STUDENTS EXCEL IN CANADA’S NATIONAL MATH CHALLENGE

OTTAWA, Ontario — Five students have earned top honours after competing with almost 8800 students in the 2010 Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC).

The top ranked students in the 2010 COMC are:

• Calvin Deng, Cary Academy, Cary, NC (Canadian citizen)
• Mariya Sardarli, Strathcona Composite High School, Edmonton, AB
• Alex Song, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI (Canadian citizen)
• Hunter Spink, Western Canada High School, Calgary, AB
• Susan Sun, West Vancouver Secondary School, Vancouver, BC

In addition, seventeen students have been named provincial champions, 155 have been awarded provincial medals, and over 200 have been listed on the contest’s honour roll.

The Sun Life Financial 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). The COMC was written on November 24, 2010, attracting participants from every province as well as over 1000 international students.

“Sun Life Financial is proud to promote excellence in mathematics through the Canadian Mathematical Society, an organization we have supported for over 60 years,” said Kevin Dougherty, President, Sun Life Financial Canada. “Congratulations to the COMC champions for their outstanding achievement.”

“The COMC is the premier national mathematics competition that is open to anyone with an interest in mathematics,” said Jacques Hurtubise, President of the CMS. “The competition is designed to encourage students to explore, discover, and learn more about mathematics, and to develop analytical and problem solving skills that will be essential to their future careers.”

The COMC is the first in a series of CMS competitions leading to the selection of the Canadian student team to compete in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). The top COMC scorers have received an invitation to write the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO), an advanced competition written only by expressly invited students.

About the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS)

The CMS is the national mathematics organization whose goal is to promote the advancement, discovery, learning, and application of mathematics. The Society's activities cover the whole spectrum of mathematics including: scientific meetings, research publications, and the promotion of excellence in mathematics education at all levels. The CMS annually sponsors mathematics awards and prizes that recognize outstanding achievements.