The role that university mathematicians can play in solving problems from real life has been the subject of discussions, round tables and symposia which are becoming more and more frequent. Certainly this matter does not belong specifically to our days: there are so many instances of illustrious mathematicians of the past who have used or even created mathematical tools for investigating problems of engineering, physics, chemistry, biology etc. The reason forsuch growing interest lies on the one hand in the increasing complexity of technological problems which require more mathematics, and on the other hand in the fact that university mathematicians are gradually rediscovering applied sciences as an inexhaustible source of appealing and challenging mathematical problems.