LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., May 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Chad Qian of Indianapolis, Ind., won the 2012 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS® National Competition Friday at the Walt Disney World® Swan and Dolphin Resort after an intense final competition before a packed live and webcast audience. This year's winning Mathlete® answered the following math problem to be crowned national champion of this year's competition:
Question: A bag of coins contains only pennies, nickels and dimes with at least
five of each. How many different combined values are possible if five coins are
selected at random?
Answer: 21 (values)
The 8th-grader from Sycamore School competed against more than 200 other middle school students in the prestigious academic event. The best and brightest middle school mathematics students engaged in a multi-day competition that included a written exam and culminated in the lightning speed Countdown Round.
Chad Qian was victorious in the intense, one-on-one Countdown Round, in which the top 12 Mathletes vied for the title of this year's Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Champion. Ashwin Sah of Portland, Ore., was awarded the second-place individual title with Allen Liu of Penfield, NY, and Kevin Sun of Lisle, Ill., advancing to the semifinals.
"We congratulate the champions and all of the 2012 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition competitors," said William H. Swanson, Raytheon Company CEO and Chairman and 2012 MATHCOUNTS honorary chairman. "The hard work and dedication to math that propelled these brilliant young minds to the national stage will serve our nation well if they continue pursuing such high achievements. We hope many of them will eventually embark on careers in science, technology, engineering and math to become our next wave of technologists and innovators."
"My congratulations extend to all 224 participants who displayed their utmost enthusiasm for mathematics during the Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition," said Lou DiGioia, executive director of MATHCOUNTS. "These Mathletes have worked hard throughout the entire year, and they should be extremely proud of their concerted efforts that brought them to math's biggest stage."
As National Champion, Chad Qian won the $8,000 Donald G. Weinert Scholarship and a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. Ashwin Sah won a $6,000 scholarship for achieving second place in the Individual category. Semifinalists Allen Liu and Kevin Sun each won a $4,000 scholarship. Sean Shi, of Saratoga, Calif., won an $8,000 scholarship as the Written Round winner, and Alec Sun also won a $6,000 scholarship as Written Round runner-up. Additionally, each member of the winning National Team from Massachusetts won a $2,000 scholarship and a trip to space camp.
Student representatives from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands and the Department of Defense and State Department schools worldwide participated in the 2012 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition. To advance to the national competition, students had to place in the top four of their peers during their state competition in March after advancing through local and chapter-level competitions.
About MATHCOUNTS
MATHCOUNTS® is a non-profit national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement in every U.S. state and territory, and is one of the most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and students in America. MATHCOUNTS offers teachers, kids and parents free materials to aid them in math enrichment and prepare for a high-tech future that will require mathematics related skills to achieve success. Materials and information are available at the newly redesigned website www.mathcounts.org.
About MathMovesU
Raytheon's MathMovesU® program is an initiative committed to increasing middle and elementary school students' interest in math and science education by engaging them in hands-on, interactive activities. The innovative programs of MathMovesU include the traveling interactive experience MathAlive!'; Raytheon's Sum of all Thrills' experience at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot®, which showcases math in action as students design and experience their own thrill ride using math fundamentals; the "In the Numbers" game, a partnership with the New England Patriots on display at The Hall at Patriot Place' presented by Raytheon; the company's ongoing sponsorship of the MATHCOUNTS® National Competition; and the MathMovesU scholarship and grant program. Follow MathMovesU and other Raytheon community outreach programs on Facebook and on Twitter at @MathMovesU.
Raytheon Company, with 2011 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 90 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 71,000 people worldwide. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @raytheon.
SOURCE MATHCOUNTS
