When Arun Shanmuganathan won a Silver Medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO 2011) held recently in Amsterdam, we were happy and proud but not surprised.
The teenager, now in Year 13 pursuing International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma
Programme has several such records to his credit.
He topped the list of New Zealand boys at the Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad held in Singapore four years ago (Indian Newslink, July 1, 2007).
Since then the 16-year-old student has honed his mathematical skills that enabled him to progress through the national rounds for IMO 2011.
Among the accolades, citations and awards that he has won in the past include a
Gold Medal in International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS), Mathex Team Cup. He was the topper in National Bank and Westpac Australian Maths Competitions in addition to bagging a number of individual prizes in other contests.
His justifiably proud father said that Arun attended a special Mathematics Camp in September last year.
“He was among the top 12 and faced a number of team assignments and the British Mathematical Olympiad and the Asia Pacific Olympiad, in which he respectively won a Bronze and Silver Medal,” Mr Shanmuganathan said.
IMO is a highly competitive, weeklong event for high school students from 101 countries. The contestants were required to solve six mathematical problems in nine hours, spread over two days.
Since the competition began in 1988, New Zealand has been able to win only one Gold and eight Silver Medals.
Apart from his prowess in Mathematics, Arun is a promising athlete, having won gold medals and prizes in Distance Running.
“He is also a keen tennis and hockey player, attends debates, mooting sessions and model UN General Assemblies. He is keen to pursue his career in Mathematics and undertake research in the subject,” Mr Shanmuganathan said.
