[cmath] SIX STUDENTS SELECTED TO REPRESENT CANADA AT THE 2007 INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD IN HANOI, VIETNAM.

[Graham Wright]

SIX STUDENTS SELECTED TO REPRESENT CANADA AT THE 2007 INTERNATIONAL 
MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD IN HANOI, VIETNAM.


OTTAWA, Ontario Six of Canada?s best high school mathematics students have been 
chosen to represent their country at the 48th International Mathematical 
Olympiad (IMO). The IMO is the world championship mathematics competition for 
high school students and is being held this year in Hanoi, Vietnam from July 19 
to July 31, 2007.

"The six students have demonstrated the exceptional problem solving 
skills and creativity that is essential to compete against the very 
best at the international level," said Dr. Graham Wright, Executive 
Director of the Canadian Mathematical Society, the organization 
responsible for the selection and training of Canada?s IMO team. "They 
represent the best of our students and will be excellent ambassadors 
for Canada".

The six students ? Kent Huynh, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto 
(Ontario); Steven Karp, Lord Byng Secondary School, Vancouver (British 
Columbia); Jonathan Schneider, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto 
(Ontario); Yan (Cynthia) Li, Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute, 
Scarborough (Ontario); Alexander Remorov, William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate 
Institute, North York (Ontario) and Jarno (Chengyue) Sun, Western Canada High 
School, Calgary (Alberta) -- were selected from among more than 200,000 
students in grades 7 to 12 (plus CEGEP) who participated in local, provincial 
and national mathematics contests.

The Canadian team members, who must be less than 20 years old when they write 
the IMO competition, will be pitting their skills against more than 500 of the 
world?s best students from over 90 countries. The IMO competition paper, which 
is set by an international jury of mathematicians, will be written on 
Wednesday, July 25 and Thursday, July 26 and the medals awarded on Monday, July 
30. The contest consists of two exams, each consisting of three questions on 
each day with a time limit of four and one-half hours. ?It is a highly 
challenging mathematical ?hexathlon? and these are our Canadian mathletes,? 
commented Wright.

The team will be accompanied by the Team Leader, Dr. Bill Sands (University of 
Calgary), Calgary, Alberta, the Deputy Team Leader, Mr. Adrian Tang (University 
of Calgary) and the Deputy Observer, Ms. Minh-Lac Bui.

Canada first sent a team to an IMO competition in 1981 (Washington, USA). Since 
then, Canadian students have done very well, receiving a total of 16 gold, 34 
silver, and 58 bronze medals. At last year?s IMO in Ljubljana, (Slovenia), the 
Canadian team placed 15th out of the 90 competing countries and won six medals.

"These competitions allow Canadian high school students to compare their 
results with the best of those in other countries," said Dr. Edward Barbeau, 
University of Toronto and Chair of the CMS Mathematical Competitions Committee. 
"It should be noted that Canadian students do very well even though in many 
countries high school finishes at age 19."

The six students will be attending a special IMO Training Camp at the 
University of Calgary and at the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) in 
Banff, Alberta from July 6 to July 22, 2007. The IMO Team Send-off Luncheon 
will be held on July 10 at 12:00 AM. The media can meet the team at 11:00 AM on 
July 10th in the Learning Commons, 5th Floor, Biological Sciences Building, 
University of Calgary. The team will leave for Vietnam on July 18 and will 
return to Canada on July 31, 2007.

In addition to the Canadian Mathematical Society, sponsors of the 2007 Canadian 
IMO team include: the Imperial Oil Foundation; Sun Life Financial; the Ontario 
Ministry of Education; Alberta Learning; Nova Scotia Department of Education; 
the Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Education; the Northwest Territories 
Ministry of Education; the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education; the Samuel 
Beatty Fund; Maplesoft; Banff International Research Station; the Fields 
Institute; the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences; University of 
Calgary; the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New 
Brunswick at Fredericton; the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, 
University of Ottawa; the Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto; the 
Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing, University of Waterloo and 
the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University.




For more information, contact:


Dr. Graham P. Wright
Executive Director
Canadian Mathematical Society
Tel: (613) 562-5702
Cel: (613) 290-3046

director at cms.math.ca


Dr. Ed Barbeau
Chair ? Mathematical Competitions Committee
Department of Mathematics
University of Toronto
Tel: (416)-653-1961

barbeau at math.toronto.edu