Huge thanks to Prof. Po-Shen Loh for stopping by San Ramon, CA on Sunday, August 8 to give a fun and interactive math talk about math in games, strategy, and invention. Everyone learned a lot about games which appear simple at first glance, but turn out to have powerful strategies that become visible after changing to a mathematical perspective. The talk also addressed parents, discussing educational philosophy, particularly around how to teach students to invent mathematically (to be able to come up with their own mathematical changes of perspective), instead of simply treating math as a subject to be memorized and drilled. Lastly, there was a Q&A session at the end, giving both students and parents an opportunity to create connections and exchange ideas.

Prof. Po-Shen Loh is a math enthusiast and evangelist who travels the world and gives fun, inspiring, and insightful talks, to increase everyone’s interest and ability in mathematics. He is a math professor at Carnegie Mellon University, the founder of the free online learning platform Expii, and the national coach of the USA Math Olympiad team. His research and educational outreach take him to cities across the world, reaching over 10,000 people each year through public lectures and events, and he has featured in or co-created videos totaling over 10 million YouTube views. Po-Shen Loh is a mathematics professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the current coach for the USA IMO national team. He also serves as an guest speaker at math programs like Awesome Math. You can find out more information through his profile here.

More images can be found at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ODejUVrjc1og1lvGda4BA5_8WIQFZM1v