Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) students won several awards at the recent Chinese Mathematics Competitions (CMC), which was held at Harbin Institute of Technology.

CMC is a national high-level academic competition for undergraduates hosted by the Chinese Mathematical Society. The SUSTech team was led by mathematics teacher Chen Yimao, with participating students representing all undergraduate grades. Sophomore student Gu Guanghui finished second prize nationally and first in Guangdong Province. Senior student Tan Hongze was ranked first in Guangdong Province while sophomore students Lei Haochen, Gao Tingyu were also ranked in the second tier of Guangdong Province. Many other students exceeded their expectations in the competition.

After the competition, Gu Guanghai and his teacher Chen Yimao shared their experiences of studying mathematics and participating in competitions. Gu said he enjoys solving difficult problems and believed that learning by yourself and studying efficiently are very important skills. In addition to listening carefully in class, Gu said studying additional materials outside the classroom is also a good way to enhance his knowledge. Gu suggested that students should grasp the opportunities given to them in order to keep studying and make progress. Once they leave university it will be very difficult for them to learn in the same way again.

Chen Yimao said the competition was so fierce that only 0.388% of the nearly 140 thousand participants could qualify for the national finals. These competitions provide SUSTech students a chance to demonstrate their mathematics abilities and thinking.