Two teams from Niles North will be represented in the second round of the High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM) for the second year in a row. Students will be competing for a chance to represent the United States at the International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IM2C) later this spring. HiMCM is a math competition where students from across the United States and around the world work in teams of 4 to select, research, construct, and represent a mathematical model to solve a real-world problem.
A total of 779 teams competed in November 2020, and papers were udged into one of five categories: Outstanding (top 1%), Finalist (top 8%), Meritorious (top 20%), Honorable Mention (top 50%) and Successful Participant.
Each team selected a problem they would address, and then worked for up to two weeks to write a 20-page paper describing their mathematical model and results. Both North teams chose the following problem: Problem A Problem: The Best Summer Job
Although it’s only November, you need to start planning for your 2021 summer job. You have a variety of choices this year and want to determine your “best” choice. You pose this problem for your team of math friends:
We have many opportunities for a summer job. Some allow us to work from home virtually/electronically, some are a walk or bike ride away, and others require us to drive or take a train. Each job offers differing numbers of hours each week and the hourly rates also vary. Some involve physical activity, or at least not sitting at a desk (e.g. cashier at a store, lifeguarding, or wait staff at a restaurant), while others are mostly sedentary and perhaps use analytical and organizational skills (e.g. data analysis, office administration, or research).
Let’s develop a model that will evaluate the choices we have for our summer jobs and help us all find the “best” job. While we certainly want to earn and save some money, we also want to have time for recreation activities (e.g. exercise, outings, and social time with friends). Let’s make our model one that will be helpful for all high school students to think about and analyze their summer job options.
The team of Maddie Burroughs, Lisa Duan, Kalliope Kobotis and Ana Vuckovic earned Finalist and will advance to IM2C this spring.
The team of Dominick Bogdan, Kyle Kenmotsu, Liam Perrault and Hassam Uddin earned Meritorious and they also will advance to IM2C.