U.S. Physics_Team Wins Golds/Silver

College Park, MD (July 16, 2006) - Every U.S. student sent to the 2006 International Physics Olympiad held this year in Nanyang University in Singapore, will bring home a medal, and four of those are gold.

Menyoung Lee, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, VA, won a gold medal for the second year in a row. The other gold medalists are: William Throwe, a senior at Shoreham-Wading River High School, Shoreham, NY. Last year Throwe served as an alternate to the team. Henry Tung, a junior at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego. Otis A Chodosh, a senior at the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics in Oklahoma City. Bringing home a silver medal: Sherry Gong, a junior at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH.

The U.S. team met with great success, head coach Robert Shurtz said. In an unofficial ranking of countries based on total score of the five team members, the United States ranked second. Chinas students had the highest overall total scores. This was largest International Physics Olympiad to date with 86 nations participating with a total of 383 competitors. Last year, the team brought home two golds, two silvers and a bronze medal.

Shurtz, a physics teacher at the Hawkens School in Gates Mills, OH, and assistant coach Paul Stanley, a physics and astronomy associate professor at Beloit College in Wisconsin, accompanied the team to the nine-day competition.

The U.S. Physics Olympiad Program was started in 1986 to promote and demonstrate academic excellence and prepare students to compete in the International Physics Olympiad. The U.S. Physics_Team is co-sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics.

About the Olympiad

The Olympiad is an international competition among pre-university students from more than 60 nations. The goals of the Olympiad are to encourage excellence in physics education and to reward outstanding physics students. At the International Physics Olympiad, the competitors are asked to solve challenging theoretical and experimental physics problems. The 2006 International Competition will be held July 8-17 at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Additional information about the International Physics Olympiad may be found at the official website. The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the American Institute of Physics (AIP) sponsor a competition each year for high school students to represent the United States at the International Physics Olympiad.

The 24 members of the U.S. Physics_Team are selected through two competitive examinations. Team members attend a nine-day training camp scheduled May 19-29, 2006 during which time the team members will refine their problem-solving and laboratory skills. Five students will be selected from this group to represent the 2006 U.S. Physics_Team at the 37th International Competition. Sponsors and contributors pay all team expenses.

Additional photos of the winners will be available soon.

Semi-Finalist Awards Program!

Awards will be given to all semi-finalist students. We hope these awards will be distributed at school-wide award ceremonies. Each year approximately 200 students qualify to take the second and final screening exam for the U.S. Physics_Team. These bright, highly motivated semi-finalists represent the top science students in the U.S. Public acknowledgment of their hard work and mastery of the concepts sends a strong message that adds value to their achievement in the eyes of the public. Others in earlier years/grades may see that hard work and scholastic achievement will be rewarded. The community will recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of their high school. Finally, more schools, communities, and physics departments will become aware of the U.S. Physics_Team and the International Physics Olympiad.

Congratulations 2005 Team!

The Closing Ceremony of the 36th International Physics Olympiad was held July 3-12, 2005 in Salamanca, Spain. Representatives of the 2005 U.S. Physics_Team won five medals: Eric Mecklenburg and Men Young Lee were awarded gold medals, Timothy Credo and Nickolas Fortino received silver medals, and Daniel Whalen won the bronze medal.