Math Students Shine at Regional Competition

Written by Kate Harner

Willimantic, Conn. - Colton Alexander '11, Danny Arsenault '11 and Anthony Pizzoferrato '11, three students majoring in mathematics and computer science at Eastern Connecticut State University, recently helped Eastern place sixth during the Collegiate Mathematics Contest, sponsored by the Math Association of America, held in Providence, RI. The top two teams received $150 prizes; all the participants received student licenses for Mathematica.

            Nineteen teams from colleges from across New England, including Southern Connecticut State University, University of Connecticut, Brown University and Yale University, participated in the contest.

            Contestants worked in teams and took a two-hour exam featuring problems in geometry, probability, combinatorics, number theory and other areas of mathematics.

Conference attendees heard keynote lectures on recreational and applied mathematics and listened to undergraduate students present papers. They also attended a reception and banquet, where they met with competing students and networked with speakers and professors.

            Prior to the competition, Mizan Khan, professor of mathematics and Eastern's Mathematics Department chair, and Christian Yankov, associate professor of mathematics, advised and prepared the students.