Jad Samaha has a number of championships notched into his belt, and when it came to university applications, he set his eyes on Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU). A math prodigy, Jad joined the Mathematics program at NDU's Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences (FNAS) this Fall semester, the University being the ideal place to further cultivate his skills.
From 2016 through 2019, Jad competed in contests organized by the Universal Concept of Mental Arithmetic System (UCMAS), a program dedicated to nurturing mathematical thinking and skills in young students. A brief outline of Jad’s success in the UCMAS competitions:
- 4th Runner-Up of the 2016 UCMAS Competition, Elementary A, Level 2, Lebanon
- Champion of the 2017 UCMAS Competition, Intermediate A, Level 4, Lebanon
- Champion of the 2017 UCMAS World Competition, Intermediate A, Level 4, Malaysia
- Champion of the 2018 UCMAS Competition, Higher B, Level 7, Lebanon
- Champion of the 2018 UCMAS World Competition, Higher B, Level 7, Malaysia
- Champion of the 2019 UCMAS Competition, Grand-B, Level 10, Lebanon
None of this comes as a surprise when one considers the innovative arithmetic techniques Jad himself has developed. From his skill set, he has derived methods to determine whether a number is divisible by 8 and how to calculate perfect square and cubic roots. All these methods are executed mentally and without a calculator.
Jad has thus decided to enroll at NDU, finding himself in the FNAS’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, to pursue his bachelor’s degree. He has regarded the University as attractive and a great fit for his studies. All that can be said of his decision is: welcome, Jad. We are honored to have you on board.