Students Chosen for International Physics Competition

The American Institute of Physics and the American Association of Physics Teachers, both located in College Park, sponsor a ten-day training camp for twenty-four students at the nearby University of Maryland, where the students conduct lab experiments, take exams, and hear presentations from prominent scientists. They also made a trip to nearby Washington, DC, to meet personally with their Senators and Representatives in the US Congress. The students are part of the International Physics Olympiad, held this year July 13-22 at the prestigious Isfahan University of Technology in Isfahan, Iran. The Olympiad is a nine-day international competition among pre-university students from more than 80 nations. The U.S. Physics Olympiad Program was started in 1986 by AAPT to promote and demonstrate academic excellence.
 
The ACA is also a sponsor of the US Physics team and this year the ACA submitted a series of questions to be included in the preliminary tests, taken by the students all over the country, used to select the 24 students to attend the training camp . The prize for answering the questions correctly was a certificate and a one year membership in the ACA. Overall there eight students answered the questions correctly, three of which (Andy Lucas, Philip Streich and Haofei Wei) made it to the training camp and Haofei Wei was one of the five students selected to go to the International Olympiad. Judy Flippen-Anderson presented the awards to Andy, Philip and Haofei at a reception marking the end of the training camp that was held at the AIP national headquarters in College Park, Maryland and June 1, 2007.
 
The 5 students selected for the US International Team are:
Kenan Diab, of Westlake, OH, a senior at the Hawken School in Gates Mills, OH; bio at http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/bio.cfm?StudentID=704
Rui Hu, of Newark, DE, a junior at Charter School of Wilmington in Delaware; bio at http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/bio.cfm?StudentID=707
Jenny Kwan, of San Marcos, CA, a senior at San Marcos High School; bio at http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/bio.cfm?StudentID=710
Jason Larue, of Miami, FL, a senior at Miami Palmetto High School; bio at http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/bio.cfm?StudentID=711
Haofei Wei, of Broken Arrow, OK, a senior at Oklahoma School of Science and Math, Oklahoma City; bio at: http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/bio.cfm?StudentID=722
 
"The students were selected not only for their physics knowledge: they took 9 theoretical exams and five lab exams, but because they represent what we aspire to see in all students: their leadership, attitude, disposition, and creativity," said Toufic Hakim, executive director of the American Association of Physics Teachers, which sponsors the team. "These well-rounded students will represent the US ably at the international competition."
 
In 2006 the team brought home four golds and one silver medal.
 
ON THE WEB

• Main website of the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/
• Bios of each student are available online at: http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2007/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 Iranian team: http://www.ipho2007.ir
• Screening exams the students had to pass to place on the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.compadre.org/psrc/evals/olympiad.cfm
   
  CONTACT: Martha J. Heil, American Institute of Physics mheil@aip.org 626-354-5613 (cell)