Faculty

Ali Gurel, Ph.D.

• A-Star Math Program Founder & Director (since 2008, under AlphaStar Academy since Fall 2017)
• Academic Coordinator of A-Star Math camps (since 2008)
• Ph.D., Mathematics, Caltech (2008)
• USA Math Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) Instructor (2007-2012)
• American Mathematics Competitions Advisory Panel Member (2008-2012)
• Scott Russell Johnson Prize for Excellence in Graduate Teaching, Caltech (2007)
• International Mathematical Olympiad (1996: Silver Medal)

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Fatih Gelgi, Ph.D.

• A-Star Computer Science Program Founder & Director (since 2008, under AlphaStar Academy since Fall 2017)
• Academic Coordinator of A-Star Computer Science camps (since 2008)
• Ph.D, Computer Science, Arizona State University (2007)
• USA Computing Olympiad Coach (2006-2014)
• Olympiad in Informatics Turkish National Team Coach (1999-2003)
• International Olympiad in Informatics – Bronze Medal (1999)
• Balkan Olympiad in Informatics (1998, 1999)

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Mehmet Kaysi

• A-Star Math Program Founder & Director (since 2009, under AlphaStar Academy since Fall 2017)
• Academic Coordinator of A-Star Math camps (since 2009)
• American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) Problem Writing Committee (2011-2014)
• Junior Balkan Mathematical Olympiad – USA Team Leader (2013)
• Balkan Mathematical Olympiad – Academic Assistant (2012)
• International Mathematical Olympiad (2004)
• Balkan Mathematical Olympiad – Silver Medal (2004)

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Victor Hakim

• AlphStar Physics Program Director (2018-present)
• AlphaStar Physics/Math Full Time Instructor (2017-Present)
• B.A., Applied Math – Quantum Mechanics focus, University of California, Berkeley (2017)
• M.S., Mechanical Engr. – Controls & Dynamics, Santa Clara University (Current)
• USAPhO Honorable Mention (2013)
• Berkeley Math Tournament Problem Writing Coordinator (2016)
• MathCounts Coach (Del Mar Elementary)

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Muhyeddin Ercan, M.S.

• AlphaStar Computer Science full-time Instructor (2018-present)
• MS in Computer Science in UCA (2012)
• Computer Science Teacher (2012-present)
• Won 3rd Place in USA Microsoft Imagine Cup Software Design Competition

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Sal Tiryaki, M.S.

• AlphaStar Computer Science Instructor (2018-present)
• M.Ed., Leadership in Education, American College of Education (2016)
• B.S. in Electrical Engineering (2002)
• Computer Science / Robotics teacher (2010-present)
• Many regional, state, interstate, and international awards in Robotics such as 2014 Tri-State (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada) and Mexico Championship, 2017 First Global Zhang Heng Silver Engineering Design
• Worked as an engineer, project leader, and tecnical manager in industry (2003-2010)

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Joseph Hurmali

• Students he taught received 4 Gold, 9 Silver, 9 Bronze medals in International Math Olympiads
• Teacher of the teachers: Taught Dr. Gurel, Dr. Gelgi, and Mr. Kaysi in their high school years
• Administrator at Public Schools (10 Years Experience)
• Math Teacher / Olympiad Coordinator (10 Years Experience)
• MS, Computer Science (1999)
• BS, Mathematics Education (1991)

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Sukru Tikves, Ph.D.

• Software Engineer at Google
• Ph.D., Computer Science, Arizona State University (2016)
• A-Star CS Instructor at year-round courses (2015-2017)
• International Olympiad in Informatics (1997 Silver, 1998 Silver, 1999 Silver)
• Balkan Olympiad in Informatics (1997 Bronze, 1998 Bronze, 1999 Bronze)

Sinan Kanbir, Ph.D.

• Assistant Professor, Mathematics, University of Wisconsin
• Ph.D., Mathematics Education, Illinois State University (2016)
• Teaching Impact Award, Illinois State University (2015)
• Item writer for Central Wisconsin Math League (CWML) and MathCON
• Coached students for AMC 8, 10, 12, TMO, and IMO for more than 10 years

John Sinkovic, Ph.D.

• A* Math Instructor (2017: Summer Camp, Winter Camp)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Combinatorics and Optimization, University of Waterloo (2015–Current)
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Math and Statistics, Georgia State University (2013–2015)
• Ph.D., Mathematics, Brigham Young University (2013)
• Ph.D. Student, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands (2007–2009)

Zarathustra (Zeb) Brady, Ph.D.

• A* Math Instructor (2015: Summer Camp; 2016: Summer Camp)
• Ph.D., Mathematics, Stanford University (2017)
• BA, Caltech (2012)
• USA Math Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) instructor (2008, 2010)
• ACM International Collegiate Programming ContestWorld Finals (2008)
• International Mathematical Olympiad (2006: Gold)

Eric Xu

• A* Math Instructor (2014: Summer Camp; 2015: Summer Camp)
• A* CS Instructor (2015 – Present)
• Stanford Class of 2019
• ACM-ICPC World Finals 14th Place
• ACM-ICPC Pacific Northwest Regional (2016: 3rd Place Team)
• USACO Platinum Observer (2015-present)
• Stanford ProCo (2nd place)
• Facebook Hacker Cup (2017: Top 200)
• Google Code Jam (2016, 2017: Round 2 Qualifier)
• USAMO Qualifier (2013-2015)
• USAJMO Qualifier (2011-2012)
• ARML (2014: 5th Place Team)
• CHMMC (2014: 2nd Place Team)

William Luo

• A* Alumni
• A* Computer Science Instructor (2017-present)
• MIT Class of 2022
• USACO Finalist (2017)
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2016 – present)
• USAPhO Silver Medalist (2017)
• Who Wants To Be A Mathematician National Finalist (2017)
• AMC 12 Distinguished Honor Roll (2017)
• USAMTS Silver Medalist (2016)
• AMC 10 Distinguished Honor Roll (2016)
• AIME qualifier (2016, 2017)

Spencer Compton

• MIT Class of 2022
• International Olympiad in Informatics USA Team Member (2018)
• USACO Finalist (2017,2018)
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2016-present)
• Stetson U. Programming Contest (2016, 2017: 1st Place)
• U. of Central Florida Programming Tournament (2016, 2017: 1st Place)
• U. of Florida Programming Contest (2016, 2017: 1st Place)

Selahattin Tiryaki, M.S.

• M.Ed., Leadership in Education, American College of Education (2016)
• B.S. in Electrical Engineering (2002)
• Computer Science / Robotics teacher (2010-present)
• Many regional, state, interstate, and international awards in Robotics such as
  2014 Tri-State (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada) and Mexico Championship,
  2017 First Global Zhang Heng Silver Engineering Design
• Worked as an engineer, project leader, and tecnical manager in industry (2003-2010)

Amanda Du

• A* Alumni
• A* Computer Science Instructor (2016)
• Northeastern U. Class of 2021
• USACO Finalist (2016)
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2015-2017)
• Computer Science and Math Tutor at the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula (2016-2017)

Tyler Zhu

• A* Alumni
• A* Computer Science Instructor (2017 – present)
• UC Berkeley Class of 2022
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2017 – present)
• CHMMC 5th place (2016)
• USAMO Qualifier (2017)
• AIME Qualifier (2014-2017)

Alex Gu

• A* Computer Science Summer Camp – TA (2016)
• MIT Class of 2022
• USACO Finalist (2016)
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2015 – present)
• USAJMO Qualifier (2015-2017)
• USAPhO, Honorable Mention (2017)
• Science Bowl National Qualifier (2016)

Michael Chen

• A* Alumni
• Canyon Crest Academ Class of 2019
• USACO Platinum (2017 – present)
• San Diego Math Circle (Lead Instructor: 2017-present, TA: 2014-2017)
• Canyon Crest Academy Programming Team Captain (2015 – present)
• ACSL 1st Place Individual (2017)
• ACSL All Star 4th place team (2017)
• Internet and mobile app developer (2016 – present)

Chris Xiong

• A* Alumni
• UC Berkeley Class of 2022
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2016 – present)
• USAJMO Qualifier (2016)

Shwetark Patel

• MIT Class of 2021
• USACO Finalist (2015, 2016)
• USAMO qualifier (2017)
• Virginia Tech High School Programming Contest (2015,2017:1st place, 2016:2nd place)
• Univ. of Virginia High School Programming Contest (2016:1st place)
• PClassic High School Programming Contest (2016:1st place)

 Lucas Xia

• A* Alumni
• UCLA Class of 2022
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2017 – present)
• USAMO Qualifier (2017)
• USAPhO National Semifinalist (2016, 2017)

 Bennett Liu

• A* Alumni
• TA at A* camps / year-round courses since 2017
• The Harker School Class of 2020
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2016 – present)
• Carnegie Mellon Informatics and Mathematics Competition, Honorable mention (2017)
• FTC Robotics, Two-time Winning Alliance,
  Rockwell Collins Innovation Award, and Judges Award (2014-2016)

Kevin Liu

• A* Computer Science Summer Camp – TA (2016)
• MIT Class of 2022
• USACO Finalist (2016)
• USACO Platinum (2015-present)
• USAJMO qualifier (2016)
• AIME qualifier (2014-2018)

Avichal Goel

• A* Alumni
• A* Computer Science Instructor (since 2016)
• MIT Class of 2022
• USACO Finalist (2016)
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2015-present)
• AIME Qualifier (2015-2017)
• Stanford ProCo (2016: 3rd place)
• Harker Programming Invitational (2016: 1st Place)
• HP CodeWars (2015-2016: 1st Place)
• Codeforces Division 1 (2016-Present)

Riya Arora

• A* CS Instructor (2017 – present)
• James Logan High School Class of 2019
• USACO Finalist (2017, 2018)
• Zero Robotics International Space Station Finals (2016)
• FIRST Robotics Challenge World Championships (2016-2018)
• Codeforces Division 1 (2017-present)
• Guy Emanuele FIRST Lego League Robotics Mentor (2015-2017)
• NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (2017, 2018 National: Honorable Mention, 2017 San Francisco Bay Area Competition: Winner)

Adam Zheng

• Canyon Crest Academy Class of 2019
• USACO Finalist 2017-2018
• USACO Platinum 2016-present
• USAJMO Qualifier 2017
• USAMO Qualifier 2018

Richard Spence

• A* Math Instructor (since 2012)
• M.S. Program, Computer Science, U. of Arizona (expected 2018)
• Double Major in Math and Computer Science, MIT (2016)
• USAMO qualifier (2010)
• MathCounts National qualifier 2007, 2008
• National “Who Wants to be a Mathematician” qualifier (2011-2012)
• Perfect score on AMC 10 (2009)
• National Scrabble Championship – Div. 2 (2011: Winner)

Yalcin Udun

• A* Math Instructor (since 2017)
• Ph.D. Program, Mathematics Education at U. of Arizona
• MS.E. in Gifted and Talented Education at ASU
• Raytheon Math Hero Award (2015)
• Arizona Mathcounts Team Coach (2012)

Hope Chen

• MIT Class of 2019
• MIT DynaMIT Middle School Science Camp Mentor
• MIT Global Teaching Labs Instructor

Andrew Lin

• MIT Class of 2022
• A-Star Instructor since 2016
• Miller MathCounts Coach since 2014
• MOSP qualifier (2016), USAJMO winner (2016)
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2017)
• Perfect AIME (2017), Perfect AMC 10 (2016 A, B)

Harry Wang

• A* Math Instructor (2015: Summer Camp; 2017: Summer Camp)
• USAMO Qualifier (2015-2017)
• USAJMO Qualifier (2014)
• MATHCOUNTS National Competition (2014: 1st Place Team)
• Caltech-Harvey Mudd Math Competition (2016: 5th Place Individual)
• USA Physics Team Member (2017)
• USACO Platinum Qualification (2016)

Andrew Cai

• Mountain View High School Class of 2018
• 2016 USAJMO qualifier
• 2014-2018 AIME qualifier
• 2017 CHMMC 6th place individual
• 2017 USAPhO Honorable Mention
• MVHS Math Club Founder and President

Michelle Shen

• Park Tudor and Sycamore School MathCounts Coach since 2014
• Regeneron STS Scholar (2018)
• Siemens Semifinalist (2017)
• Math Prize for Girls Olympiad (2017: Bronze)
• ARML (2017: 15th place individual)
• PUMaC (2016: 6th place in combinatorics)
• HMMT (2017: 3rd place in combinatorics, 28th place individual)
• USAJMO Qualifier (2015-2016)
• MOSP Qualifier (2015)

Stanley Wang

• A* Math Instructor (2017: Winter Camp)
• Miller MathCounts coach since 2015
• Lynbrook High School Class of 2019
• USACO Platinum Contestant (2016-present)
• MOP qualifier (2017)
• 2 time USAMO qualifier (2016-2017)
• AMC 10A perfect score (2017)
• 2015 National Mathcounts qualifier

Caleb Ji

• A* Math Instructor (2015: Summer Camp; 2016: Summer Camp; 2017: Summer Camp, Winter Camp)
• International Math Olympiad (2014: Bronze)
• MOP qualifier
• Asia Pacific Math Olympiad (2014 Honorable Mention)
• Canadian Math Olympiad (2014: 3rd place)
• USAJMO (2013: Honorable Mention)
• USACO gold
• MathCounts State (2012: Winner)
• PUMaC (2014: 1st Place Number Theory)

Tristan Shin

• A* Math Instructor (2017: Summer Camp)
• MOP Qualifier (2016)
• USAMO Qualifier (2016-2018), AIME Qualifier (2014-2018)
• AMC 12 Perfect Score (2018), AMC 8 Perfect Score (2014)
• California State MathCounts 1st place team (2014)
• Online Math Open Problem Writer, CCA Math Bonanza Head Problem Writer, Head Proctor
• Individual Placement at ASMT, BMT, CHMMC, HMMT
• USACO Gold

Stan Zhang

• MOP (2016, 2017)
• USAMO HM (2016) , TST (2017)
• USACO Finalist (2017)
• AMC12 perfect score (2018)
• 1st place team (HMMT2018, SMT2018, BMT2017, CHMMC2016, ARML2016)
• Mathcounts CA state (1st place countdown, 2nd place written 2015)
• Fremont High School Math Club President (2017- present)

Victor Chu

• Class of 2022, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• USAMO Qualifier (2016-2017)
• USAJMO Qualifier (2015)
• Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament November Theme Round 3rd Place (2017)
• Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS), Boston University Attendee (2016)
• A* Math USA(J)MO Class Attendee (2015)

Austin Lei

• A* Math Instructor (2017: Winter Camp)
• Miller MathCounts Coach (since 2015)
• Lynbrook High School Class of 2019
• USAMO Qualifier (2018), USAJMO Qualifier (2015-2016)
• AIME Qualifier (2014-2018)
• Individual top tens at ASMT, BMT, SMT, BAMO

Abby Berry

• College of William and Mary Class of 2019, Applied Mathematics major
• Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education (2017)
• William and Mary private math tutor since 2016
• YMCA summer camp assistant director (2017)

Jennifer Zhu

• Harvard Class of 2022
• Young Ivy Math Instructor
• Grown up in AMC and MathCounts

Vincent Huang

• A* Math Instructor (2018 Summer Camp)
• Plano West Senior High School Class of 2019
• USA International Mathematical Olympiad Team (2017: Silver)
• USAMO Honorable Mention (2017)
• USACO Platinum Division
• MOP Qualifier (2015, 2016, 2017)
• SIEMENS Competition Semifinalist (2017)

Stanley Zhang

• UCSD ECE ’21
• UCSD ACM ICPC Team (2017-18)
• USACO Gold
• AIME Qualifier (2015-17)