Biology

WKU’s Engineering Department and the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers will be hosting the Mammoth Cave chapter MATHCOUNTS competition on Saturday (Feb. 18).

About 40 students from four schools are expected to participate in the middle school math competition at WKU, one of 13 sites across the state. The WKU competition will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Snell Hall and Engineering and Biological Sciences building. The event features individual competitions, team competitions and a countdown round among the top 10 individuals. The countdown round will begin about 12:30 p.m. in Snell Hall, room 2113.

For the first time, WKU is a statewide sponsor of the MATHCOUNTS competition and will be awarding scholarships to the top three individual finishers at all 13 chapter competitions Saturday — a total of 39 scholarships. At each chapter competition, the first-place individual winner will receive a full, four-year in-state tuition scholarship; the second-place individual finishers will receive a four-year, $1,000 scholarship; and the third-place individual finishers will receive a four-year, $500 scholarship.

“We are very pleased to have WKU Engineering participating across the Commonwealth in all 13 chapter competitions,” said Dr. Julie Ellis, head of the Engineering Department. “We are especially glad to recognize these fine young students.  It is critical to encourage middle school students to excel and to persist in excelling at math and science, regardless of what they choose to study later.  But, of course, we hope many of them choose to study engineering. And we will welcome them at WKU, when they are ready to come to college.”

Contact: Engineering Department, (270) 745-2461.