Mathworks Students Named Siemens Finalists
Fifteen high school students from Texas Mathworks were named as semi-finalists or higher in the Siemens Competition. The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology provides an opportunity for high school students to achieve national recognition for science research projects that they complete in high school, giving over $1 million in scholarships to the winning individuals and teams.
The students attended the Texas State Honors Summer Math Camp for six weeks during the summer where they began work on their research with a faculty mentor. The students worked in research teams with faculty mentors, including Nathaniel Dean who mentored 6 students (2 teams), Jian Shen, Gary Beal, Eugene Curtin and Thaleia Zariphopoulou (from the University of Texas). Six students were named as regional finalists, competing at the University of Texas and MIT.
Project titles include:
1. “General Properties of Partisan Subtraction Games,” Mentor Nate Dean. Team members were Stephanie Chan (Sugar Land), Jeffrey Chen (Sugar Land), R. J. Lim (Indianapolis) Semi-finalists
2. “Mathematical Games/Geography,” Mentor Nate Dean. Mark Zhang (Sugar Land), Jon Gonzales (San Antonio), Wesley Chen (Austin) Regional finalists
3. “L(3,2,1) Labeling in Graphs,” Mentor Jian Shen. Amy Proctor (Austin), Jasmine Thum (Austin), Kimberly Yeh (Sugar Land). Semi-finalists
4. “Modeling Gas Diffusion through Nanocomposites,” Mentor Gary Beall. Faith Chan (Abilene), Kevin Luecke (Austin), Bryan Wigianto (Arlington). Semi-finalists
5. “Risk Neutral Exchange Options in Energy Markets,” Mentor Eugene Curtin and Thaelia Zariphopoulou. Jeffrey Chan (Sugar Land), Jian Shiao (Plano), Aman Sharma (Sugar Land), Regional finalists.
Texas Mathworks is a center for mathematics education that develops model programs and self-sustaining learning communities that engage Texas K-12 students from all backgrounds in doing mathematics at a high level. Mathworks was honored by Governor Perry as one of five programs in Texas to receive the 2001 Texas Higher Education Star Award for Closing the Gaps, in recognition of its success in raising the mathematics level for all students, particularly underserved groups. For more information about Mathworks programs, contact Texas Mathworks at 512-245-3439 or see www.txstate.edu/mathworks.