UIC students excelled in the 2021 Mathematical Contest in Modeling/Interdisciplinary Contest In Modeling (MCM/ICM), with one group designated as Finalist, four groups being Meritorious Winners, and 14 groups winning Honorable Mentions.

MCM/ICM, sponsored by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP), is the most influential mathematical modelling competition globally. A total of 26,112 teams from nearly 20 countries and regions participated in the competition, including students from Oxford University, Cambridge University, Tsinghua University, Cornell University, Peking University, Columbia University and many other renowned academies. UIC Year 3 students Wang Ruijie, Bi Shuyan, and Du Zhixin, majoring in Statistics Programme, were designated as Finalist. This year, the winning rate of this award was 2%, and it is also the first time that UIC students had won this award.

Certificate of Achievement from the MCM

The competition involves various fields such as economy, management, environment and resources. Participants must complete the whole process of mathematical modelling of a chosen practical question within four days. Also, they need to write papers on aspects including the solution to the problem, the establishment of the mathematical model, possible improvement for the model, and its advantages and disadvantages, and more.

The competition was held in early February this year, yet, due to the pandemic, students completed their competition mainly through online communication. Wang Ruijie said that his group had once cooperated in the Contemporary Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling. Thus, this time, they were able to collaborate efficiently with each other. They made great efforts during the competition and gained precious experiences. They also extended their gratitude to Assistant Professor of Statistics, Dr Wu Jingjin, for his help and guidance.

(From left) Wang Ruijie, Bi Shuyan, and Du Zhixin

Wang Ruijie's group selected the task of establishing a model for processing the data of public reports of Asian bumblebees received by the government. By using the existing data, combining Tableau and MATLAB, they established the bumblebees' travel model and the priority grading model of data. They provided the government with strategies for conducting extra investigations under the condition of limited resources.

From MPRO

Reporter: Xia Meng

Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Covee Wang