News

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Dos Pueblos High School Team Returns from China with the Silver

Dos Pueblos High School seniors Angela Dai, Caroline Kim, and John Kim returned from last week’s international Shing-Tung Yau High School Mathematics Awards competition in Beijing, where they took second place. This was the first year of the international project-based competition in mathematical sciences. The awards ceremony was held last Friday, October 24, at Tai Miao, a 600-year-old imperial temple. The three Dos Pueblos High School team members were recognized for their study on invertibility probability of binary matrices. The team was awarded a glass trophy, individual plaques, and a cash prize.

From left: Professor Yau, John Kim, Angela Dai, and Caroline Kim in Beijing.

The competition, funded by John Templeton Foundation and Taikang Life Insurance, is open to students of Chinese descent outside Greater China. In mid-September 2008, three-member teams competed at the regional level and winners advanced to the October international competition in Beijing. Once in Beijing, the teams presented their research in English to professors and researchers from around the world.

The Shing-Tung Yau High School Mathematics Awards is named for Professor Shing-Tung Yau, a Harvard University mathematician and professor. Professor Yau is best known for solving the Calabi conjecture on the existence of the Kahler-Einstein metric, which now plays a central role in string theory. The impact of his work has affected many areas of modern mathematics and physics.

Professor Yau feels that high school students should have exceptional mathematical education in order to meet future challenges. “These young students are not necessarily going to be mathematicians in the future. However, good training in math during high school is of great value and will contribute enormously to a nation’s technological development,” he said.

Caroline Kim, John Kim, and Angela Dai in Beijing.