
