May 26, 2008
40TH CANADIAN MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD WINNERS
OTTAWA, Ontario - Eight students receive top honours in the 40th Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO). The CMO, Canada's premier mathematics competition, is organized and administered by the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS). A total of 96 students from 58 schools wrote the 2008 CMO, selected on the basis of their performance in the 2007 Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) (November 21, 2007), the CMS Correspondence Training Programme and other mathematics competitions. Students had to solve five difficult questions during the three-hour 2008 CMO examination held on March 26, 2008.
"Preparing for the Olympiad gives students the opportunity to explore mathematics beyond the regular curriculum. The candidates become very knowledgeable and skilled at mathematics, and I congratulate the winners of this year's Canadian Mathematical Olympiad." said Dr. Edward Barbeau, University of Toronto, and Chair of the CMS Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Committee.
2008 Prize Winners: The top winners in the 40th Canadian Mathematical Olympiad are: FIRST PRIZE and the Sun Life Financial Cup - Chen Sun, A.B. Lucas Secondary School, London, ON; SECOND PRIZE - Jonathan Schneider, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, ON; THIRD PRIZE - Yan (Cynthia) Li, Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON; HONOURABLE MENTIONS were awarded to: Dimitri Dziabenko, Don Mills Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON; Neil Gurram, Indus Center for Academic Excellence, Troy, MI, USA; XiaoLin Shi, Sir Winston Churchill High School, Calgary, AB; Chengyue (Jarno) Sun, Western Canada High School, Calgary, AB; and Tianyao Zhang, Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON.
Over 7300 students wrote the 2007 Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge and the winners of the 2007 Open and the 2008 CMO will be honoured at the CMS Awards Banquet which will take place in the Festival Ballroom, South Campus Hall, University of Waterloo, on Thursday, June 12, 2008, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
"All of these winners have done extremely well in a very challenging competition. The students who participate in these competitions develop the creative problem-solving skills so valuable in today's workplace." said Dr. Graham Wright, Executive Director, Canadian Mathematical Society.
The Society is very grateful for the support received from Sun Life Financial; Imperial Oil Foundation; Alberta Learning; Department of Education (New Brunswick); the Department of Education (Newfoundland and Labrador); the Department of Education (Northwest Territories); the Department of Education (Nova Scotia); Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth; the Ministry of Education (Ontario); the Department of Education (Saskatchewan); Nelson Thomson Learning; John Wiley and Sons Canada Ltd.; A.K. Peters Ltd.; Maplesoft; the Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto; the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Ottawa; the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Calgary; the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Regina; the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University; the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing, University of Waterloo; and the Department of Mathematics, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Problems, solutions and other contest information are available at:
cms.math.ca/Competitions/CMO/
For more information, contact
Dr. Graham P. Wright
Canadian Mathematical Society Executive Director
director@cms.math.ca
(613) 562-5702
or
Dr. Edward Barbeau
Chair, CMS Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Committee
Department of Mathematics
University of Toronto
barbeau@math.toronto.edu
(416) 653-1961
