Wednesday, 11 November 2009

More than 300 of the State's best young mathematicians from 32 schools tackled some complex problems in the WA Junior Mathematics Olympiad held at the UWA last Sunday.

High schools were invited to enter teams of four students to compete for more than $3,000 in prizes in several categories. The event drew almost 50 per cent more students than last year.

Organising committee chairperson, UWA's Professor Cheryl Praeger , said the competition showed students how much fun maths could be. "It also provides opportunities for skills development and recognition of outstanding achievers," Professor Praeger said.

The Year Nine winner of the team event was Hale School, Team 1 of Alan Wang, Michael Warton, Jaryl Goh and Emrik Graff. The Year Nine individual prize went to Michael Warton (Hale School) and Kathleen Dyer (St. Hilda's Anglican School for Girls) who tied with a perfect score.

The Year Eight winner of the team event was Perth Modern School, Team 2 of Diffy Zhou, Michael Poon, Jane Punyanitya and Ee Faye Chong. The Year Eight individual prize went to Edward Yoo (All Saints' College) who received a perfect score.

Four additional awards were also presented: the Phill Schultz Prize went to Ferris Xu, from All Saints' College. This prize is awarded to the high school student who has demonstrated the most outstanding performance in Mathematics Challenge activities such as Mathematical Olympiads and other competitions during the previous year. And three WA Mathematics Olympiad Committee Special Awards were presented to Xin Zheng Tan  from All Saints' College, Alexander Chua from Christ Church Grammar School and Benjamin Joseph from Hale School.

Sponsors of the Junior Olympiad included UWA's School of Mathematics and Statistics, departments from Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University and Murdoch University, Data Analysis Australia, the WA Department of Education, the Mathematics Association of Western Australia and New Edition Book Shop.

For details about the event and all of the award recipients, please visit the website .

Narelle Molloy (Engineering, Computing and Mathematics)  (+61 8)  6488 3388
Winthrop Professor Cheryl Praeger AO FAA  (+61 8)  6488 3344

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