RYU Callaway and Joshua Welling have won medals in the Australian Mathematics Competition.

In a new record, 34 Australian secondary school students, including the two from Canberra, have taken out honours in one of the world’s largest mathematics competitions. The presentation ceremony for the annual Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) sponsored by the Commonwealth Bank, which takes place in a different Australian state each year, will this year be held in Queensland at Government House, Brisbane, on Friday November 7. His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, Governor of Queensland, will present the awards to the medallists from around Australia.

Hundreds of thousands of students of all levels of ability from almost 4000 schools in more than 30 countries entered this year’s competition, including 4873 students from 49 primary and secondary schools in the ACT. Each year AMC medals are awarded to secondary level students for performances which are outstanding, both within their country and overall in the competition.

The two Canberra medallists are Ryu Callaway (14 and in Year 8 at Lyneham High), and Joshua Welling (14 and a Year 8 student at Canberra Grammar).

Ryu was awarded a trophy while in Year 5 and a Perfect Score Medal in Year 6 when he participated in the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads. He also achieved a High Distinction in the Trust’s Challenge and Enrichment programs and tied for top score for Canberra in the Tournament of Towns. Ryu is unsure where his future studies and ambitions will lead him as he believes that there is so much to choose from. In the meantime, he is open to everything! He enjoys photography, gardening, camping, bird watching, cycling, playing his euphonium and still finds time to volunteer for ACT Wildlife and Frogwatch.

Joshua has lived in Japan and was part of a team that competed in maths competitions there. His team placed second in the Pacific region. Joshua’s interest in mathematics began when he was 4 years old and his mum started teaching him maths. In the future, Joshua hopes to study mathematics at university and eventually teach mathematics. He lists his interests as reading and has received two awards for the number of books that he has borrowed from the school library. He also likes to bike and hike, play strategy games which involve little or no luck, listen to music and play piano and bassoon.

An Australian initiative, which commenced in Canberra in 1978, the AMC is one of the world’s largest school-based mathematics competitions with more than 14 million entries since it began. It is a 30-problem competition with many of the problems set in situations which show the relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives.

“It is a positive sign that the number of medallists from Australia has increased from 25 in 2013 to 34 this year, a record number for Australia, and many of them are first time medallists, including the young students from Canberra,” Adjunct Professor and Executive Director of the Australian Mathematics Trust, Mike Clapper, said.

[Photo via the AMT website]