EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 5, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of California middle school students participated March 20 in a MATHCOUNTS state-level competition sponsored by Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN).

Students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades in counties from Kern to San Diego traveled to the University of California at Irvine for a head-to-head mathematics contest designed to challenge the sharpest young minds in the nation. Raytheon sponsors the MATHCOUNTS organization and its annual competitions at the state and national levels to strengthen U.S. competitiveness in math, science, technology and engineering.

The MATHCOUNTS competition poses a series of creative math problems in both written and verbal formats that individuals and teams compete to solve. The Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition, scheduled May 6-9, 2010, in Orlando, Fla., will be limited to 228 students from 50 states and seven U.S. territories. In 2009, a student from Southern California placed second.

"Programs like Raytheon's MathMovesU® and MATHCOUNTS are an investment in the dreams and aspirations of the future," said Rick Yuse, president of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, headquartered in El Segundo. "Raytheon believes that tomorrow's engineers and technologists need to be interested in math today, which is one of the many reasons this is important to our company."

MATHCOUNTS promotes excellence, instills confidence and stimulates curiosity in U.S. middle school students through fun-filled and challenging math programs. With the generous support of sponsors and volunteers and the leadership of the National Society of Professional Engineers, MATHCOUNTS lays the foundation for successful careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Raytheon Company, with 2009 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 88 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 75,000 people worldwide.

SOURCE Raytheon Company