KU Students Compete in 2024-2025 Math Competitions
KU Math Prize Competition
The 42nd annual event, sponsored by the Department of Mathematics, took place in March. Open to all KU undergraduates, the written exam for each level covered six questions to be completed in three hours. Cash awards were presented to the top three winners at both levels.
The junior-level was open to all undergraduates of non-senior standing and assumes a knowledge of first year calculus. The winners of the junior-level:
First place: Ansuman Sharma, a junior in mathematics and computer science from Visakhapatnam, India.
Second place: Maral Bat, a junior in mathematics and computer science from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Third place: Thomas Savasten, a junior mathematics and computer science from Edgerton and top first-year student.
The senior-level is open to all undergraduates and covers a range of standard topics of undergraduate math. The winner of the senior-level:
First place: Teerapat Saengsubin, a senior in mathematics from Samut Prakan, Thailand.
Second place: Matvey Tabakh a senior in accounting and pre-law from Overland Park.
Third place: Shad Ahmed Shahul Hameed, a senior in mathematics and computer science from Kasaragod, India.
Hailong Dao and Ruijie Yang, professors of mathematics, were in charge of the competition.
Kansas Collegiate Math Competition
KU undergraduate students took first and third place in the team competition at the 2025 Kansas Collegiate Math Competition, which was March 29 at Emporia State University. The competition is part of the yearly meeting of the Kansas section of the Mathematical Association of America.
The competition is team-based, with students working together in groups of two or three to complete ten problems in three hours. Teams from undergraduate institutions in Kansas took part. Cash awards were given to the top teams.
Members of KU’s first-place team were: Teerapat Saengsubin, Ansuman Sharma, and Shad Ahmed Shahul Hameed.
Third-place team members were: Maral Bat, Matvey Tabakh, and Thomas Savasten.
Reuven Hodges and Yuanqi Wang, professors of mathematics, coached the team and assisted with the competition.
William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
The University of Kansas students participated along with over 3,900 other undergraduate students in the Mathematical Association of America’s William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Called one of the toughest math competitions in the world, the Putnam exam is a mathematics competition open to all regularly enrolled undergraduates in colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. The competition took place in December. KU has several students who scored very well on the six-hour exam consisting of twelve problems. KU’s top three highest scoring individuals made up the team, which was the highest scoring team representing the state of Kansas.
KU’s highest scores are: Teerapat Saengsubin (ranked 449), Shad Ahmed Shahul Hameed and Matvey Tabakh.
Joohna Park and Reuven Hodges, professors of mathematics, conducted training sessions for the Putnam exam.