ACC Foundation recognizes top students in math contest

The ACC Foundation recognized the math competition participants at the Board of Trustees meeting.

The Austin Community College Foundation is honoring the team that represented ACC in a math competition – and came in first in the Southwest region. The Student Math League, sponsored by the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, is a national contest made up of exams in the fall and spring.

The ACC team topped competitors from Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico.

“It was a very competitive year, as we were in third place in the region after the fall round,” says Professor Tony Vance of the Math Department. “However, we made a brilliant comeback to bring home the regional trophy.”

During the May 2014 Board of Trustees meeting, the ACC Foundation recognized the highest-scoring students in the spring round.

“These students are our future engineers, scientists, programmers, and educators,” says Corby Jastrow, chair of the ACC Foundation board. “The ACC Foundation is proud to recognize them and support their accomplishments.”

The ACC Foundation has supported Student Math League winners with cash prizes for 13 years, providing a 2:1 match for donations from faculty and external contributors. The ACC Math Department’s own Dixieland jazz band, The Numbers, played a set in January and donated all contributions to the scholarship fund.

To date, the ACC Foundation’s Student Math League program has awarded more than $37,000 to 214 students.

Spring 2014 results:

1st place: Eric Chen

Eric is a native Austinite and math major who plans to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin in the fall. He has enjoyed math competitions since middle school.

2nd place: Michael (Trey) Black

Trey is a math major who finished in 6th place in the fall and was a top finisher in 2012. Home-schooled through his senior year of high school, Trey earned 77 college credit hours during that time, including all the requirements for an Associate of Science in Mathematics. He is a competitive swimmer and achieved the ranking of Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts. Trey plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin and study mechanical engineering in the Engineering Honors Program.

3rd place (tie): Wenjie Yang

Wenjie is a computer science major and finished in 2nd place in the fall semester. Wenjie came to the United States from China last year and plans to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin to study computer science or electrical engineering.

3rd place (tie): Travis De Anda

Travis is originally from Austin. He is a member of Phi Theta Kappa and volunteers at area parks and with the animal shelter. He plans to transfer to Texas A&M University.

5th place: Nick Moran

Nick is from Garland. This is his first year at ACC, where he is majoring in electronics. He plans to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin and major in electrical engineering.

6th place (tie): Dana Downs

Dana grew up in Kansas. When she moved to Austin, she completed a degree in family life and community service. Now that her daughter is older, Dana is returning to school to study geology. She works in the ACC Geology Department as a lab assistant. She plans to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin to complete her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

6th place (tie): Philip Brickler

Philip is a computer science major at ACC.

8th place: Yan Peters

Yan grew up in Russia and studied German linguistics at Baltic Federal University. In 2011, he immigrated to the United States and then moved to Austin in 2013. He plans to major in physics.

Fall 2013 results:

1st place: Mahyar Shakiba

Mahyar is in his first year at ACC. He plans to transfer to a university in the fall to study engineering.

2nd place: Wenjie Yang (spring 2014 winner)

3rd place: William Platzer

William is majoring in engineering.

4th place: Isaac Lill

Isaac is a senior in high school and has been taking classes at ACC for two years. He is a National Merit finalist and will attend Baylor University in the fall, majoring in mathematics. He is an Eagle Scout and enjoys running, rock climbing, and weightlifting.

5th place: Ting Ho

Ting is a business major.

6th place: Michael (Trey) Black (spring 2014 winner)

7th place (tie): Daniel Hall

Daniel is general studies major.

7th place (tie): Kirill Belous

Kirill is an engineering major.

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