BIMC2023

Bulgaria International Mathematics Competition 2023 (BIMC2023)

Important Dates

• Call for participants August, 2022

• AMC8 Janurary, 2023

• AIME Feburary, 2023

• Team selection April, 2023

• Online training April - June, 2023

• Mini camp at UNC Charlotte June 29 - July 3, 2023

• Contest date July 3, 2023

• Post-competition activities July 4-5, 2023

Team Roster

• USA Country Coordinator: Tao Hong (UNC Charlotte)

• Team Leaders: Harold Reiter (UNC Charlotte) and Tao Hong (UNC Charlotte)

• Coach: Kevin Wang (Areteem Institute)

• KS3A Team: Royce Yao (AZ),  Alan Cheng (NC), Alex Wang (MD), Andrew Shen (TX)

• KS3B Team: Jason Lee (NC), Eric Ding (MN), Leo Hong (NC), Jefferson T. Zhou (MN)

• KS2A Team: Kyle Liao (WA), Sunay Miduthuri (CA), Henry Lu (OH), Henry Wang (NC)

• KS2B Team: Lucas Li (NC), Andrew Lau (TX), Brandon Ni (MA), Daniel Sun (CA)

Invited Speakers at Charlotte Mini Camp

• Dr. Taufiquar Khan (UNC Charlotte) - Medical imaging and CT scan inverse problems

• Dr. Hellen Zhang (Arizona State University) - Machine Learning: How to Teach Computers to Learn

• Dr. Michael Grabchak (UNC Charlotte) - Paradoxes in Statistics

• Dr. Xinyi Xu (Ohio State University) - A Journey into Baysian Wisdom

• Dr. Tao Hong (UNC Charlotte) - Operations Research: The Science of Better

• Dr. Bo Lu (Ohio State University) - Causal Inference: The Pursuit of Why 

Summary

648 students from 31 countries participated in the International Mathematics Competition 2023. Two UNC Charlotte Professors Dr. Tao Hong and Dr. Harold Reiter led Team USA to nine gold medals, six silver medals, and one bronze medal.  

The competition was hosted virtually by Bulgaria on July 3rd, 2023, open to students from upper primary level (Key-Stage II, 6th grade and under) to lower secondary level (Key-Stage III, 9th grade and under). Team USA was made of 16 students coming from North Carolina (5), California (2), Minnesota (2), Texas (2), Arizona (1), Massachusetts (1), Maryland (1), Ohio (1), and Washington (1). Eight of them participated in Key-Stage II, while the other eight in Key-Stage III. 

For the first time in the history of USA’s participation in the International Mathematics Competition, every Team USA student won a medal. Among all 31 countries participating in the competition, Team USA has the highest average individual scores in both Key-Stage II and Key-Stage III. 

Prior to the competition, Dr. Harold Reiter and Dr. Hong organized nearly 20 online practice sessions for the 16 Team USA students plus three alternates. Three days before the competition date, these 19 students gathered at UNC Charlotte for a mini-camp. The camp included three sessions on Geometry led by Dr. Kevin Wang (Areteem Institute), two team practice sessions led by Dr. Harold Reiter, and six research seminars on various subjects of mathematics, statistics, and operations research, given by Dr. Taufiquar Khan (UNC Charlotte), Dr. Michael Grabchak (UNC Charlotte), Dr. Hellen Zhang (University of Arizona), Dr, Xinyi Xu (Ohio State University), Dr. Tao Hong (UNC Charlotte), and Dr. Bo Lu (Ohio State University). After the competition, most Team USA students stayed in Charlotte for bonding activities, including a visit to Carowinds on July 4th, and a visit to US National White Water Center on July 5th.