Faculty of Science Students Challenged Themselves at an Asia-Pacific Region Mathematics Competition

Twenty-four UTM undergraduates  from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science took part in the Simon Marais Mathematics Competition on Saturday, 12 October 2019.

Simon Marais Mathematics Competition (SMMC) is an annual undergraduate mathematics competition for the Asia-Pacific region hosted by Simon Marais Mathematics Competition Ltd supported by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, Australian Mathematical Society Inc., The Hong Kong Mathematical Society and other international Mathematical societies. The aim of the competition is to encourage creative mathematical problem-solving among undergraduates in the region, covering eight mathematics topics: Sequences, Series, Mathematical Induction, Real Analysis, Geometry, Linear Algebra, Number Theory and Probability Theory.

The last SMMC competition that UTM  participated was in 2016 with six entries (three single entrants & three paired entrants). This year, we managed to round up  16 entries consisting of eight-single entrants (eight students) and eight paired entrants (16 students). The students were selected based on their excellent academic performance and their past experience winning medals at other Mathematical Olympiad competitions held this year.

Prof. Dr. Ali Hassan Mohamed Murid with the participants of Simon Marais Mathematics Competition

In preparation for SMMC, the students had undergone a series of training under the guidance of  Prof. Dr. Ali Hassan Mohamed Murid, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mukhiddin Muminov, Dr. Niki Anis Ab Karim, Dr. Ahmad Fadillah Embong and Dr. Mohammad Izat Emir Zulkifly.We would like thank the trainers for their commitment in training the students daily after office hours, a month prior to the competition. Thanks also to the committee who managed the students including Dr. Norhaiza Ahmad and Dr. Siti Mariam Norrulashikin.

Active discussion during SMMC training sessions.

SMMC is generally conducted at participants home university and the competition is divided into two sessions, three hours closed book exam in the morning and three hours closed book exam in the afternoon. At UTM, the competition was held at the Faculty of Science and supervised by SMMC local coordinators Prof. Dr. Ali Hassan Mohamed Murid, Dr. Nurul Aini Jaafar and Dr. Niki Anis Ab Karim. Students answer scripts were  then posted by snail mail to the organisers in Australia.

The offered prize for the competition is AUD100,000 in total prize money. The results are expected to be announced at the end of November 2019. All the best to UTM team!

 

For more photos and information please visit: https://science.utm.my/mathematics/simon-marais-2019/

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