KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Seven University of Kansas students won cash prizes at the 28th annual Mathematics Prize Competition.

A total of 18 students competed April 20 for prizes of $250, $150 and $100 for the top three places in the senior division and $200, $150 and $75 for the top three in the junior division.

Richard L. Robinson, a senior from Garnett, won the $250 first-place prize in the senior division, and Wenshauai Hou, a junior from Nanjing, China, was the $200 first-place prize in the junior division.

This year, two students shared the distinction of being named a top first-year student: Wen Gu, a freshman from Beijing, China, and Shenji Pan, a sophomore from Changshu, China.

Jeremy Martin, assistant professor of mathematics, directed the competition.

Martin said the competition problems are theoretical in the sense that they’re not about “real-world” applications of mathematics.

“I try to write the problems so as to test the solver’s creativity and general problem-solving skills, rather than his or her knowledge of a particular subject,” Martin said. “In other words, you can’t solve them by simply plugging in a formula (though formulas may help with parts of the problem); you need to figure out what is going on in an unfamiliar situation and apply what you know.”

For example, one of the junior division problems asked students to figure out the area of a figure shaped like a pillow.

“The curves that border the figure are all circular arcs, so you certainly have to know the formula for the area of a circle, which everyone should know,” Martin said. “But that formula by itself is not enough. The solution I had in mind involved slicing the pillow into smaller regions, using some of the symmetry of the figure to measure the smaller regions, then adding their areas back together. So part of solving the problem is realizing that this is the approach you need to take or, possibly, figuring out an entirely different method of solution.”

Martin said is it is not uncommon for him to write a problem with a solution in mind only to discover a student contestant came up with a better solution. This year’s problems are online at www.math.ku.edu/~jmartin/competition/2010.html.

The competition allowed three hours to complete six problems from all areas of mathematics. Students were permitted to use translation dictionaries but not calculators nor other notes.

The prize-winning and honorable mention students are listed below by hometown, level in school, major, parents’ names, high schools (when available) and prize.

ANDERSON COUNTY
From Garnett 66032
Richard Z. Robinson, senior in mathematics; son of Richard and Jerry Robinson; Anderson County High School; first in senior division

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Lenexa 66215 and Overland Park 66221
Jeffrey David Poskin, senior in mathematics; son of David Poskin and Joan Poskin; Rockhurst High School, Kansas City, Mo.; third in senior division

CHINA
From Beijing
Wen Gu, freshman in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; son of Chunbing Gu; Marion (Kan.) High School; third in junior division and top first-year student (tie)

Shixiang Xia, sophomore in mathematics; son of Xiang Xia; Nanjing Normal U Jiangni; second in junior division

From Changshu, Jiangsu
Shenji Pan, sophomore in economics and mathematics; son of Jian Pan; JiangSu Province Changshu high school; third in junior division and top first-year student (tie)

From Luoyang, Henan
Xiao Liang, senior in mathematics and chemical engineering; daughter of Guofang Liang; honorable mention

From Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province
Yue Chu, junior in mathematics; second in senior division

Wenshuai Hou, junior in electrical engineering; son of Hongqiang Hou; first in junior division

From Yantai
Yan Zhang, senior mechanical engineering; honorable mention