Three earn honors at annual campus mathematics competition
Monday, April 14, 2014
MANHATTAN — Three Kansas State University students are showing how skills in mathematics can add up to success.
The students are the top winners in the university's 16th annual S. Thomas Parker Mathematics Competition, which took place March 29. The competition is part of the annual nationwide observance Mathematics Awareness Month and is conducted to encourage Kansas State University students to strengthen their mathematical skills as well as promotes mathematics education among students.
The S. Thomas Parker endowment and university's Math Club fund the competition. The competition is open to all full-time Kansas State University students who are in their first two years of college. Participants were given three hours to solve five problems in mathematics ranging from high school level to the first two years of collegiate mathematics.
This year's competition committee included three Kansas State University mathematics professors, two postdoctoral students and one graduate student.
Winners of the 2014 S. Thomas Parker Mathematics Competition Winners are: Jessica McCall, mathematics and biology major, Topeka, first place; Natalie Davis, chemical engineering major, Hutchinson, second-place tie; and Yichao Zhang, chemical engineering major, China, second-place tie.
Awards will be presented Tuesday, April 29, at the annual Friends of Mathematics Banquet. Each Parker competition winner will receive a cash award and two certificates, a personal certificate and a framed certificate for a student organization of their choice, honoring its member's achievement.
For more information on the competition such as past winners, old exams and their solutions, see the Parker competition website at http://www.math.ksu.edu/events/parker-mathcomp/ or call the mathematics department at 785-532-6750.
