WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) is hosting the 2011 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS® National Competition champion Scott Wu and his family during his first visit to the greater Boston area this week.

The Baton Rouge, La., Mathlete® will be honored at various Boston-area locations, including a pre-game visit with the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium Thursday, Sept. 1, and a behind-the-scenes look at the Theater of Electricity at the Museum of Science, Boston Friday, Sept. 2. Scott will be available to meet the public and media at the Museum of Science for a Q-and-A session Friday, Sept. 2, at 1 p.m. EDT.

"Raytheon is excited to welcome Scott Wu and his family to Raytheon's home state of Massachusetts," said Pam Wickham, vice president of Corporate Affairs and Communications for Raytheon. Wickham is the immediate past chair and a current board member of MATHCOUNTS. "Through support of MATHCOUNTS and our MathMovesU® program, Raytheon is proud to encourage student excellence in science, technology, engineering and math."

Now entering high school, Scott competed against 223 other middle school students to win the 2011 national competition championship in May. Scott's older brother Neal Wu, who is in his sophomore year at Harvard University, won the same MATHCOUNTS National Competition title in 2005. He will join Scott and his family during the visit.

The Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition engages the best and brightest in middle school mathematics from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, Department of Defense and State Department schools. Finalists rose above more than 100,000 middle school students to win their school, local and state competitions.

Sponsorship of the Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition is a core component of Raytheon's MathMovesU program, an initiative designed to engage middle school students in math and science and help inspire the next generation of technologists and innovators. Raytheon is the title sponsor of the Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition through 2014.

About MathMovesU

Raytheon's MathMovesU program is committed to increasing middle school students' interest in math and science education by engaging them in hands-on, interactive activities. The innovative programs of MathMovesU include Raytheon's Sum of all Thrills™ experience at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot®, which showcases math in action as students design and experience their own thrill ride using math fundamentals; the "In the Numbers" game, a partnership with the New England Patriots on display at The Hall at Patriot Place™ presented by Raytheon; the company's ongoing sponsorship of the MATHCOUNTS National Competition; and the MathMovesU scholarship and grant program providing more than $1 million in annual funding to students and teachers. Follow MathMovesU on Twitter @raytheonmmu.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2010 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 89 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 72,000 people worldwide.

About MATHCOUNTS

MATHCOUNTS is a non-profit national math enrichment, club and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement in every U.S. state and territory, and is one of the most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and students in America. MATHCOUNTS offers teachers, students and parents free materials to aid them in math enrichment and to help them prepare for a high-tech future that will require mathematics-related skills to achieve success. Materials and information are available at www.mathcounts.org.

Note to Editors:

Scott Wu answered the following math problem to be crowned the 2011 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS national champion:

Question: It takes 180 digits to write down all of the two-digit positive integers. How many of these digits are odd?

Answer:  95 (digits)

www.raytheon.com

SOURCE Raytheon Company