Congratulations to both of UD's 2010 Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) teams for their achievement! MCM is the premiere mathematical modeling contest involving over 2200 teams from around the world. For those unfamiliar with MCM, teams of up to three students have four days to solve an open mathematical problem. One of our teams, consisting of Eric Sabo, Robert Deaton and Patrick Stengel earned a Finalist ranking putting them in the top 1% worldwide. Teams are designated Outstanding (top 1/2%), Finalist (next 1/2%), Meritorious (next 19%), Honorable Mention (next 24%) and Successful (next 55%). The Finalist ranking is a new category introduced this year. To reach this point, the students' work must survive seven rounds of judging. Our second team, consisting of Soham Gandhi and Dariusz Murakowski, was hindered by the loss of its third member on short notice but still managed a very respectable Successful designation. Considering that most cars won't even start with an 8V battery, this is quite an achievement.

In MCM, effective teams must produce a paper that spans the golden triangle (modeling, analysis and computation) of mathematics to produce unique insights into a complex problem. Typically, students need to pull together knowledge from many different areas of study. Teams choose one of two problems. This year, the first problem concerned strategies for hitting a baseball and the second problem required students to apply geometric reasoning to criminology. The press release provides more detailed information.

A great university measures itself by its students. UD has had a very long run of placing teams in the upper echelons in the MCM rankings and this year was no exception. In 2008 and 2009, UD had teams with Outstanding designations. From 2005-2007, our teams scored Meritorious designations. If you are interested in participating in the content next year, or you know a student who might be a good fit for it, please let me know.

Article created: May 2010