Haotian Wang: IMO 2024 Report

We began the journey to the UK on 7^th July. This was a very brief and enjoyable trip that consisted of 2 12-hour plane rides which were followed by many hours of bus rides. The highlight of this trip was a very handsome flight attendant, who one of the team members was attracted to – I forgot who it was exactly. Eventually, we arrived at the University of Bath, where we would live for the next few weeks. We all got individual rooms this year which was super cool.

We arrived quite early because New Zealand and Netherlands wished to have their team training together. During this period before IMO, we went on an excursion to the Roman Baths, and on another very brief and enjoyable trip, this time the trip was along the Bath Skyline Walk.

During the pre-IMO training, our leader Ross taught us a really useful theorem that he declared to be valid for use in any mathematical competition.

This theorem is highly recommended if cyclic quadrilaterals are desired in a problem, because if all angles are 90 degrees, then the shape must indeed be cyclic.

We also went on another excursion with the Dutch team to play mini-golf and tennis. This was very fun and also a good opportunity to socialise with the other team. Unfortunately, the mini-golf match was ended early due to rain, which we heard was a very abnormal occasion for fine British weather.

Another excursion was an official IMO excursion to London. We travelled to London by train and arrived at Paddington station, which was super big and cool. We visited many well-known locations such as Tower Bridge, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. I learned many cool facts about London on this tour, such as an American who bought a bridge from London, and towers with butts to make the view more appealing. I think I may have misheard our tour guide.

We also went with the Dutch to this other place which I forgot the name of and looked at the sea. Tragically, there was a consensus to postpone lunch in order to visit a big bridge. I think it was also on this excursion that an even bigger tragedy occurred: someone decided it would be optimal to walk back to the university instead of taking a bus.

One of the sponsors, Jane Street, had organised a celebratory event after IMO in their office in London. In classic team New Zealand fashion, we arrived a bit late to the bus ride and were forced to take the leftover seats with other teams. A part of the team had to take the next bus because this bus was already full. On this ride, I sat with a super duper cool member of the Germany team who I basically became best buddies with. This might’ve been the first time I have ever talked to a member of another country.

After we arrived at the hotel, we departed to our first activity, which was meant to be a dinner at the science museum. However, Jane Street subverted all expectations, and in the end I experienced neither science museum, or dinner. Instead, we spent the night in some basement of the museum, where we played computer games. ???

On the next and final day of the Jane Street event, we went to their office in London. We had breakfast at the office. The food was pretty good, but some outliers believed it couldn’t compete with the exquisite cuisine of the university cafeteria (baked beans and eggs). Then there were some talks and activities at the office before we left to the pier to go on a boat trip around London. The day concluded with food and activities back at the Jane Street office.

Finally, we embarked on our last brief and enjoyable trip back to Auckland.

• How has attending this event demonstrated greater knowledge of available career paths in science and technology?

Presentations from sponsors such as Jane Street and XTX showcased the usefulness of maths in different careers.

• How has attending this event enthused or inspired you to pursue science and technology careers?

I was already likely to do something involving science and technology, and the event has reinforced this desire.

• Has attending this event changed how you feel about science or technology?

This event demonstrated the variety of problems that can exist.

• How has attending this event and participating with like-minded students been of benefit to you?

It was cool to be with other students who do maths and to talk to each other about it.

• Now that you have had time to reflect about your experience what have you learnt about yourself?

I learnt that I am a fumbler.