2 Indian students are in Mathematician contest

SAN DIEGO, CA — Vignesh Rajmohan, a senior from South Carolina, was among two Indian American students who qualified for the "Who Wants to be a Mathematician" championship.

The American Mathematical Society (AMS) recently announced the 12 contestants who will compete in the 2018 "Who Wants to be a Mathematician" championship, with Indian American high schoolers Saaketh Vedantam and Vignesh Rajmohan among the students named.

A total of 12 students from the US and one each from Canada and the U.K. will compete for the top prize at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego, Calif.

Vedantam, a junior at American Heritage School in Florida, was a USAMO qualifier in the 9th and 10th grades, and Florida MATHCOUNTS champion in the 8th grade.

Rajmohan, a senior at James L. Mann High School in South Carolina, was selected to compete at the National Judicial Competition for mock trial and finished third in the Beta Club Quiz Bowl National Competition.

If he wins first prize, he will invest money in his ongoing research on natural methods of water purification and further develop his service project, Project Untether, he says on the AMS Web site.

The winner of the contest will win a grand prize of $10,000 – split $5,000 for the winner and $5,000 for the math department of the winner’s school. Indian American Ankan Bhattacharya of Michigan won the contest in 2016.