Promising numbers at annual Maths Challenge

Over a hundred high school students were put to the test this week during a day-long maths competition at Victoria University.

Run jointly by the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research and the Wellington Mathematics Association, the competition gave students from ten schools around the Wellington region the chance to work on challenging mathematical problems.

“It’s a great, fun event with plenty of prizes and challenges. Students travelled from as far as Paraparaumu to participate”, says organiser and School Liaison Rebecca Burke.

Students were quizzed with short Olympiad-style questions in the morning, followed by a large multifaceted problem in the afternoon.

Wellington College were named winners, ahead of Onslow College and another team from Wellington College who placed second equal.

Impressed with the efforts of all the teams, the judging panel—consisting of academics and postgraduates led by one of the School’s Rutherford Discovery Fellows, Dillon Mayhew—also named Chilton Saint James School as Most Consistent, and Scots College as the best Team Player.

The event, first run in 2014, aims to bridge the gap between high school students and University, as well as provide an opportunity to hear from graduate students and learn what Victoria’s maths programmes offer.

Rebecca hopes the event will continue to run annually and grow bigger.

“Despite being held during school holidays we received a great turn out, with bigger numbers than last year. There is a demand for this kind of event and it would be great to reach out to even more College students.”