Tag Archives: Mathematics

Wheatley Students Succeed in Advancing to Finals of Al Kalfus Long Island Math Fair!

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On Friday, 1 March, sixteen Wheatley students competed at the Nassau County round of the Al Kalfus Long Island Mathematics Fair at Hofstra University.  Students from schools across Nassau County came to compete at this regional qualifier. Students wrote papers on a mathematics topic that they have not studied in the traditional curriculum.  Top papers often have the students’ own creative twists as well as original mathematics as part of their research!

On the day of the competition, students had 15 minutes to present their research to a panel of judges followed by a question and answer period.  Achieving at this level is an extraordinary accomplishment for high school students! We are proud of all of our students who participated!

We are honored to announce we will have fifteen students who will be moving to the final round of the Mathematics Fair, which will take place at Hofstra on April 12th.

Please find below the names of the students who competed in the qualifying round as well as the title of their project.

  • Alex Arbitljacoby (Calculating Atomic Radius)
  • Alyssa Belle (Preventing Motion Sickness in Virtual Reality)
  • Anya Chabria (The Applications of Mathematics in Literature)
  • Shrey Gulati (Magic Squares)
  • Sarah Hassan (Applying Linear Animation Using Mathematics Programming and Art)
  • Viraj Jayam (Examining Functions Under Quasi-Stereographic Projections)
  • Jack Lindenauer (Fibonacci Numbers)
  • Manav Bansal (Mathematical Models Utilizing Differential Equations to Model Tumor Growth)
  • Eric Ness (Logic and Arguments)
  • Armaan Pahuja (Chaos Theory and its effects on Meteorological Predictions)
  • Krittika Prajapati (Binary Numbers)
  • Madison Ramos (Mathematical Modeling Neural Networks)
  • Justin Wong (The Influence of Replacing Prime Numbers in Public Key Cryptography)
  • Trenton Wong (It’s all about that Base: Three-Halves)
  • Aaron Zachariah (Transfinite Numbers)
  • Sharon Zhong (Wind Resistance and Failure Analysis)

It should also be noted that Emily Yogida will be presenting her topic (Solving Rubik’s Cube with Musical Chord Progressions), this coming week at the Suffolk round due to a scheduling conflict.

A big thank you goes to Mary Alexis Pace, DJ Paulson, John Beleckas, and Kasey Caracciolo for chaperoning.

[Thank you to Dr. Robert Teseo for the write-up and the photo!]

Math Fair Prelim Round 2019

Students Succeed at 36th Annual Nassau Mathematics Tournament!

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On Friday, 1 February, 19 Wheatley students competed in the Nassau Mathematics Tournament (NMT) at SUNY College at Old Westbury. This one-day event is open to all high schools (both public and private) in Nassau County. Generally, about 40 schools send students to participate in this competition.

The “Senior” team earned 5th Place overall! This team was comprised of:

  • Karen Li
  • Vedant Singh
  • Trenton Wong
  • Kenton Wu
  • Brandon Zhu

Two of our students had outstanding individual results:

  • Brandon Zhu came in 1st overall
  • Vedant Singh finished in 5th place overall

Our “Junior” team brought home 8th Place Honors overall. This team consisted of

  • Manav Bansal
  • Viraj Jayam
  • Victor Li
  • Justin Wong
  • Ryan Wu

We also had excellent individual contests:

  • Ryan Wu finished in 9th place

Valued efforts were also turned in by Adam Aldad, Richard Attardi, Sahil Jain, Siddhant Jain, Jason Koty, Armaan Pahuja, Neil Shah, and Avinash Reddy.

A big “thank you” to our Mathletes Advisor, John Beleckas. Special thanks to our Mathematics Chair Robert Teseo and to NCIML President Kevin Myers for making this event possible.

[Thank you to Mr. Beleckas and Dr. Teseo for the write-up and photos!]

Manan and Brandon Named 2019 Regeneron Scholars!

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On 9 January, Wheatley Seniors Manan Shukla and Brandon Zhu were named scholars in the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search!

In 2017, Regeneron became only the third sponsor (after Westinghouse and Intel) of the Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. As part of its 10-year, $100 million commitment, Regeneron nearly doubled the overall award distribution to $3.1 million annually to better reward the best and brightest young minds. Founded and led by two Science Talent Search alumni, Regeneron recognizes and prioritizes the need to inspire more young people to engage in science.

The Regeneron Science Talent Search scholars were selected from 1,964 applications, which were received from 601 high schools in 48 states, two U.S. territories and eligible students living in seven other countries. The scholars were selected based on their exceptional research skills, commitment to academics, innovative thinking and promise as scientists. This year, research projects cover topics from bioengineering to environmental science to physics.

Manan’s project, “Creating Affordable and Objective Healthcare Solutions Using IoT and Cloud Technology,” was created in response to a problem he identified in the current health care system: physicians cannot treat their patients effectively because they lack accurate patient information to make proper decisions. This manifests itself in particular with patients who do not accurately report their medication intake. As a result, Manan created a smart pill dispenser that uses IoT cloud connectivity to not only quantify patient behaviors and determine medication usage but can also send this information to their physician so that patient treatment is based on objective data rather than inaccurate reporting. Manan’s project was highlighted earlier this year in this blog. You can read about it through this link.

Brandon’s project, “Efficient Zero-Knowledge Using Garbled Circuits Under the Plain Model,” was designed in response to the reality that our online security is constantly at risk of data breaches. To tackle this, Brandon created a secure encryption protocol based on cutting-edge techniques, such as commitment schemes and zero knowledge, that maintains security regardless of an attacker’s computational power. This enhanced protocol preserves full security without detrimental assumptions such as non-malleability and has even been tested to run more efficiently than less-perfect protocols.

On January 23, 40 of the 300 scholars will be named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists.

You can read Newsday’s coverage of Long Island’s scholars through this link: Regeneron Scholars Newsday 9Jan19

You can view all of the 300 Regeneron Scholars here: STS 2019 Scholar Book

Congratulations Manan and Brandon!

 

Wheatley Students Succeed at Long Island Mathematics Fair!

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On Friday afternoon, 17 Wheatley students headed to Hofstra University in order to compete in the annual Mathematics Fair. Students competing included:

Grade 9

  • Manav Bansal (“Taylor, Power and Geometric Series”)
  • Anya Chabria (“Fractal Geometry: The Mathematics Uniting the Universe”)
  • Sarah Hassan (“The Biostatistics and Epidemiology Involved in Determining Disease Patterns”)
  • Viraj Jayam (“Projecting Onto the Generalized n-Sphere via Stereographic Projections”)
  • Eric Ness (“System of Numerations through History”)

Grade 10

  • Madison Ramos (“The Mathematics Behind Magic”)
  • Diya Shah (“Boolean Algebra”)
  • Rebecca Sparacio (“Determining the Association between Extracurricular Activity Participation and Performance on the SAT and ACT; An Observational Study”)
  • Trenton Wong (“Approximating Pi”)
  • Emily Yagoda (“The Math Behind Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies”)
  • Sharon Zhong (“Finding the Figure for Foundational Failure”)

Grade 11

  • Manan Shukla (“The Banach-Tarski paradox”)
  • Vedant Singh (“Using Optimization to Increase Production Efficiency”)

Grade 12

  • Sufia Ainechi (“The Tipping Point of Buildings”)
  • Michaela Balboni (“The Fractal Component of Fibonacci’s Spiral and the Balboni Spiral”)
  • Abhishek Kumar (“Performance of a Parallelized Restricted Boltzman Machine”)
  • Justin Vega (“Using Mathematical Modeling to Calculate Neutron Cross-Sections Probability Distributions for Reactions on Zero-Spin Nuclei”)

While the aforementioned students were presenting their research, Maryrose Ambrose and Robert Teseo served as judges.

At the end of the competition, 9 Wheatley students earned Gold Medals, 3 Wheatley students earned Silver Medals and 5 Wheatley students earned Bronze Medals. Congratulations to the following medal winners:

Gold Medal Winners

  • Sufia Ainechi
  • Manav Bansal
  • Sarah Hassan
  • Viraj Jayam
  • Manan Shukla
  • Sharon Zhong

Silver Medal Winners

  • Michaela Balboni
  • Anya Chabria
  • Madison Ramos
  • Justin Vega

Bronze Medal Winners

  • Abhishek Kumar
  • Eric Ness
  • Diya Shah
  • Vedant Singh
  • Rebecca Sparacio

Thanks to Mr. Teseo, we have some photos from the competition!

Brandon Zhu Qualifies for the Mathematical Olympiad!

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Brandon Zhu (Class of 2019) participated in the 2018 United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO). Qualifying for this examination is considered one of the most prestigious recognitions for a high school student. This year, only 242 (out of over 350,000) students were selected to compete!

Top scorers on this examination are invited to represent the United States in the International Mathematical Olympiad!

Brandon was the first Wheatley student in 15 years to qualify for this examination!

Congratulations, Brandon!

Wheatley Students Advance to Finals of Al Kalfus Long Island Math Fair!

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On Friday, 9 March, 19 Wheatley students competed at the Nassau round of the Al Kalfus Long Island Math Fair at Hofstra University. Students from all across Nassau County schools came to compete at this regional qualifier. Students wrote papers on a mathematics topic that they have not studied in the traditional curriculum. Top papers often have the students’ own creative twists and original mathematics as part of their research. Students then had fifteen minutes to present their research to a panel of judges followed by a question and answer period. Achieving at this level is an extraordinary accomplishment for high school students.

Congratulations to all who participated and good luck to the students who will be competing in the final round of the Math Fair on 20 April at Hofstra.

Listed below are the competing students along with titles of their project:

  • Sufia Ainechi (Structural Analysis and The Tipping Point of Buildings)
  • Michaela Balboni (The Fractal Component of Fibonacci’s Spiral and the Balboni Spiral)
  • Manav Bansal (Taylor, Power and Geometric Series)
  • Anya Chabria ( Fractal Geometry: The Mathematics Uniting the Universe)
  • Sarah Hassan (The Biostatistics and Epidemiology Involved in Determining Disease Patterns)
  • Viraj Jayam (Projecting onto the n-Sphere via Stereographic Projections)
  • Abhishek Kumar (Performance of a Parallelized Restricted Boltzman Machine)
  • Eric Ness (System of Numerations through History)
  • Madison Ramos (The Mathematics Behind Magic)
  • Diya Shah (Boolean Algebra)
  • Manan Shukla (The Banach-Tarski Paradox)
  • Rebecca Sparacio (Determining the Association between Extracurricular Activity Participation and Performance on the SAT and ACT; An Observational Study)
  • Vedant Singh (Using Optimization to Increase Production Efficiency)
  • Justin Vega (Using Mathematical Modeling to Calculate Neutron Cross-Sections Probability Distributions for Reactions on Zero-Spin Nuclei)
  • Emily Yagoda (The Math Behind Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies)
  • Sharon Zhong (Finding the Figure for Foundational Failure)

Thank you to Mr. Teseo for the write-up and the photo!

PNG image-D69F08C9A72A-1

John, Vedant and Brandon Succeed at Modeling the Future Contest!

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This past weekend, three of our students had the unique opportunity to participate in the Modeling the Future Contest, a national contest sponsored by the Actuarial Foundation.  For this year’s contest, teams were to develop mathematical models on how autonomous cars are going to revolutionize our future. Submissions had to identify the changes and impact that students foresee autonomous vehicles having in the transportation industry, the insurance industry and society at large.

For the first round, students were given data that had to be analyzed, and use the data to develop mathematical models of how autonomous vehicles would affect the industries previously mentioned.  Wheatley’s team of John Li, Vedant Singh and Brandon Zhu used this data to write a 30-page paper describing in detail how the data would affect all of the above industries. In a thoughtful and unexpected addition, the team also provided examples of how our legal system could change!
Based on their work, for the first round, Wheatley was one of six teams to win an all-expense paid trip to NYC to compete in the second and final round!  Wheatley was the only school from New York to advance to the finals.  Finalists were also treated to a visit to the National Museum of Mathematics, as well as a “Night at the Museum” style view of the Museum of the City of New York.

The second round was composed of two parts.  First, the six teams were to present their findings to a panel of 12 judges.  After their presentations, each team had a question and answer round.
The students did extremely well in this final round, earning 3rd place!  This recognition is accompanied by a $10,000 college scholarship for the team!!  Congratulations Brandon, Vedant and John! Thanks as well to Robert Teseo, our mathematics chair, for guiding the students and accompanying them for the final round.
[Thanks to Robert Teseo for the write-up and the photos.]
Brandon, John, Vedant and Mr. Teseo
Brandon, John and Vedant
Brandon, John and Vedant