BY: Erin Endres and Ava BreslinOn the snowy morning of Saturday March 2, 2019, ten students from Wilson made their ways to the high school where they would stay for the next 14 hours. These dedicated students voluntarily signed up to participate in the MathWorks Math Modeling (M3) Challenge and put their teamwork, research, and, of course, math skills to the test. The students were divided into two teams of five: one made up of Sashank Sridhar, Sanam Amin, Krishna Nayak, Thanh Nguyen and Olivia Xie, and the other of Ethan Winter, Ashlyn Weidenhammer, Shreya Agrawal, Cullen Kurtz and Dujonn Mark. At 7 a.m., the students were able to access the problem online, and they started individually. Due to some inclement weather, the first hour or so of work was done in their individual homes as they communicated with their teams through Google Chat. They all arrived to the high school library around 9 a.m. and were finally able to start collaborating properly.
Every year, these students are faced with a math modeling challenge for which they first have to conduct research and gather data which, according to two-time participant Sashank Sridhar, they have to spend a decent amount of time on: “around six to eight of the 14 hours.” Their final submission is then a typed solution of upwards of 20 pages where they answer the problem’s two questions. This year, the problem related to the growth of the vaping industry. The first question they had to answer was how to predict this growth by creating a math model. Their second question had the teams looking at the likelihood of a person using various drugs and coming up with a way to predict said use based off of demographics. The teams could also earn extra points by using coding in their solution, which, to help illustrate better, would make their final product similar to the snow day calculator you can find online. Many believe this competition is only for math superstars; however, member Krishna Nayak, grade 11, says, "The calculations aren’t that difficult as long as you have the mindset of a logical problem solver.” Ethan Winter, another member of the team, stated, “For the people who are worried they may not be qualified for the challenge itself, don't worry this is not really about math. It is more about problem solving and coming up with ways to answer questions that do involve a little bit of math.” Olivia Xie, another member of the team, stated, “If anyone is even slightly interested, they should give it a try.” Working tirelessly for 14 hours was a feat that Sashank Sridhar and Sanam Amin were able to talk about. Sridhar said, “Going into it can be very intimidating, creating a model on such a scale in a mere 14 hours.” Amin added, “Staying focused for 14 hours is difficult - it’s more like an endurance math problem...The 14 hours goes fast when you’re scrambling at the end.” To help them complete their quite “open problem,” they videochatted Kristina Malzbender who works for a consulting group within the company of Iquvias. Specifically, she does math modeling for her job. The team was also able to talk to graduate Marc Chimileski who participated in the competition during his junior and senior years. Chimileski was able to help the team with special computer coding language as well as learned tips from having participated in the competition before. Not only were the members of the team able to complete an extensive math problem, but many stated that they were able to come together as a team and learn about different mathematical applications. Shreya Agrawal, junior, said, “It made me realize that math has so many applications and can help in solving real-world problems that I would not even think of solving with algebra or calculus.” Sridhar had similar opinions, stating, “By then end of the 14 hours you grow as a better communicator, better problem solver and a better collaborator, and even if math isn't one of your interests there are so many other aspects that can be valuable.” The competition awards teams in the top 20%, which Wilson was in last year. Across the country, there were 877 teams with over 4,000 students participating in the competition. Members Sashank Sridhar, Sanam Amin, Krishna Nayak, Thanh Nguyen and Olivia Xie 's solution will move on to the next round where the team is eligible to win between $1,000 to $20,000. The M3 competition creators issued a statement saying, “We expect that round to be completed by Monday, March 25, and we will notify teams of their status shortly thereafter. The top six teams will be required to present their papers at the validation round of judging on Monday, April 29, in Manhattan.” Congratulations to both teams for participation in the competition and a special congratulations to the members of the advancing team!
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