Newswise — The United States is preparing its smartest students to face the challenge of meeting physics students from all over the world in a brain-to-brain competition.
Twenty-four students from across the U.S. have been chosen to train for the mentally grueling exams and lab tests they'll face at the International Physics Olympiad, held this year July 20-29 in Hanoi in Vietnam.
"These young people, who mix great talent with extraordinary élan for physics, show the world an aspect of America we can all be proud of," said Dr. Charles Holbrow, executive officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers in College Park, MD, which selects the students and organizes their training.
To prepare, the students will spend ten days at a physics training camp at the University of Maryland, College Park, conducting lab experiments, taking exams, and hearing presentations from prominent scientists. At the end of the training camp, five students will be selected to travel to the international competition.
They'll be coached by several physicists: head coach Robert H. Shurtz, a physics teacher at Hawken School, Gates Mills, OH and Paul Stanley, a physics and astronomy associate professor at Beloit College in Wisconsin.
On May 22, the students will travel to Washington, DC, for a tour of the area and to meet their Senators and Representatives. The students will present a physics-related toy to their member of Congress. Pictures of the students and their members of Congress will be available after the event.
Last year, the team brought home two gold and three silver medals.
The U.S. Physics Olympiad Program was started in 1986 by AAPT to promote and demonstrate academic excellence. The Olympiad is a nine-day international competition among pre-university students from more than 60 nations. This year's event is co-organized by the Vietnamese Physical Society and the Ministry of Education and Training.
LIST OF EVENTS:May 17-27 -- Students visit University of Maryland for their intensive training camp.May 22 -- Visit Capitol Hill to meet their members of Congress.May 27 -- Five students chosen to represent the US at the international competition.July 20 -- Students arrive in Hanoi for the international competition. July 30 -- The International Competition's final awards given.
MORE ON THE WEB"¢ Main website of the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2008/ "¢ Bios of each student are available online at: http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2008/team.cfm "¢ History of the physics team, including past winners, is available at: http://www.aapt.org/Contests/olympiad.cfm "¢ The official website of the International Physics Olympiad, hosted by the Vietnamese team: http://www.ipho2008.org/ "¢ Screening Exams the students had to pass to place on the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.compadre.org/psrc/evals/olympiad.cfm
PICTURES AND B-ROLL "¢ Archive B-roll of Physics Camp available, contact [email protected] "¢ Pictures of the students and their members of Congress will be available after the event.
WHEN THE STUDENTS ARE AVAILABLE"¢ Most are email types and would prefer to get initial contact by email. They're most likely to be available for interview before 8 or 9 am, or after 5 or 6 pm, and sometimes at lunch.
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Tucker Chan, 12th grade Princeton HSPrinceton, NJTeacher: Mark Higgins
Sway Chen, 12th grade Lexington High SchoolLexington, MATeacher: Nicholas Gould
Joseph Zer-Yi Chu, 12th gradeLynbrook High SchoolSan Jose, CATeacher: Amanda Alonzo
Alesia Dechkovskaia, 11th grade North Carolina School of Science & MathDurham, NCTeacher: Loren Winters
Yishun Dong, 11th grade Upper Arlington HSColumbus, OHTeacher: Jeff SchusterDavid Field, 9th grade Phillips AcademyAndover, MATeacher: J. Watt
Edward Gan, 11th grade Montgomery Blair HSSilver Spring, MDTeacher: James Schafer
Rui Hu, 12th gradeCharter School of WilmingtonWilmington, DETeacher: David Stover
Gabriel Karpman, 11th grade Brookline High SchoolBrookline, MATeacher: Stacy Kissel
Brian Kong, 9th grade Milton AcademyMilton, MATeacher: Thomas Gagnon
Kevin Michael Lang, 11th grade Myers Park HSCharlotte, NCTeacher: Lauren Brown
Dan Li, 10th grade Thomas Jefferson HS for Sci-TechAlexandria, VATeacher: John Dell
Andrew Lucas, 12th grade Harvard Westlake SchoolNorth Hollywood, CATeacher: John Feulner
Marianna Mao, 11th grade Mission San Jose HSFremont, CATeacher: Peter Geschke
Yoon Jae Nam, 10th grade Mercersburg AcademyMercersburg, PATeacher: Jim Malone
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Joshua Oreman, 11th grade Harvard Westlake SchoolNorth Hollywood, CATeacher: John Feulner
Danny Zhu, 12th grade Stuyvesant HSNew York, NYTeacher: John Avallone
Thomas Schultz, 10th grade Boston Univ AcademyBoston, MATeacher: Gary Garber
Jack Z. Wang, 10th grade Thomas Jefferson HS for Sci-TechAlexandria, VATeacher: John Dell
James Yang, 12th gradePhillips AcademyAndover, MATeacher: J. Watt
Alex Zhai, 12th gradeUniversity Laboratory High SchoolUrbana, ILTeacher: Jim Carrubba
Alex Zorn, 12th gradeWalter Payton Coll PrepChicago, ILTeacher: Samuel Dyson
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