Mathematics & Statistics

Being the largest regional mathematical modeling competition, the WMMC aims to provide students an opportunity to:

• test their overall abilities of creativity, formulation, data analysis, model justification, communication and presentation, by solving a complex problem from scratch.
• realize the importance of applications of mathematics which can ultimately lead to a rewarding career in industry.
• gain exposure to undergraduate research.
• add a valuable experience to their resume.
• build network connections with the local math community and industries.
• prepare for advanced national and international mathematical modeling contests, such as the MCM/ICM sponsored by COMAP.

Results Submission
in teams of three, students have 23 hours to pick one of two given problems and develop a mathematical model to solve it. Each team is required to write their proposed solution in a two-page summary. After submission of the summary, teams then have one additional (24th) hour to finalize a 10 minute presentation illustrating their ideas. Winners will be announced in two categories, one for the summary and one for the presentation.

Judging process
After all summaries have been received, panels of judges (consisting of faculty volunteers from UWL and other participating schools) read and score each summary according to the competition guidelines. All summaries are judged blind, meaning that judges only see the team ID numbers and and have no other information. Team presentations will be scored by the faculty judges as well as student participants. 

Student advice

• A successful summary should
  • restate the problem using mathematical setting and notation
  • make reasonable assumptions
  • clearly describe your approach to the problem
  • state your most important conclusions
  • justify your solution according to real life situation
  • discuss the advantage and limitation of your work
  • make good use of formulas, pictures, tables, charts, etc to support findings
  • list the references of all the data, articles or website cited
  • contain no more than two pages using single-spaced 12 point font, two additional pages are allowed for formulas, pictures, tables, charts, etc
    
    
• A successful 10 minute presentation should
  • avoid repeating details of your summary, yet still highlight the most important ones
  • be consistent with assumptions and notations
  • be accessible to any audience with general college background
  • use pictures, charts, medias, etc., to illustrate your results more clearly and concisely
  • be engaging and interesting
  • allow questions following the presentation
    
    
• See the following references for further advice
  • https://m3challenge.siam.org/resources/tips-guidance/
  • https://www.comap.com/resources/free-materials

This year WMMC will be held October 22-23, 2016 on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus.

Saturday October 22

• 9:30 am - Registration and breakfast (provided)
• 10:30 am - Opening remarks and review of contest rules
• 11:00 am - Contest begins
• 8:00 pm - Pizza break and activity
• 10:00 pm - Activity

Sunday October 23

• 9:00 am - Electronic submission of summaries due
• 10:30 am - Presentations
• 12:00 pm - Lunch and presentation practice
• 1:00 pm - Finalist presentations
• 2:00 pm - Award ceremony and closing remarks

Teams who are interested must complete and submit the registration form before October 7, 2016.

A $80 registration fee per team will be collected upon arrival. The fee will be used to pay for student meals, t-shirts, special activities, and building service costs.

Registration form: Link 
Registration deadline: Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Contact information:
Dr. Song Chen: schen@uwlax.edu 
Dr. Chad Vidden: cvidden@uwlax.edu

If you need lodging/dining information, please contact Dr. Song Chen.

Do you know that:

• Your department may be able to pay for your registration fee. 
• You school may already have a mathematical modeling club. 
• The WMMC has many fun activities and events for participating students!