The University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (JI) students delivered outstanding performance in the 2020 Mathematical Contest in Modeling/ Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (MCM/ICM), according to the results announced recently. One team won the Finalist Award (top prize), five teams won the Meritorious Award (first prize), two teams won the Honorable Mention（second prize), and two teams won the Successful Participation（third prize).
The MCM/ICM competition was launched in 1985 by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP). It is the only international mathematical modeling contest of its kind and regarded as the Olympic Game of mathematical modeling. It has become the most famous international collegiate contest and has been attracting increasingly more college contestants throughout the world.
Over 60, 000 students in 20954 teams from 20 countries and regions participated in the contest, including students from world renowned universities such as Cambridge University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Tsinghua University, Peking University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Since 2012, more and more teams from JI’s Innovation Club have participated in the contests and have recorded outstanding performances. So far, JI students have won a total of 2 top prizes, 26 first prizes and 64 second prizes.
“The MCM/ICM competition under the COVID-19 pandemic was truly an unforgetable experience. In cooperation with teammates, we completed a modeling paper with unexpected results. Although there is no face-to-face communication, the remote interaction does not affect the performance of our team. Throughout the whole process, Zhixing Zhang’s strong modeling ability and Haoxuan Dan’s excellent programming ability make the paper beautiful, rigorous and easy to understand. The abilities and strengths of the three members of the team have a decisive influence on the level of the model paper and the final result, ” said JI sophomore Zesheng Yu, one of the top prize winners.
