Mathematical Contest in Modeling 2004-05

Short instructions for the CMCM participants:

• If you have not done so yet, please email the list of your team-members to vlad@math.cornell.edu as soon as possible.
  (Each team is composed of up to 3 undergraduate students.)
• Download the Problem Statement: Budgeting the Presidential Elections
  (Note that only one problem will be offered in the CMCM starting this year. This is done to help judges in comparing all the submitted solutions. As before, the international MCM will ask the participants to address one of two offered problems.)
• Spend the weekend conducting research, building model(s), and writing up your solution(s).
  All published materials, internet resources, and software are fair game - but don't forget to attribute whenever appropriate.
  You cannot discuss your work with anyone besides your team-mates.
• Turn in 4 copies of your paper to 310 Malott Hall by 10am on Monday (11/15/04).
• Don't forget to have fun in the process!

Good luck!

Time-line:

Nov 4, 2004: Information/training session; 5:30-7pm, 253 Malott Hall.

Nov 9, 2004: Information/training session; 5:30-7pm, 253 Malott Hall.

Nov 12, 2004: Cornell MCM starts at 6pm.

Nov 15, 2004: Cornell MCM ends at 9:30am. Solutions are due in 310 Malott by 10am.

Nov 23, 2004: The conclusion of CMCM - winners announced, prizes awarded, general festivities.

Feb 3-7, 2005: The winners of CMCM 2004 represent Cornell at the international MCM 2005.

Cornell MCM Pages for the previous years : CMCM'03 / MCM'04; CMCM'02 / MCM'03.

Short summary: MCM is an international competition, in which a team of three undergraduates chooses one of two open-ended ("real-world") problems, builds a mathematical model, obtains a solution based on it, and writes a detailed paper (proving the feasibility of the team's model and solution) - all this in the space of less than 4 days!
You can: brainstorm with your two teammates, use any reference materials either printed or on the web, write your own software or utilize publicly available to validate your model.
You cannot: consult with anyone besides your teammates, submit your solutions after the deadline, or remain bored in the process.

Get a glimpse of what Applied Mathematicians might do outside of Academia!
The problems are taken from all fields of science, engineering, and industry.
Recent problems included:

• estimating the maximum "safe" number of people for a given type of public facilities;
• studying hunting strategies for velociraptor dinosaurs based on fossil data;
• comparing various grading policies for fighting the "grade inflation";
• providing the guidelines for selecting the design of bicycle wheels to optimize the performance on a given track;
• considering the effects of different airline overbooking strategies on the overall profitability.

• MCM is not so much about what you already know , but more about what you can learn quickly in the new application area.
• MCM is an international contest: last year 599 teams participated representing institutions from 11 countries.
• We are hoping to have two to four teams representing Cornell in 2005 (February 3-7, 2005).
• Several preparation sessions will be held for the potential participants.

Interested, puzzled, or simply curious?

Send your questions to Alex Vladimirsky (vlad@math.cornell.edu), Kasso Okoudjou (kasso@math.cornell.edu) and/or come to one of the preparation sessions.

Organized by:

Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP).

Sponsored by:

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS),

Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM),

Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

Some other MCM pages :

University of Colorado at Boulder,

University of Puget Sound,

University of Washington,

Eastern Oregon University,

Grinnell College.