March 12 – Dr. Andreescu – AIME is Practically Here!

OK, by popular demand following his March 5th AIME training session, Dr. Andreescu will return as next week’s speaker to continue training our students for AIME.  Whether you qualified this year or hope to in the future, do not miss this opportunity to train with the former Director of AMC and coach of the US IMO team.

Dr. Titu Andreescu, University of Texas at Dallas

Titu Andreescu received his Ph.D. from the West University of Timisoara, Romania. The topic of his dissertation was “Research on Diophantine Analysis and Applications.” Professor Andreescu currently teaches at The University of Texas at Dallas. He is past chairman of the USA Mathematical Olympiad, served as director of the MAA American Mathematics Competitions (1998–2003), coach of the USA International Mathematical Olympiad Team (IMO) for 10 years (1993–2002), director of the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (1995–2002), and leader of the USA IMO Team (1995–2002). In 2002 Titu was elected member of the IMO Advisory Board, the governing body of the world’s most prestigious mathematics competition. Titu co-founded in 2006 and continues as director of the AwesomeMath Summer Program (AMSP). He received the Edyth May Sliffe Award for Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching from the MAA in 1994 and a “Certificate of Appreciation” from the president of the MAA in 1995 for his outstanding service as coach of the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program in preparing the US team for its perfect performance in Hong Kong at the 1994 IMO. Titu’s contributions to numerous textbooks and problem books are recognized worldwide. Related articles on this site.

I also found out last week that many people were unfamiliar with the book Count Down by Steve Olson and the prominent role played in it by Dr. Andreescu as it describes the US team’s triumph at the IMO.

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October 23 – Dr. Andreescu, AMC 8 Preparation

Dr. Titu Andreescu will give the lecture himself next week and focus on helping the students prepare for the upcoming AMC 8 test.  I’ll describe the importance of the AMC 8 below, but even students too old to take this particular test (over 8th grade) will find a great deal of value in this lecture from the former director of the AMC which they can apply to their preparation for the AMC 10 or 12.

AMC 8 is the first in a sequence of contests offered by the Mathematical Association of America.  The results of these tests are ultimately used to select the team that will represent the US at the International Mathematical Olympiad, but the scores are also critical to distinguish a college application from the many perfect SAT math scores received by the elite universities.

Here is information on the AMC 8 for those unfamiliar:

The AMC 8 is a 25 question, 40 minute multiple choice examination in middle school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem solving skills. This school year it will be held Tuesday, November 16, 2010. Click here for a current brochure.

The examination provides an opportunity to apply the concepts taught at the junior high level to problems which not only range from easy to difficult but also cover a wide range of applications. Many problems are designed to challenge students and to offer problem solving experiences beyond those provided in most junior high school mathematics classes. Calculators are not allowed starting in 2008. High scoring students are invited to participate in the AMC 10.

A special purpose of the AMC 8 is to demonstrate the broad range of topics available for the junior high school mathematics curriculum. This is done by competencies. The AMC 8 has the potential to increase the perceptions of the importance of problem solving activities in the mathematics curriculum by stimulating these activities both preceding and following the examination —specifically by studying the solutions manual.

Additional purposes of the AMC 8 are to promote excitement, enthusiasm and positive attitudes towards mathematics and to stimulate interest in continuing the study of mathematics beyond the minimum required for high school graduation. Developmentally, junior high school students are at a point where attitudes toward school and learning, and perceptions of themselves as learners of mathematics are solidified. It is important that they be provided opportunities that foster the development of positive attitudes towards mathematics and positive perceptions of themselves as learners of mathematics. The AMC 8 provides one such opportunity.

We encourage all students in grades 6, 7 and 8 to participate in the AMC 8. All USA, USA embassy, Canadian and foreign school students in grade 8 or below are eligible to participate.

 

 

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Congratulations Team USA

Congratulations to the US team at the 2010 IMO for taking third place.  Benjamin Gunby, a participant in last year’s AwesomeMath camp came away with a Gold medal in his first IMO!  Here are the members of the US team and their achievements:

• Evan O’Dorney, Gold
• Xiaoyu He, Gold
• Benjamin Gunby, Gold
• Calvin Deng, Silver
• In Sung Na, Silver
• Allen Yuan, Silver

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2010 US IMO Team Announced

Just saw on Art of Problem Solving the 6 students chosen to represent the US in the 2010 IMO.  Congratulations!

• Calvin Deng
• Ben Gunby
• Xiaoyu He
• In-Sung Na
• Evan O’Dorney
• Allen Yuan

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March 6 – Dr. Zoran Sunic – Space Filling Curves

Dr. Sunic will provide several examples of space filling curves (such as Peano, Hilbert, and Moore curve), along with a general strategy that lies behind these constructions and applications to computer science.

Dr. Sunic teaches at Texas A&M University, is a former coach of the US IMO Team (team) and a current member of the USAMO Committee.

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Dr. Zuming Feng – Diophantine Equations Recap

Dr. Zuming Feng, coach of the US IMO team and author of multiple books on Olympiad problem solving, shared valuable techniques for solving the Diophantine Equations which occur frequently in problem solving contests.

The students worked through a series of increasingly difficult problems and Dr. Feng guided them through ways to leverage their number sense and algebra to limit the number of possible solutions saving them invaluable time in a contest situation.

If you missed Dr. Feng this weekend we are happy to say that he will be returning to Metroplex Math Circle on March 7th.   The video below shows Dr. Feng discussing solutions to the 2006 International Mathematics Olympiad.

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December 6: Dr. Tanya Khovanova

After Dr. Benjamin’s special November 19 presentation, Metroplex Math Circle will be on break for the next two Saturdays to allow people to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday.

We will return for our last lecture of the semester December 6 with Dr. Tanya Khovanova who will deliver two talks:

1. Binary Numbers

I will teach binary numbers, show a magic trick and we will play with binary dollars.

2. Integers and Sequences

Have you ever heard of untouchable numbers? How about aspiring numbers?  I will tell you what they are.  I will talk about perfect numbers and how they are connected to Mersenne primes. I will talk about the biggest known prime number.  Have you ever wondered what is the most famous number sequence? What is the most versatile sequence? We will discuss that.  What is the largest amount of coin money you can have without being able to make change for a dollar? You can bring your answer to this seminar. What is so special about 1089? You will learn that too. Is 42 (The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything) more famous than 47 (the secret Star Trek TNG number)? You will get the answer to that.  I will also show you the Internet resources about numbers. You will be able to find out many things about your favorite numbers.

Dr. Khovanova has had a varied and interesting career.  She grew up in Russia where she participated in many math competitions, winning 3 gold medals at the national level and one gold and a silver at the IMO.  She earned her PhD in Mathematics at Moscow State University.

Until recently Dr. Khovanova worked in Battle Management until recently deciding to return to academia.  She currently holds a position as a Visiting Scholar at Math Dept at MIT.   In addition, Dr. Khovanova is a math competition coach at the Advanced Math and Sciences Academy.

You can read more about Dr. Tanya Khovanova on her blog.

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Math Circe Profile: Berkeley

It might be interesting to look at several of the thriving Math Circles around the country.  The Berkeley Math Circle has an excellent site with monthly contest problems available for download.  Berkeley is also an excellent example of the positive impact that a Math Circle can have on its community.  Here is some information from the Berkeley site on their outstanding alumni:

The success of Berkeley Math Circle in identifying and fostering talent is striking. Although the BMC only started in 1998, the 6-member team at the International Math Olympiad (held in Washington, D.C., July 2001) included 3 members from this program:

• Gabriel Carroll, graduated from Harvard as a math major and currently attending the Ph.D. program in Economics at MIT. He has won 2 Gold and 1 Silver medals at the IMO (including one perfect score in 2001), and won the Putnam competition 4 times. He was the grand prize BAMO winner 3 times.

• Tiankai Liu, now at Harvard, won 3 Gold medals at the IMO. He attended the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program at Duluth, Minnesota in Summer 2007.

• Oaz Nir has won 1 gold and 1 silver medal and has graduated from Duke University as a math major.

The three Berkeley Math Circle students contributed to the USA’s second-place finish among over 80 countries at the International Mathematics Olympiad in 2001. In 2002, students from the Berkeley Math Circle and BAMO continued to do exceptionally well in mathematics competitions. Over the years, a number of Berkeley Math Circle students were among the top twelve winners of the USA Math Olympiad, and one was among the five students in the US with a perfect score: Inna Zakharevich (Henry Gunn High School, Palo Alto, Currently a student at Harvard University). Several other Circle students qualified for the summer training program of the US team several years in a row. Evan O’Dorney, only in 8th grade, qualified among the top 24 students for the training of the USA Math Team in Summer 2007. He further won the Grand Prize at BAMO 2007 with a perfect score. Additionally, he has been a three-time finalist and 2007 Champion at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.

Among other famous alumni of BMC and BAMO, it is worth mentioning Maxim Maydanskiy who tied for first place with Gabriel Carroll at BAMO 2001. Maxim was admitted to UC Berkeley, and upon recommendation from the BMC circle coordinator, Dr. Stankova, his Circle and Olympiad activities played a major role in awarding him the Regent’s scholarship, the most prestigious UC Berkeley scholarship for entering undergraduates. While at UC Berkeley, he also attended the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program at Duluth, Minnesota, and is currently a Ph.D. student in Mathematics at MIT.

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2006 IMO Problems Day 2

This is the continuation of the interviews with the 2006 US IMO team. The first speaker, is ZEB Brady. ZEB spent part of his summer at UT Dallas working at Dr. Andreescu’s prestigious summer camp, AwesomeMath. ZEB was a gold medalist at the 2006 IMO.

These particular problems are much harder than the level normally discussed at math circles, but the strategies of problem solving can be very similar. It is interesting to hear how even these brilliant students struggled with problem number 6.

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The Road to the IMO

Several postings have concerned the International Math Olympiad which is a bold aspiration for many Math Circle participants. But there are several steps on the road to representing the US on the IMO team and each one of those steps has its own challenges and rewards.

The IMO team is selected from among the top performers on the USAMO (United States of America Math Olympiad).

The USAMO is a six question, two day, 9 hour essay/proof examination. All problems can be solved with pre-calculus methods. Approximately 500 of the top scoring AMC participants (based on a weighted average) are invited to take the USAMO.

Just sitting for the USAMO requires a distinguished performance on the AIME, AMC 12 or AMC 10 tests.

The AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination):

The AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination) is an intermediate examination between the AMC 10 or AMC 12 and the USAMO. All students who took the AMC 12 and achieved a score of 100 or more out of a possible 150 are invited to take the AIME. All students who took the AMC 10 and had a score of 120 or were in the top 1% also qualify for the AIME.

The AMC 10 and AMC 12 test are administered to hundreds of thousands of high school students. Many of the universities who routinely reject applicants with 800 SAT Math scores are requiring submission of AMC test scores.

A special purpose of the AMC 12 is to help identify those few students with truly exceptional mathematics talent. Students who are among the very best deserve some indication of how they stand relative to other students in the country and around the world .

To prepare for these challenging and potentially life altering tests, AMC offers the AMC 8 eligible to students through the 8th grade.

The AMC 8 is a 25 question, 40 minute multiple choice examination in junior high school (middle school) mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem solving skills. The examination provides an opportunity to apply the concepts taught at the junior high level to problems which not only range from easy to difficult but also cover a wide range of applications. Many problems are designed to challenge students and to offer problem solving experiences beyond those provided in most junior high school mathematics classes.

Math Circles have a great deal to offer beyond improving performance on this series of tests. However, Metroplex Math Circle is particularly fortunate to have as its Director, Dr. Titu Andreescu, the former Director of AMC and Coach of the US IMO team. He has generously shared his experience with MMC students to help them prepare for these critical steps on the road to the IMO.

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