Students Win National Math Research Competition

For the second time in three years, West Valley College students coached by Math Instructor SerKuang Chen have captured first place in the national Student Research League competition.  

The competition, organized by the American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges (AMATYC), pits dozens of teams composed of two to three students against one another in applying their mathematical problem-solving, collaboration, and analytical skills, and creativity to a real-world scenario. 

The 2024 challenge: Create a theoretical plan for transitioning a city of at least 50,000 residents to using 100% renewable energy. 

When West Valley Faculty member SerKuang Chen paired Ariana Chanel Lalehparvar and Kirby Fung for the competition, the two students had never met. Yet their diligence and collaboration as a team shined brightly, especially when one considers that the competitors had only 18 days from when organizers released the 2024 SRL challenge on March 18 and the April 8 deadline. Their final 15-page proposal advanced through multiple regional judging phases before their nationwide win was recently announced. 

“Winning felt amazing, and I was fortunate to have such a supportive teammate who complemented my strengths and filled in for my weaknesses,” said Ariana Chanel Lalehparvar, a second year data science major and Associated Students of WVC executive board member.  

Kirby Fung is a WVC dual enrollment student and senior at Saratoga High School, where he plays varsity water polo. Winning the SRL competition, he said, stirred a strong sense of honor and pride for "our collective effort and teamwork.” For their research, the team studied renewable energy sources from geothermal to landfill gas and conducted an in-depth analysis of the existing benefit-cost ratio and potential costs and savings over time. 

“Equipped with the analysis, I devised a linear programming optimization model to generate optimized energy distribution output based on a customized target function and list of constraints,” Fung explained. “I’ve also utilized computer programming to implement the optimization model in Python and created the graphs and tables for our research paper.” 

The team thanks the faculty members who guided them, including WVC Math Instructor Brad Chin, who connected the team to Jim Stack, resource officer at the City of Palo Alto. Stack acted as a consultant and supplied helpful real-world data to the team. They also expressed appreciation of Betsy Sandford of the West Valley library who met with students after hours to orient them to research resources.

Judges complimented the WVC team’s thorough comparison of different energy sources and effective use of technology, such as Python computer programming language. They also applauded the team’s implementation strategy with recommendations to the Palo Alto City Council as a “great idea.”

About Professor Chen
SerKuang Chen is a retired software engineer who is beginning her seventh year as fulltime WVC math faculty. She's gained the respect of her students and colleagues, including math instructor Brad Chin.  “What she’s done in helping students to succeed at this kind of assignment is really next level,” Chin said. “I see the consistent support she provides to students, and she inspires me.” 

For her part, Chen says she was motived by “some amazing students” to seek out opportunities to “showcase them somewhere.” Two years ago, Chen's three-member team put approximately 100 hours into their three-week project. Those students went on to transfer to University of California, Berkley, UCLA, and San Francisco State.  “It’s rewarding both for faculty to sponsor students and for students to participate,” Chen observed. “After the first time, I (thought): I’m done! Then, I see really amazing students, and I do it again.”