School of Mathematics and Statistics: Prizes and Scholarships 2016–2017

[Photos are available: see below.]

The School's annual Prizes and Scholarships presentation ceremony was held in the Forum Restaurant, in the Darlington Centre, on the evening of May 2nd. The presentations were made by Professor Duncan Ivison (Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research)), and Professor Trevor Hambley (Dean of the Faculty of Science).

The guest speakers were Mr Harry Jack and Dr Sabrina Rodrigues.

Harry Jack completed his Honours in applied mathematics at the University of Sydney in 2013, and went on to do a graduate diploma of meteorology at the Bureau of Meteorology, where he has remained. His roles have included writing weather forecasts, chatting on the radio about weather forecasting, and most recently working as a data scientist to automate the production of weather forecasts.

Sabrina Rodrigues completed a mathematics degree with a specialization in teaching at the University of Minho in Portugal. From there she went to University of Melbourne, and enrolled in a MSc with a thesis component in mathematical logic, but developed an interest in bioinformatics, an area that combines biology, computer science, statistics and mathematics. In 2011 Sabrina she completed her MSc in Mathematics and Statistics with a thesis on bioinformatics, and then enrolled in a PhD in Statistics. In 2016, while finishing her PhD, she started working at the CBA as an Associate Data Scientist. In June 2017 Sabrina will be joining the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Imperial College London as a postdoctoral research associate.

Prizes

The Joye Prize

Established in 2002 by donation from Mr Ian Edward Joye LLB and Mr Christopher Ronald Edward Joye BCom, the Joye Prize is awarded annually to the most outstanding student completing fourth year Honours in Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics or Mathematical Statistics (provided the work is of sufficient merit).

Recipient: Eric Hester

The T. G. Room Medal

Established in 1987 by a donation from Mrs Jessica Room and her family in memory of Professor Thomas Gerald Room, who was Professor of Pure Mathematics from 1935 to 1968. Awarded for a PhD thesis in Pure Mathematics of outstanding merit.

Recipient: Ross Ogilvie

for his thesis: "Deformations of harmonic tori in \(S^3\)".

The David Jackson Prize

Awarded in memory of the late Dr David GA Jackson, who studied and taught in the School of Mathematics and Statistics from 1989 to 1998. In remembrance of David's particular talents the prize is awarded to an undergraduate for creativity and originality in Pure Mathematics.

Recipient: Kane Townsend and Yee Yau.

Prizes for Honours Students

The KE Bullen Memorial Prize was established in 1989 by public subscription in memory of Professor K E Bullen who was Professor of Applied Mathematics from 1946 to 1971. Awarded for proficiency in Applied Mathematics Honours.

Joint recipients: Eric Hester and Adarsh Kumbhari.

The MJ and M Ashby Prize for Mathematics in Science was established in 1994 through a donation from Mrs M Ashby. Awarded for the best honours essay in the School of Mathematics and Statistics submitted by a student in the Faculty of Science.

Recipient: Sheng Xu.

The Norbert Quirk prize was founded in 1886 by a gift from the subscribers to a memorial for the Reverend John Aloysius Norbert Quirk, Principal of Lyndhurst College, Glebe. Three separate prizes are now awarded.

The Norbert Quirk Prize number 4 is awarded for the best essay by an Honours student.

Joint recipients: Samuel Jelbart and Yee Yau.

The Chris Cannon Prize was established in memory of Chris Cannon, a former staff member in Applied Mathematics. It is awarded for the best Applied Mathematics Honours seminar presentation.

Recipient: Eric Hester.

The Rolf Adams Prizes were established in 2011, following a bequest by Mrs Joan Adams. The prizes are in memory of her grandson, Rolf Adams, who graduated with first class honours and the University medal in Pure Mathematics in 1986. Rolf went on to graduate studies at University of California, Berkeley and then returned to work in image analysis at CSIRO. He died tragically at the age of 26.

Three prizes have been established to encourage outstanding communication and presentation skills in mathematics at the undergraduate and honours levels.

The Rolf Adams Prize No. 1 is awarded for the best Pure Mathematics Honours seminar presentation.

Recipient: Yee Yau.

The Veronica Thomas Prize was established in 1993 by Alice and Richard Thomas in memory of their daughter Veronica, who graduated with first class honours in Mathematical Statistics. Veronica shared the Tim Brown prize for Mathematical Statistics 2, the Statistical Society of Australia Prize and the Australian Federation of University Women (NSW) Prize.

The Veronica Thomas Prize is awarded for the best Honours seminar presentation in Mathematical Statistics.

Joint recipients: Ming Qiu. and Sheng Xu

The Australian Federation of Graduate Women (NSW) Prize in Mathematics is awarded to the most distinguished woman candidate graduating with first class honours in the School.

Recipient: Ming Qiu.

The Barker Scholarship fund was established in 1853 by a gift of £1000 by Thomas Barker, for the encouragement of mathematical science. It funds the Barker Scholarships (see below) and the Barker Prize.

The Barker Prize (established in 1935) is awarded for proficiency in Honours Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics or Mathematical Statistics.

Joint recipients: Edwin Spark and Sheng Xu.

Prizes for Senior Students

The Norbert Quirk Prize number 3 is awarded for the best entry by a third year student in the Norbert Quirk Mathematical Essay Competition.

Recipient: Travis McKenna.

The Applied Probability Trust Prize was established in 2001 by a donation from the Applied Probability Trust. It is awarded to the Senior student in the advanced Stochastic Processes unit of study who demonstrates the greatest proficiency.

Recipient: Gabriel Gregory.

The Tim Brown prizes were established in 1966 by a gift from Mr and Mrs T H Brown to found a prize in memory of their son, T. A. I. Brown. The fund was later increased by further gifts from the family. Tim gained first class honours in 1963 and began a PhD in the Department of Mathematical Statistics. A paper with Professor H O Lancaster was published posthumously in 1965.

The Tim Brown Prize number 2 is awarded for proficiency in Senior Statistics.

Recipients: Gabriel Gregory.

Prizes for Intermediate Students

The John Spark Memorial Prize was established in 2012 by a donation from Mrs Una Spark in memory of her husband, John Spark, who graduated from the University of Sydney in 1929 with majors in Mathematics, Latin and Psychology.

The John Spark Memorial Prize is awarded for the best academic performance in 18 credit points of Intermediate Mathematics.

Recipient: Ashwin Singh.

The Tim Brown Prize number 1 is awarded for proficiency in Intermediate Statistics.

Recipient: Vaishnavi Calisa.

The Rolf Adams Prize number 2 is awarded for the best Special Studies Program Talk among the students enrolled in MATH2916.

Recipient: Andy Tran.

The Rolf Adams Prize number 3 is awarded for the best Special Studies Program Talk among the students enrolled in MATH2917.

Recipient: Stephen Huang.

Prizes for Junior Students

The Norbert Quirk Prize number 1 is awarded for the best entry by a first year student in the Norbert Quirk Mathematical Essay Competition.

Recipient: Gordon Li.

The Cengage Learning Prizes were established in 1981 by the offer of Wadsworth Publishing Company (Australasia) to establish a prize for Junior Mathematics.

The Cengage Learning Prize I is awarded for proficiency in junior advanced level mathematics.

Joint recipients: Hazel Browne and Maggie Tong.

The Cengage Learning Prize II is awarded for proficiency in junior mainstream level mathematics.

Recipient: Siyu Mao.

Scholarships

The George Allen Scholarships

The George Allen Scholarships were founded in 1877 by a bequest from the Honourable George Allen. Three scholarships are now awarded, one for each of Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics.

The George Allen Scholarship for Applied Mathematics is awarded to a student in Applied Mathematics Honours on the basis of performance in Senior Mathematics and Statistics.

Recipient: Angus Leck.

The George Allen Scholarship for Pure Mathematics is awarded to a student in Pure Mathematics Honours on the basis of performance in Senior Mathematics and Statistics.

Joint recipients: Oliver Alexander and Timothy Collier..

The George Allen Scholarship for Mathematical Statistics is awarded to a student in Mathematical Statistics Honours on the basis of performance in Senior Mathematics and Statistics.

Recipient: Chunxi Jiao.

The KE Bullen Scholarships

Recognizing the work of Professor K E Bullen, these scholarships were established in 1982 by public subscription, and supplemented by further donations. The scholarships are to encourage study in mathematics with the particular emphasis of excellence in Applied Mathematics.

The KE Bullen Scholarship I is awarded to the student who has shown greatest proficiency in Senior units of study and who enrols full-time in Applied Mathematics Honours.

Recipient: Timothy Roberts.

The KE Bullen Scholarship II is awarded to a student who has shown proficiency in Senior units of study and who enrols full-time in Applied Mathematics Honours.

Recipient: Mitchell Curran

The KE Bullen Scholarship III is awarded to the woman student who has shown greatest proficiency in Senior units of study and who enrols full-time in Applied Mathematics Honours.

Joint recipients: Madeleine Cartwright and Cecilia Li.

Barker Scholarship No. 1

Esstablished in 1853. Awarded for proficiency in Intermediate Mathematics.

Recipient: Leo Jiang.

Barker Scholarship No. 2

Established in 1881. Awarded for proficiency in Junior Mathematics.

Recipient: Hazel Browne.

Barker Scholarship No. 4

Awarded for proficiency in Senior units of study in the School of Mathematics and Statistics.

Joint recipients: Timothy Gibson and Nelson Ma.

Mrs Elva Rae Talented Mathematics Student Award

Awarded to encourage and support talented female mathematics students to reach their full potential in mathematics.