Starting the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival in Hong Kong

We are very excited to announce that the inaugural Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival in Hong Kong is going to be held on April 1st (Saturday) at the Singapore International School (Hong Kong). This is open to students in Hong Kong, ages 10 to 14.

The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival in Hong Kong 2017 inspires students to explore the richness and beauty of mathematics through activities that encourage collaborative and creative problem-solving. This event is in joint partnership with the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festivals and the Singapore International School (Hong Kong). Details at http://www.algebragamification.com/JRMF.

We started this as a grassroots activity with a few like-minded friends -- Jian Shen (former Princeton University Math Club President who then roped in other mathematicians working in finance), Ken Shum. We all wondered what differences we can make for Hong Kong students who are new to this type of mathematics initiative. And the Julia Robinson Math Festival in Hong Kong seems perfectly in sync with the United States' 2017 National Math Festival, the grandest carnival in mathematics. We are delighted to receive full support from Mark Saul (Executive Director of Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival) and also local academics like Professor Tony Chan (HKUST President), sponsorship from the IEEE Information Theory Society and the Singapore International School (Hong Kong) whose vice-Principal Mr. Bernard Ng and I had a great time working together before.

The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festivals is a project founded by Nancy Blachman in partnership with the American Institute of Mathematics that started in 2007 at Google in the Bay Area (yes it's as old as the cool iPhone). Since then, the festivals have spread to many places worldwide. The idea of the Festivals is to allow young people to develop their talent for mathematics by providing problems, puzzles, and activities that are intriguing and accessible in a non-competitive atmosphere. A diverse audience of young people, school teachers, math lovers in the community come together to explore the joys and power of mathematics with the goal of broadening society's appreciation and support of mathematics. 

We will have a number of math-lovers from the academia and industry who will facilitate at each table of math and to give out raffle tickets! The Algebra Game Project will of course have a table of its own for students to explore the mathematics behind the game. There are also mathematical origami, puzzles and many more that we are creating and preparing right now! 

Stay tuned for April 1st! Here is the Festival poster: