Saginaw Student Wins Kettering Math Contest

A junior at the Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy has won the prestigious Kettering University Mathematics Olympiad and will be awarded a full-tuition four and a half year scholarship to the nationally ranked engineering, mathematics, science, and business university in Flint.

Nicholas Triantafillou of Saginaw won the top scholarship prize and a $1,000 gift certificate to Best Buy during the seventh annual mathematics competition.

Second place went to Neil Gurram of Sterling Heights, a sophomore at Detroit Country Day. He won a half-tuition, four and a half year scholarship and a $700 Best Buy gift certificate.

Third prize was awarded to Philip Hu of Troy, a senior at Troy High School. He will receive a $300 Best Buy gift certificate.

Four fourth prizes of $100 each were also awarded to Ram Bhaskar of Farmington, a sophomore at the International Academy; Andrew Jeanguenat of Grosse Pointe Woods, a junior at Detroit Country Day; Roger Jia of Rochester Hills, a senior at Wylie E. Groves High School; and Allen Yuan of Northville, a freshman at Detroit Country Day.

In all, 45 high school students took the examination at Kettering on Saturday, Dec.1, the results of which were announced last week. The examination is designed for students in grades 9-12 but any student working toward a high school diploma who is currently enrolled in a public school, private school or a home-school program can sit for this examination.

The competition consists of four to six challenging problems and has a time limit of four hours. Mathematics faculty members Ruben Hayrapetyan, Ada Cheng and Joe Salacuse organize and run the competition.

“Our goal is to identify and encourage students with interests and abilities in mathematics,” Salacuse said.

For more on Kettering’s Mathematics Olympiad, including examination questions and solutions, and previous winners, visit www.kettering.edu/olympiad2007.

This year’s competition was financially supported by the Flint Area School Employees Credit Union, Chase Bank, and Kettering University.