The 2009 Mathematical Contest in Modeling

by Kay Somers
Moravian College

The 2009 Mathematical Contest in Modeling was held over a weekend in February. In this annual contest, teams of three undergraduates choose one of two ?real-world? problems to model and submit a detailed, written solution. This year?s problems, Problem A: Designing a Traffic Circle or Problem B: Energy and the Cell Phone, were completed by 1675 teams.

For Problem A, teams were asked to use a model to determine how best to control traffic flow in, around, and out of a circle, clearly stating the objective(s) used in the model and summarizing the conditions under which each type of traffic-control method should be used (stop sign, yield sign, signal light.) Problem B asked teams choosing it to model the energy consequences of cell phones in terms of the use of electricity. The analysis needed to take into account the need for charging batteries as well as the fact that cell phones get lost and break more often than phones for land lines.

The MAA judges chose one winning team for each problem, and the team members presented their solutions at a Saturday morning session at MathFest. The MAA winning team for Problem A consisted of Aaron Abromowitz, Andrea Levy, and Russell Melick, from Harvey Mudd College, CA. The winning team for Problem B, Nevin Brackett-Rozinsky, Katelynn Wilton, and Jason Altieri, is from Clarkson University, NY.

In all, 9 teams? write-ups were judged as Outstanding, 294 were Meritorious, and 298 earned an Honorable Mention. Congratulations to all, and most especially to the MAA winners!