U.S. tops International Physics Olympiad

College Park, MD (August 11, 2003)--Representatives of the U.S. Physics Team placed first out of 54 countries at the 34th annual International Physics Olympiad in Taipei, Taiwan, sweeping the competition with five medals and four special prizes yesterday for their knowledge of topics such as special relativity and properties of laser diodes. This is the first time a U.S. student has taken the top honor since 1989, and the first time in the competition's history that the U.S. team has been the top-ranking country.

Pavel Batrachenko of Marshall High School in Rochester, MN, took top honors of the 238-student competition, held August 2 -11. He also received one of the two prizes for the best score in experiment, tying with Thaned Pruttivarasin from Thailand. Daniel Gulotta, Illinois Math & Science Academy, Aurora, IL, received a prize for the best score in theory. Emily Russell from Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT, received a prize as the best female participant.

"We're ecstatic about the success of the team -- they worked really hard and they deserve it," said Dr. Bernard Khoury, Executive Officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, MD, which co-sponsored a training camp to prep the students for the international tests. "We've never had this kind of confluence of great students before. It's all the more remarkable, since the event might never have been held. The fact that they did so well speaks even better on behalf of the kids."

All five members of the US traveling team placed in the top ten percent. Batrachenko (ranked first), Gulotta (ranked 13th), and Chintan Hossain, from the Charter School of Wilmington Delaware, (ranked 19th) received gold medals. Russell (tied for 21st place) and Immanuel Buder, from Thomas Jefferson High School, Alexandria, VA, (ranked 23rd) received silver medals. Although the competition is among individuals, an informal summary of scores showed that the United States was the top-ranking country out of the fifty-four participating nations, followed by South Korea, Taiwan and Iran. This is the first time in the competition's history that the U.S. team has been the top-ranking country.

The students took a five-hour theoretical exam on Monday, August 4. Their first problem featured a swing with a falling weight. The second problem dealt with a piezoelectric quartz crystal. The final theoretical problem consisted of two parts: one part dealing with special relativity and the other with the power of a laser. The experimental competition, held on Wednesday, August 6, required students to measure properties of laser diodes and liquid crystal cells.

The selection process for the 2003 U.S. Physics Team began in January, when high school physics teachers from throughout the country nominated over 1400 physics students to be members of the 2003 Team. The first round of exams in late January produced approximately 185 semi-finalists who were given a second exam in March.

Members of the 2003 U. S. Physics Team were selected from the group of semi-finalists based on their screening exams, transcripts, and letters of recommendation. The 24 members of the team met at the University of Maryland's physics department for the training camp May 16 - 26, and from that meeting five traveling members were selected. The camp was also sponsored by the American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD. The awards were presented at the closing ceremonies on August 10. The Olympiad was originally scheduled for late July, but concerns about SARS delayed the competition.

Coaches and teachers make a difference

Vital to the team's success was the highly talented and thoroughly experienced coaching staff. Dr. Mary Mogge, chair of the physics department at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, has served as the Academic Director of the Team since 1999, and has been a coach on the team since 1996. Senior coach Robert Shurtz, physics teacher at Hawken School in Gates Mills, OH, has been a coach since 2001 and as a teacher, has mentored many students who have gone on to be named to the Team.

Pictures and information on the entire coaching staff

Also essential to the students' success were their teachers. In addition to mentoring the students in many important ways, the teachers nominated their pupils to take the AAPT exams that gained them entry on the U.S. Physics Team. Pavel Batrachenko was nominated by John Samuell at John Marshall High School, Rochester, MN. Immanuel Buder was nominated by Philip Whalin at Thomas Jefferson High School, Alexandria, VA. Daniel Gulotta was nominated by Laura Nickerson at Illinois Math & Science Academy, Aurora, IL. Chintan Hossain was nominated by David Stover at the Charter School of Wilmington Delaware, Wilmington, DE. Emily Russell was nominated by Lawrence Stowe at Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, CT.

Sponsors

The 2003 US Physics Team was sponsored by numerous scientific societies including: the Acoustical Society of America, the American Association of Physics in Medicine, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Astonomical Society, the American Crystallographic Association, the American Geophysical Union, the American Institute of Physics, and the AVS Science & Technology Society.

The following corporations and foundations sponsored the Team: Addison Wesley Longman, Amazing Space Formal Education Program; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, IBM Research, Janis Research Company, Inc., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Oracle Corporation, PASCOscientific, Prentice Hall, Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., Texas Instruments, Inc., Tyco Electronics, University of Maryland - Physics Department, and W. W. Norton and Company. For a list of individual sponsors for 2003 and sponsors from previous years, see http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2003/sponsors.cfm.

Note to editors:

More information about the competition

Pictures from the training camp

Bios and photos of the students

Contact information:

Dr. Bernard Khoury
301-209-3311
bkhoury@aapt.org

Olympiad team members are returning from Taiwan today and tonight:

Pavel Batrachenko: pbatrachenko@hotmail.com
Immanuel Buder: immanuel.buder@verizon.net
Daniel Gulotta: dgulotta@imsa.edu
Chintan Hossain: Chintan_Hossain@att.net
Emily Russell: linninniach@yahoo.com

Martha Heil
Media Coordinator
American Institute of Physics
College Park, MD 20740
(301) 209-3088
mheil@aip.org