Math academy off the charts in contest
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy students have taken success and multiplied it by two.
On Friday, the Aurora school announced it had two teams earn the highest possible ranking during the 12th annual international High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling.
Both IMSA teams received a "national outstanding" ranking. Only eight teams out of 277 that competed worldwide achieved that ranking.
"I was very, very pleased," said Steven Condie, a math teacher at IMSA. "We have had teams that have won 'national outstanding' before. But it's very rare that we get two teams that do that in the same year. The kids worked really hard at it."
As part of the contest, which took place in November, teams were given 36 hours to solve a mathematical modeling problem. Each team then had to prepare and submit a paper discussing their solution to the problem.
It took about two months for judges to review and rank all the teams' papers.
The first IMSA team - Derek Hardin of Morton Grove, Seohyun (Chris) Kim of Schaumburg, Vladislav Kontsevoi of Evanston and Yanchen (Jack) Shi of Dunlap - had to build a mathematical model to "devise an effective, feasible, and cost-efficient national water strategy for 2010 to meet the projected needs of the United States in 2025."
The second team - Paul Chung of Barrington, Bonny Jain of Moline, Andrew Lee of Darien and Sid Narayanan of Dunlap - had to create a mathematical model to compare the devastation of various-sized earthquakes and their resulting tsunamis on the six U.S. cities.
In addition, a third IMSA team received the rank of "regional outstanding." That team is comprised of Webster Guan of Lisle, Peter Lu of Lisle, Nolan Maloney of Naperville and Stanley Yuan of Naperville.
IMSA President Max McGee said students have consistently done well in international competitions.
"For the fifth consecutive year, IMSA's math teams have received the highest ranking possible in this international event showcasing how mathematics can be used to solve some of the world's most challenging scientific, economic and social problems," McGee said in a written statement. "IMSA students and coaches, both past and present, are to be commended for this amazing achievement."