Simpson College students participated in the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP) math modeling competition from Jan. 29 to Feb 2. Students from around the world broke into teams to solve open-ended, real-world application problems.
Questions could be for either the Mathematical Contest in Modeling or the Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling, and the groups solving them could be no larger than three people.
First-year mathematics major Gracie Thompson and her group chose to analyze a major league team undergoing franchise expansion to determine whether players’ salaries should be based on performance or popularity. They chose the Women’s National Basketball Association team, the Indiana Fever.
“We spent 20-24 hours focusing on the project,” Thompson said.
This time was spent building an equation to value an Indiana Fever player, and the project was concluded with a 17-page paper to submit to COMAP.
“The experience was like nothing I’ve ever done before,” Thompson said. “The math department puts together really nice stuff like dinners every night and name-brand snacks in the teachers’ lounge.”
She showed her appreciation for the Simpson mathematics department’s efforts in supporting the students participating during the long, equation-filled weekend.
Senior biochemistry major Payton Seo also competed in the math modeling competition. Her group consisted of herself, senior Jenna Woodward and senior Alexis Ulrich, as well as her dog Beak’r who provided moral support.
“We were asked to look at a fictional university in a lower latitude and at a higher latitude, and optimize solar shading for them, which can be done with trigonometry,” Seo said.
Seo and her team picked a problem which interested them and played to their strengths.
“We then had to do it somewhere seasonal, which is much harder because the sun is low in the sky in the winter and higher in the summertime,” Seo said. “So we had to build this stationary thing to cover the windows half the year and not cover them the other half.”
Along with getting to show off their math skills and teamwork, the snacks the Mathematics department provided were a big hit for Seo and her team as well.
“A big portion of the reason that I do this competition is because of the amount of free food the math department gives us over the course of the weekend,” Seo said. “One of my teammates dreams about the enchiladas that we get during the competition. She counted down the hours on Saturday until we ate.”
Together, Thompson and Seo’s experience with the math modeling competition highlights both the academic challenge and the awesome snacks the math department provides for Simpson students.
“The math modeling competition is by far my favorite weekend in the spring. It’s a time I get to spend in my favorite building with my friends,” Seo said.
