The Superbowl isn’t the only exciting competition taking place in February! The Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM)® is an international contest for college undergraduates that challenges teams of students to analyze, model, solve, and present solution reports to an open-ended application problem. Clarkson has been competing in this competition for roughly 20 years with past teams earning Honorable Mention, Meritorious Win, and even chosen as one of the top five teams globally.
This year two teams of Clarkson students competed with thousands of teams around the world. They trained for roughly ten weeks led by “Coach” Dr. Emmanuel Asante-Asamani and assistant coaches in the Department of Mathematics (Drs. Diana White, Guangming Yao, James Greene, and Katie Kavanagh). They immersed themselves in the modeling process to gain experience in solving messy, open-ended real world problems. This included honing skills like making and justifying assumptions in order to develop mathematical relationships between critical design parameters, learning new software and problem solving tools, and sharpening technical communication skills. One team, made up of Daniel Ball (Senior in Mechanical Engineering), Julia Thomas (Freshman, Mathematics) and Connor Canatsey (Senior, Mathematics) chose a problem that focused on predicting Wordle Results played by users on the New York Times website. The experience adds relevance to skills learned in the classroom and allows students to have ownership over their solutions. Here are some thoughts from team members.
My experience with this contest was nothing short of awesome! The weeks leading up to the COMAP competition consisted of some training that really appeals to your intuition rather than previous math skills you might have to remember. It also helps to polish up your computer skills which helps tremendously across any field or major. Every question for the competition was interesting to someone too, my group all agreed to one problem and we were progressively more interested in it as we thought and created our model for it. Any level of math you may be in can be applied to these questions, the training just helps you frame your mind to apply it to the problems. (Daniel Ball)
I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the math modeling competition as it broadened my perspectives on the applications of my major. I appreciated the
process of brainstorming ideas, learning new strategies, and working with my team. I am so proud of our project and solution! (Julia Thomas)
The other team, made up of David Sajai Paul (Senior, Applied Mathematics and Statistics), Daniel Guinesso (Freshman, Chemical Engineering) and Cristian Perez (Freshman, Aerospace Engineering) chose a problem that focused on Prioritizing the UN Sustainability Goals by creating and evaluating a network of the relationships between them. Here are David’s thoughts about his experience with preparing for and participating in the contest.
I’ve always loved math modeling, so this was exciting for me. I learned a lot from this, from taking part in my first academic competition to getting much more detailed information regarding the various approaches to solving problems. Overall, it was a fantastic learning opportunity for me. (David Sajai Paul)
Are you looking for an opportunity to solve real-world problems with applied mathematics
and computational methodologies? Consider forming a team and participating in one of the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications1 (COMAP)’s international modeling contests. Registration is now open for COMAP’s 2023 Spring MCM/ICM. Visit the COMAP website for free modeling resources and study materials. Follow @COMAPMath on Twitter for up-to-date contest information. Form a team and get ready for next year’s contests in February!
