SEATTLE– Ankan Bhattacharya of Michigan won $10,000 in the 2016 national Who Wants to Be a Mathematician on Thursday at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Seattle. Karthik Karnik, a senior at the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, is the 2016 runner-up. He won $3,000 for himself and $3,000 for the academy.
Ankan, a junior at International Academy East in Michigan, astounded the audience in the finals, answering very quickly and offering wonderful explanations. Ankan will receive $5,000 for his win and the math department at International Academy East will also receive $5,000.
Karthik Karnik, a senior at the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, is the 2016 runner-up. He won $3,000 for himself and $3,000 for the academy.
Ankan and Karthik were joined in the finals by Kelly Zhang of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. Kelly and Karthik tied in their semifinal game, so both moved on to the finals. As you would expect, they are both pretty sharp, but because Ankan was so quick with his answers, didn’t get many chances to signal in.
The Who Wants to Be a Mathematician was sponsored by Maplesoft, Art of Problem Solving, the Online Community Sponsor, Texas Instruments, and John Wiley and Sons.
Judges were Bill Butterworth (also Who Wants to Be a Mathematician co-creator), DePaul University, Caren Diefenderfer, Hollins University, and Stephen Davis, Davidson College and to Colin Adams of Williams College who did a video about knot theory for the game.
Ankan was also interviewed by Seattle TV station KOMO. Click on the link below to view the interview.
Qualifying for the 2017 competition, which will take place at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Atlanta next January, begins in early September of 2016. Teachers who would like their students to participate should email the AMS Public Awareness Office at: paoffice at ams dot org, subject line: 2017 WWTBAM. Include your name, school, and courses taught this semester.
