MEDIA RELEASE — February 6, 2009

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Canadian Mathematical Society

MEDIA RELEASE

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February 6, 2009

Sun Life Financial
Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge
Champions

OTTAWA, Ontario — Eight students earn top honours and nineteen students are named provincial winners in the 2008 Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC). The COMC is organized and administered by the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) in collaboration with the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (University of Waterloo). Over 8200 students from all across Canada wrote the thirteenth Open on November 19, 2008, an increase of 12.4% from 2007. Students had to solve 12 questions during the two and one-half hour time limit.

"Sun Life Financial has been supporting the Canadian Mathematical Society for over 60 years, and we are pleased to continue the tradition of promoting excellence in mathematics," said Dean Connor, President, Sun Life Financial Canada. "Congratulations to the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge champions on a tremendous achievement."

"The Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge is designed to provide an extra-curricular mathematics activity during the Fall term that is both accessible to a wide range of students and challenging to even the best students in the country," said Mr. Ian VanderBurgh, Director, CEMC (University of Waterloo), and Chair of the CMS COMC Committee. "In addition, the Open acts as a qualifying paper for the 2009 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad which will be written on March 25, 2009."

The top eight contestants in the 2008 Open are:

Frank Ban, Vincent Massey Secondary School, Windsor, On; Robin Cheng, Pinetree Secondary School, Coquitlam, BC; Neil Gurram, Indus Center for Academic Excellence (ICAE), Troy, MI; Jonathan Schneider, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, ON; Danny Shi, Sir Winston Churchill High School, Calgary, AB; Chen Sun, A.B. Lucas Secondary School, London, ON; Jarno Sun, Western Canada High School, Calgary, AB; Jonathan Zhou, Pinetree Secondary School, Coquitlam, BC.

For outstanding performance in the COMC, the 2008 Open Provincial Winners are:

Alberta -- Jarno Sun, Western Canada High School, Calgary; British Columbia -- Robin Cheng and Jonathan Zhou, Pinetree Secondary School, Coquitlam; Manitoba -- Hyung Muk Youn, Shaftesbury High School, Winnipeg; New Brunswick -- Xi Zhang, Saint John High School, Saint John; Newfoundland and Labrador -- Jordan Anstey, New World Island Academy, Summerford and Matthew Sullivan, Corner Brook Regional High School, Corner Brook; Nova Scotia -- Ji Duk Bae and Maria Tao, Halifax West High School, Halifax; Ontario Central -- Daniel Yoo, Thornhill Secondary School, Thornhill; Ontario East -- James Rickards, Colonel By Secondary School, Gloucester and Xiaoye Yin, O’Neill Collegiate Vocational Institute, Oshawa; Ontario Metro -- Jonathan Schneider, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto; Ontario North -- Yuhan Chen, Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate Vocational Institute, Thunder Bay; Ontario West -- Chen Sun, A.B. Lucas Secondary School, London; Prince Edward Island -- Shengyi Shi, Charlottetown Rural High School, Charlottetown; Québec -- Da Qi Chen, Centennial Regional High School, Greenfield Park; Saskatchewan -- Hao Sun, Centennial Collegiate, Saskatoon; International -- Neil Gurram, Indus Center for Academic Excellence (ICAE), Troy, Michigan.

"All the winners have done extremely well on a very challenging competition and have demonstrated analytical and creative problem-solving skills that are so essential for a wide range of career options," said Dr. Neal Madras, York University and Chair of the CMS Mathematical Competitions Committee.

Approximately 75 of the top students from the 2008 Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge have been invited to write the 2009 Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO). The CMO is Canada's premier mathematics competition organized and administered by the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS). "These top students will be busy honing their problem solving skills as they prepare for the 2009 CMO and try to be one of six students who will be chosen to represent Canada at the 2009 International Mathematical Olympiad in Bremen, Germany from 10 to 22 July 2009", said Dr. Graham Wright, CMS Executive Director. "These valuable enrichment activities are only possible because of the voluntary help received from many school, college and university teachers."

Subscriptions to the Canadian Mathematical Society’s internationally recognized problem solving journal CRUX with MAYHEM are awarded to the schools of those students invited to write the 2009 CMO.

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