Ohio Mathematics Contest coming to Wright State on April 12

Munsup Seoh, statistics professor; Kathy Engisch, associate dean for undergraduate education and outreach; and College of Science and Mathematics Dean Yi Li.

Anyway you add it up, math plays a crucial role in everyday life. While it may be a tormenting subject for some, others believe math offers a one-way ticket to success.

On Saturday, April 12, Wright State will host the Ohio Mathematics Competition, bringing hundreds of upper-elementary, middle school and high school students together to crunch the numbers. Winners of the competition will receive up to $10,000 in renewable scholarship money to attend Wright State.

The contest is designed to reward math achievement by local students and entice the winners to investigate further opportunities at Wright State.

“We really like to encourage high-level students—which, by definition, the winners of these contests are—to think of Wright State as a place to come,” said Kathy Engisch, Ph.D., associate dean for undergraduate education and outreach in Wright State’s College of Science and Mathematics. “We consider this a way to communicate with the community and to get students who are at the younger levels to begin to know what Wright State is.”

Part of the National Math and Science Competition (NMSC), the contest is organized by the Dayton branch of the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) and hosted by Wright State’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, with support from the Office of the President.

Each of the ninth-, 10th- and 11th-grade first-place winners will receive $2,500 in annual scholarships for tuition to Wright State for up to four years. Second-place winners in this age bracket will receive $1,000 in annual scholarships, and third-place winners will receive $500 in annual scholarships.

In addition, the first-, second-, and third-place winners in grades nine, 10 and 11 will receive $150, $100 and $50 in prize money, respectively; the same place winners in grades four through eight will receive $100, $75 and $50.

The contest will be held simultaneously in other states. The winners from each state will advance to the NMSC headquarters in Washington, D.C., where the national math champions are determined and awarded cash prizes up to $500.

Munsup Seoh, Ph.D., statistics professor at Wright State and president of the KSEA Dayton branch, said the math contest will be a challenging and exciting experience for participants.

“The overall purpose of the contest is to emphasize the importance of math and to stimulate students into thinking about their future,” Seoh said. “We want to promote the STEM field through a little friendly competition.”

All local students in grades four through 11 are encouraged to participate in the Ohio contest at Wright State.

The contest format is that of a standard examination. Calculators of any kind are not permitted, and students must complete the exam using only a pencil. There are 25 questions on each exam, different for each grade and designed to be challenging. The questions were prepared by experts appointed by the NMSC committee.

The entry fee is $20 per student if submitted before April 5. The entry fee is $30 for those who register after April 5 or on-site the day of the April 12 contest.

Registration information is available on the KSEA NMSC and International Math Competition 2014 website.

Participating students must check in by 1:20 p.m. in the foyer of the Mathematical and Microbiological Sciences Building. Orientation will begin at 1:30 p.m., and the exams will be administered shortly thereafter. Contest winners will be announced and awards will be presented at an award ceremony at 4:30 p.m.

Additional details are available on the Ohio Mathematics Contest website.