Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 05, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The nation’s most prestigious national high school math modeling competition will continue thanks to support from a leading developer of mathematical computing software. Competition organizer Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) today announced Massachusetts-based MathWorks as title sponsor of the newly-named MathWorks Math Modeling (M3) Challenge. The Challenge is set to take place March 2-5, 2018.
With the goal of making math relatable to every-day life, M3 Challenge – an Internet-based contest now in its 13th year – has drawn the participation of more than 37,000 students (one third female), 4,000 high schools, 5,000 teachers, and 400 Ph.D.-level judges and has awarded more than $1.2 million in scholarships since its launch in 2006.
The Moody’s Foundation ended its 12-year sponsorship of the competition, previously known as Moody’s Mega Math Challenge, after the 2017 contest. MathWorks has supported the Challenge for the last four years by offering free, optional software licenses to participating students.
“SIAM’s math modeling challenge helps students develop and sustain an interest in computational thinking, helping them consider future careers as scientists and engineers,” says Lauren Tabolinsky, academic program manager, MathWorks. “We see this opportunity to support SIAM as another step in our efforts to motivate and inspire young students to consider and pursue STEM careers.”
Applauding MathWorks for ensuring the continued success of the Challenge, SIAM President and Richardson Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Manchester Nicholas Higham said, “We are excited to partner on the Challenge with MathWorks, whom we know well and have collaborated with in the past, and whose goals and mission are closely aligned with our own. We anticipate a seamless transition and are confident that any changes that may occur will be positive ones.”
According to Higham, SIAM will remain owner, organizer, and administrator of the Challenge, and the contest’s essential elements will continue, including outreach to thousands of high school students, teachers, and administrators throughout the U.S. and its territories. He said participants will continue to have the opportunity to interpret and solve a relevant, real-world problem under a severe time constraint using math modeling, and a rigorous four-stage judging process will continue to be led by experienced PhD-level mathematicians, with scholarship awards totaling $100,000.
Many opportunities still exist for additional sponsors to demonstrate their leadership in supporting STEM education and careers among American youth, including (but not limited to) teacher support and training, math modeling workshops, internship programs, and data analytics and support related to participation. SIAM welcomes inquiries.
Registration for MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge is free and open from December 2017 through February 23, 2018. During Challenge weekend—March 2-5, 2018—an open-ended problem will be revealed to high school teams and they can spend up to 14 consecutive hours using the math modeling process to represent, analyze, make predictions and otherwise provide insight into that real-world problem’s questions. Challenge day culminates with the online submission of each team’s final solution paper. All high school juniors and seniors seeking a pinnacle high school experience and the chance to win a share of $100,000 in scholarships are encouraged to participate.
Learn more and register your team before February 23, 2018, at http://m3challenge.siam.org/.
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About MathWorks
MathWorks is the leading developer of mathematical computing software. MATLAB, the language of technical computing, is a programming environment for algorithm development, data analysis, visualization, and numeric computation. Simulink is a graphical environment for simulation and Model-Based Design for multidomain dynamic and embedded systems. Engineers and scientists worldwide rely on these product families to accelerate the pace of discovery, innovation, and development in automotive, aerospace, electronics, financial services, biotech-pharmaceutical, and other industries. MATLAB and Simulink are also fundamental teaching and research tools in the world's universities and learning institutions. Founded in 1984, MathWorks employs more than 3,500 people in 15 countries, with headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, USA. For additional information, visit mathworks.com.
About Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an international society of more than 14,000 individual, academic and corporate members from 85 countries. SIAM helps build cooperation between mathematics and the worlds of science and technology to solve real-world problems through publications, conferences, and communities like chapters, sections and activity groups. Learn more at siam.org.
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