Michael Ma Invited to MIT Summer Research Workshop

As far as anyone can recall, Michael Ma is the first Watchung Hills Regional High School student ever to have been invited to attend the annual Research Science Institute, which is held in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Warren Township junior, a member of the Class of 2012, will be one of only 47 students from across the United States (as well as approximately 30 students from overseas) to have been invited to participate in the most prestigious and competitive high school science program in the nation.

Each summer for the past 27 years, the 80 or so invitees, who are considered the world’s most accomplished high school students, gather at M.I.T. to take part in a six-week, cost-free program designed to “kick-start’ their careers of leadership in the sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology.

The McLean, Va.-based Center for Excellence in Education sponsors and underwrites the challenging program, which this year extends from June 19 to July 30. Its honorary board members, which include President Jimmy Carter, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Congressman Eric Cantor (R-Va.), and a prestigious 28-member Board of Trustees, seeks to provide an experience that gives many of its participants “their first taste of work at the creative edge of science” and the impetus to continue their study and involvement in scientific fields of every kind.

To implement this goal, the Institute’s leaders say, participants will experience the entire research cycle from start to finish. They will read the most current literature in their field, draft and execute a detailed research plan, and deliver conference-style oral and written reports of their findings. Many of the participants may have already done this on a lower level –a good reason for their having been selected for this strenuous learning experience.

Ma’s imposing record in math and science will stand him in good stead as he joins this imposing group of young people. An Advanced Placement Scholar with 5’s in Calculus B and Chemistry (as a sophomore), he attained SAT II scores of 800 in both chemistry and mathematics. Achievement in the various National Olympiads has been equally impressive:

Physics, Semifinalist; Chemistry, Finalist with High Honors, top 50 in the nation; Mathematics, Qualifier for American Invitational Mathematics Examination—grades 9, 10,11.

Ma was also a Merck Scholar, third place individual in Chemistry, took second place individual in the NJ Science League in Chemistry, and achieved first place, individual, in New Jersey in the Association of Mathematics Teachers of NJ.

His extra-curricular activities also reflect his love of all things mathematical: He’s team captain of Hills Math League, which has attained first place in the county, member of the Varsity Academic Team, which has also attained first place in the county. He also is part of the Columbia University Science Honors Program (SHP) and has participated since eighth grade in the Study of Exceptional Talent Program (SET) of Johns Hopkins University.

Ma is also a member of the varsity men's tennis team, and was a member of the JV team for two years. He also plays volley ball with the Huaxia Chinese School—from which he graduated with high honors.

We often speak of an outstanding person as being “one in a million”— Ma is one of only 47 juniors nationwide to have been selected for a very challenging academic experience. That’s equivalent to being “one in a million.”