AMS Menger Awards Made

Providence, RI--The 2001 Intel-International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) was held May 6-12, 2001, in the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California. This year marked the 52nd anniversary of the ISEF. Nearly 1,200 ninth- through twelfth-graders qualified to compete by winning top prizes in local, regional, and state fairs in the United States or national science fairs abroad. ISEF Special Award prizes were given by over 50 organizations including the AMS. These prizes include scholarships, cash awards, T-shirts, magazines and books.

This was the fourteenth year of participation in ISEF by the AMS, and the twelfth year of presentation of the Karl Menger Memorial Awards. The AMS Special Awards Panel of Judges included Gisele Goldstein (University of Memphis), Marius Nkashama (University of Alabama, Birmingham), and Julian Palmore, chair (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). The judges also comprise the AMS Menger Prize Committee. The panel of judges reviewed forty-eight projects, all in mathematics. Each project was inspected by a panel member, and each student was interviewed. To select the winning projects, the panel conducted additional interviews with the student finalists. There was one first-place award, two second-place awards, and four third-place awards. The winners were given cash prizes, and they and the seven honorable mention winners were given copies of What's Happening in the Mathematical Sciences, Volume 4, by Barry Cipra (published by the AMS); and a short biography of Karl Menger, in whose honor the awards are named.

The Karl Menger Memorial prize winners were as follows:

First Place (US$1,000): Abdur Rasheed Sabar, "Integral Products of Laguerre Polynomials and Their Discrete Analogues," Senior, Parkway West High School, Ballwin, Missouri.

Second Place (US$500): Yuri Georgievich Kudryashov, "Realization of Graphs and Surfaces in the Book with Three Pages," Sophomore, Kolmogorov College, Moscow, Russia; Serge A. Tishchenko, "Separators in Planar Graphs as a New Characterization Tool," Junior, Vtoraia Shkola, Moscow, Russia.

Third Place (US$250): Jason Wah Lone Chiu, "On the Hamiltonian Decompositions of Z_m x Z_n, " Senior, Laramie Senior High School, Laramie, Wyoming; Craig Allen Schroeder, "Soap Hyperfilms," Senior, Wessington Springs High School, Wessington Springs, South Dakota; Hasuk Francis Song, "Application of Differential Evolution to the Solution of Differential Equations," Junior, La Jolla High School, La Jolla, California; Daniel Wichs, "Algebraic and Number Theoretic Properties of the Perrin Sequence," Senior, Yeshivah of Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.

Honorable Mention: Jennifer Shyamala Sayaka Balakrishnan, "An Analysis of Elliptical Coordinate Systems," Junior, Harvest Christian Academy, Guam; Christopher Ryan Bruner, "An Improved Mathematical Model of Populations," Freshman, Wewoka High School, Wewoka, Oklahoma; Lindsey Jo Cable, "Proving POTS," Junior, De Soto High School, De Soto, Missouri; Michael Harry Kaleta, Matthew Howard Stemm, Heon Joon Choe, "Daedalus' Box: A Three-dimensional Parabola," Seniors, Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Jesse Scott Trana, "On the Forming of Pascal's N -Simplex Using Multinomial Expansion," Sophomore, Johnson Corners Christian Academy, Watford City, North Dakota.

The entry titles of the winners indicate the breadth and scope of the projects and the wide interests of the participants. The judges were impressed particularly by the enthusiasm of the participants and their interest in mathematics.

The Society's participation in the Intel-ISEF is supported in part by income from the Karl Menger Fund, which was established by the family of the late Karl Menger. For more information about this program, or to make contributions to the fund, contact the AMS Development Office by e-mail dev@ams.org or by telephone at 401-455-4111. --- Julian Palmore

Contact:
Annette Emerson or Mike Breen, Public Awareness Officers
American Mathematical Society
201 Charles Street
Providence, RI 02906
tel: 401-455-4000; fax: 401-331-3842
email: pa-office@ams.org

Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, the 30,000-member American Mathematical Society fulfills its mission through programs and services that promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education, and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and to everyday life.