Wednesday, July 30, 2008

U.S. Physics Team 'Brings Home the Gold' (and a Silver) From International Competition

College Park, MD – The 2008 U.S. Physics Team returns home triumphant this week, having earned four gold medals and a silver medal at the International Physics Olympiad held in Hanoi in Vietnam. Only the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, who tied for first, ranked higher than the U.S. team, which placed second along with South Korea and India.

The U.S. Physics Team’s gold medalists are: Tucker Chan, Princeton High School, Princeton, NJ; Danny Zhu, Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY; Edward Gan, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, MD; Joshua Oreman, Harvard Westlake School, North Hollywood, CA; and its silver medalist is Rui Hu, The Charter School of Wilmington, DE.

Chan, Zhu, and Hu graduated from high school this past spring; Gan and Oreman have one more year to go.

The students were selected in June after a two-phase national contest and a ten-day training camp, conducted by coaches chosen by the American Association of Physics Teachers in College Park, MD. The international competition over, these students look toward a bright future. “Here is a side of America to celebrate,” said Charles Holbrow, executive officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers. “Congratulations to the US Physics Team and their coaches. We should all be proud of these talented young people. And with the rest of the world, we should admire the achievements of all the Physics Olympiad participants. The sheer intellectual pleasure that radiates with youthful energy from their work together is a delight to behold.”

Contact: Martha Heil American Institute of Physics 301-209-3088 mheil@aip.org

Thursday, May 15, 2008

A Mental, Not a Physical, Face-Off: Students Selected to 2008 US Physics Team

College Park, MD (May 14, 2008) 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 mheil@aip.org • 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.

CONTACT: Martha J. Heil, American Institute of Physics mheil@aip.org 626-354-5613 (cell)