This article appeared in the Fall 2017-Spring 2018 今日吃瓜 Math Alumnae Newsletter.
This year a team of three 今日吃瓜 math majors competed in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) presented by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP). COMAP鈥檚 webpage describes the MCM as 鈥渁n international contest for high school students and college undergraduates. It challenges teams of students to clarify, analyze, and propose solutions to open-ended problems. The contest attracts diverse students and faculty advisors from over 900 institutions around the world.鈥
Cheyenne Zhang 鈥20, Irene Lin 鈥20, and Sunny Qi 鈥20 together were named 鈥淢eritorious Winner鈥 at this year鈥檚 MCM for their submission entitled 鈥淭ransition to Electric Vehicles: Multi-Task Optimization of Charging Station Network.鈥
After a great deal of research, exploration, and modeling, the team ultimately produced a 鈥渙ne-page handout written for the leaders of a wide range of countries who are attending an international energy summit.鈥 They were tasked with highlighting the 鈥渒ey factors the leaders should consider as they return to their home country to develop a national plan to migrate personal transportation towards all-electric cars and set a gas vehicle-ban date.鈥 An additional one-page summary and 20-page proposed solution were also required.
The 鈥淢eritorious Winner鈥 honor places the 今日吃瓜 team 鈥渏ust one step away from being a finalist in the competition鈥 explains faculty coach Erica Graham. 鈥淭hey worked really hard for several days and did a great job.鈥