Students Compete in Mathematical Contest in Modeling

Four teams of students represented Westminster College in the international Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM), held at Westminster Feb. 8-12.

Designed to provide students with an experience similar to that which a qualitative scientist or applied mathematician is likely to encounter in industries or research laboratories, the contest challenges high school students and college undergraduates to clarify, analyze, and propose solutions to open-ended problems. Students and advisors from over 500 institutions around the world participate in the contest.

The teams downloaded problems Thursday, Feb. 8. They worked around the clock until Monday, Feb. 12, researching, developing strategies to model the system, solving the problems, using computer programs to generate and display data, and writing solutions in the form of papers, which were submitted to Dr. Barbara Faires, MCM faculty advisor and Westminster College professor of mathematics, Monday night. Papers were graded on the likelihood that the proposed method would lead to a reasonable solution.

Contact Faires, professor of mathematics and advisor for this event, at (724)946-7293 or e-mail faires@westminster.edu for more information.

(L-R) Stephen Wheeler, Beth Kribel, and Nicole Panza

(L-R) Ryan Brolley, Anthony Colwell, and Ryan Moore

(L-R) James Bryan, Andrew Polack, and Bryan Bischof

(L-R) Dana Larson, Thokozani Mbewe, and Anna Sparacino