Tyson Mao
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Tyson Francis Mao (Born on May 8, 1984 in San Francisco, California), is one of the world's top competitive Rubik's Cube solvers. He is known especially for his prominence in the 3x3x3 blindfold Rubik's Cube category where his competition times are currently matched only by Leyan Lo. In 2004, with Ron van Bruchem, he formed the World Cube Association, the organization that holds competitive events for the Rubik's Cube. On January 12, 2006, he appeared on the Warner Bros. "Beauty and the Geek" as one of the participants of the second incarnation of the reality television show.
Biography
Tyson was born as a premature birth, approximately 8 weeks early. He grew up in initially Burlingame, California where he attended Temple Shalom, a Jewish pre-school. Tyson's family was not Jewish, but the local pre-school had been known for its excellence in raising young children. From kindergarten to fourth grade, he attended Franklin Elementary School and in fifth grade, he attended South Hillsborough Elementary School.
In 1995, Tyson enrolled in Crystal Springs Uplands School and he remained there until his graduation in 2002. Tyson is currently an undergraduate senior at the California Institute of Technology, where he is slated to receive his B.S. in Astrophysics in June of 2006. He is member of the House System at Caltech in Fleming House.
Tyson got his first and middle name in honor of Taiwan (also know to many as Formosa). He and all of his other cousins (Tim, Terry, Tammy, Tina, Tiffany, Tom, Toby, Tyler, Troy) all begin with the letter "T" except for Litton, who has two T's in the middle.
Rubik's Cube
Speed Solving
Tyson is considered a new generation Rubik's Cube solver. The Rubik's Cube first reached a high level of prominence in the world soon after the toy was released in 1980. Tyson began solving the cube during the puzzle's second emergence in 2003. On July 24, 2003, Tyson was spending an off-day from his summer employment as a residential counselor for EPGY Summer Institutes at home. His younger brother, Toby Mao, had returned from Los Angeles, California where he was participating in Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth program. Toby had told Tyson that he learned how to solve the Rubik's Cube from a residential assistant and after an instructive period of approximately two hours, Tyson was able to solve the Rubik's Cube on his own using the assistance of a sheet of notes.
After approximately one month of practice with his brother's beginner solution, on August 31, 2003, Tyson recorded a best average of 1 minute 22.26 seconds and a best time of 1 minute 06.33 seconds. Soon after, his brother decided to switch to a method developed by Lars Petrus and on September 10, Tyson recorded a best average of 59.26 seconds and a best time of 45.39 seconds.
Tyson currently uses the method developed by Jessica Fridrich. On September 3, 2004, Tyson broke the 20-second barrier on the Rubik's Cube, an accomplishment considered to be the defining moment for the Rubik's Cube elite. Also, on the same day, he recorded a best time of 14.18 seconds. Rubik's Cube improvement has been very rapid in the recent months and contemporary Rubik's Cube solvers would consider the elite bench mark to be the 15-second barrier.
Blindfold Solving
Tyson began solving the Rubik's Cube blindfolded under the guidance of Leyan Lo and Shotaro Makisumi in April of 2005.
Rubik's Cube Times
- 3x3x3 Speed Solve: 12.89 seconds
- 3x3x3 Speed Solve Average of 5: 16.91 seconds
- 3x3x3 Blindfold Speed Solve: 1 minute 54.33 seconds
External links
- [Tyson's Website] at Caltech
- [Tyson's Blog]
- [Tyson Mao], entry on The Internet Movie Database
References
- ['Beauty and the Geek' returns to TV, Calgary Sun]
- [Brothers square off in cubing contest, San Francisco Chronicle]
- [Brain Trust Behind 'Beauty And The Geek' Says More Stereotype Breaking In Works, TBO.com]
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