The KSEA NY Metropolitan Chapter Math and Science Olympiad (KMSO) is dedicated to promoting and nurturing curious young minds in their pursuit of intellectual challenge, helping them discover the joy of science and math, and to providing them with mentoring and a sense of community. What makes this Olympiad even more special is that the volunteers are undergraduate students, graduate students, professional engineers, scientists, or professors who can share their experiences and knowledge in their respective fields. Students and parents are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Olympiad such as speaking with volunteers and guest speakers who are more than willing to provide advice, tips, and words of encouragement.
This year marked the 29th year of the KMSO. This event has grown through two decades of Korean American history in the tristate New York Community. We sincerely thank LG Electronics USA for over 25 years of dedication to and continuous support for KMSO. This is also supported by KSEA, Korea-US Science Cooperation Center (KUSCO), St. John’s University, NYC Government, the Consulate General of Korea in New York, Mara Nanotech USA, KB Park CPA, and Good Align Foot and Ankle.
We held our event on November 19, 2022, at St. John’s University in Queens, NY. A total of 234 students participated in the event chaired by Dr. Ohbong Kwon.
Science competition
For science, there are 5 science competitions and 1 special competition group:
- Science Entry Level for Grades 2-3 titled “The Tomato” supervised by Hye Min Kim, Dr. Min Suk Kang
- Science General for Grades 4-5 titled “The Liquid Battery” supervised by Seunghyun Song, Dr. K. Stephen
- SuhScience Physics for Grades 6-7 titled “Raft Rally” supervised by Drs. Taehwan Park, Hyunah Cho
- Science Chemistry for Grades 8-9 titled “Protecting Your Hands” supervised by Dr. Junyong Choi
- Science NanoBio for Grades 10-11 titled “Sensor for Future Medical Scientists” supervised by Dr. HeaYeon Lee
- Special competition (Science Poster Presentation) for Grades 10-12 supervised by Dr. Chang-Yong Nam
Math competition
The math competition had eight groups of Grades 4-11 chaired by Dr. Sae Woong Park. The competitions were supervised by Drs. Hwan Ki Lee, Jun Ho Shin, Jae Ki Lee, Sookyoung Lim, Hyunjoo Kwon, Kyungwook Kim, Hyun Jung Hwang, Jounghye Rhi, and Eun Lee.
Parents Program
We had three programs for parents during the Olympiad which was chaired by Dr. Min Suk Kang. In the morning, Dr. Jaedeok Kim, who is NMSC Math Contest Chair at Jacksonville State University, presented the National Math Science Competition (NMSC) of KSEA. The event was followed by a panelist session. There were four panelists for a panel of undergraduate and graduate students representing Computer Science, Politics, and Pharmacy. Sihyun Lee and Nawon Yoon from NYU, Dohoon Min from St. John’s University, and Heeyun Kim from Columbia University joined us as panelists to discuss college life.
The following panelist session was in the afternoon. We had a total of six industries represented in the panelist session; Pharmacy, IT, Material, Architecture, Dentistry, and Music Tech. Janet Lee from AbbVie, Heeyoung Kwon from Meta, Hwasoo Lee from Oerlikon, Kevin Kim from SOCOTEC US, Young K. Kim from NYU, and freelancer Heehyun Chun joined us as panelists to discuss industry life and answer questions from participants. This year’s parents program was enjoyed and received great feedback from the parents.
Award ceremony
The KMSO 2022 Award ceremony was held on Saturday, December 10, 2022, in KSEA New York Metropolitan Chapter. In particular, it was held at the LG Electronics New Campus with the support of LG Electronics USA for the first time. More than 50 students, 70 parents, and 30 KSEA New York Metropolitan Chapter volunteers attended and enjoyed the ceremony. Mr. Chulho Huh, the Vice President of Corporate Marketing LG Electronics USA, and Dr. Chin Ok Lee, the former KSEA 18th President, professor at Cornell University, and visiting and adjunct professor at Rockefeller University, gave congratulatory remarks. Sixty students were awarded merit awards (1st, 2nd, 3rd place, and Commendation), as well as special awards from LG Electronics, KSEA President, St. John’s University President, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in New York, and Mayor of New York City.
We hope that the participants in the Olympiad had a great experience in discovering the fun and excitement of problem-solving and discovering something new. We look forward to the day when these same participants will come back 20 years from now as volunteers and support this community’s invaluable tradition as some of our volunteers are already doing today. We truly thank all the volunteers. Without you, KMSO would not have been possible.
Reported by
IL-doo Kim, PhD
KSEA e-Letters 