Two Westminster College student teams recently won meritorious ranking in The Mathematical Contest in Modeling, an international mathematical competition that involved nearly 500 teams.

This international contest proposed a question at 12:01 a.m. Friday, and teams around the world were given until 11:59 p.m. Monday to submit solutions. The problem that Westminster teams worked on was about bicycle wheels and what edge they may give in a race.

Before the contest, professional cyclists make educated guesses about which of two basic types of wheels to choose for any given competition. The director asked the teams to come up with a better system to help determine which kind of wheel, wire spoke or solid disk, should be used for any given race. This contest was designed to stimulate and improve problem solving and writing skills, as the teams were expected to develop and write a substantial analysis of the problem with a focus on clarity and design of the solution.

The two Westminster College teams were tied for 12th place. Only two other colleges or universities in the world, both in China, had two teams named meritorious for their proposed solution to the problem of bicycle wheel design.

One of Westminster's team included: Eric Bass, a son of Mr. and Mrs. William Bass, Hudson, Ohio; Kevin Culp, a son of Mr and Mrs. Kevin Culp, Youngstown, Ohio; and Gabrielle Orr, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Orr, East Liverpool, Ohio. The other Westminter team included: Melissa Fye, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Fye, Knox; Simon Kanaan, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Kanaan, New Castle; and Brian Sullivan, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Sullivan, Boardman, Ohio.

Dr. Barbara T. Faires, professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, was the faculty advisor for Westminster participants of this contest. For more information, contact Faires at (724) 946-7293.

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