Larry Shen of Oak Ridge High School was one of 10 students who recently won $4,000 annual scholarships to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in a UT-Pro2Serve Math Contest. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)
KNOXVILLE—Ten students were recently awarded $4,000 annual scholarships to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in a UT-Pro2Serve Math Contest.
More than 600 students from 50 Tennessee high schools participated in the competition held Nov. 14 at UT.
The scholarship winners included Larry Shen of Oak Ridge High School.
The other nine winners were:
- Jia Liang of Collierville High in Collierville
- Sanghwah “Samuel” Rhee of McCallie School in Chattanooga
- Jason Wen of McCallie School in Chattanooga
- Anwesh Dash of White Station High in Memphis
- Sajant Anand of Science Hill High in Johnson City
- Saaber Pourmotabbed of White Station High in Memphis
- Queena Lu of Pope John Paul II High in Hendersonville
- Yunhua Zhao of Memphis University School in Memphis
- Zachary Strickland of Webb School of Knoxville in Knoxville
Scholarships are funded by UT and Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek.
The honorable mention winners (those who have previously won scholarships) were:
- Dylan Young of University School of Nashville in Nashville
- Hyungdon Joo of Farragut High in Farragut
- Kevin Sun of Collierville High in Collierville
- Garret Sullivan of Memphis University School in Memphis
- Richard Ouyang of Memphis University School in Memphis
- Gene Li of Ravenwood High in Brentwood
The contest had two parts. All participants took a multiple-choice test on algebra and geometry called the Fundamental Exams of Remarkable Mathematical Ability and Talent (FERMAT I). The five top scorers received a plaque.
The top-scoring students were:
- Jia Lang of Collierville High in Collierville
- Lucy Huang of Collierville High in Collierville
- Sangway Rhee of McCallie School in Chattanooga
- Ohm Patel of White Station High in Memphis
- Yunhua Zhao of Memphis University School in Memphis
Students with the top 50 scores on the FERMAT I moved on to the FERMAT II, which included eight essay questions requiring creative and original thinking. All exams were hand-graded by faculty members from UT’s Department of Mathematics.
The second part of the contest was the Math Bowl, a double-elimination team competition. Sixty-four high school teams competed head-to-head to be the fastest to answer 10 math questions correctly. Winners won a trophy, a T-shirt, and a medallion.
The winners were:
- Small schools: First place, Memphis University School, Memphis; second place, the University School of Nashville, Nashville.
- Large school (and overall): First place, Ravenwood High, Memphis; second place, Collierville High, Collierville.
The contest was presented by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Mathematics and UT alumnus Barry Goss and his company, Professional Project Services Inc. (Pro2Serve).
Pro2Serve provides technical and engineering services that support the infrastructures of government and private industry and help ensure national security. The media sponsor was the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Leave a Reply