Tianci Zhu (AMAT 4th year), Meng Wang (BIOL 3rd year), and Xintong Li (AMAT 3rd year) were named “Meritorious Winners” in the 2016 Mathematical Modeling Contest.

MCM is a top international mathematical modeling contest. It is organized and supported by the leading U.S. mathematical societies, including the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications, Mathematical Association of America, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. In all, 7,421 teams from universities all around the world participated this year, and Zhu, Wang, and Xintong placed among the top nine percent, with only 35 teams ranking above them.

Hemanshu Kaul, associate professor of applied mathematics and the team advisor, said, “MCM is an opportunity to put together a variety of skillsets in mathematics, computation, and written communication–all cornerstones of the modern creative workforce.”

Additionally, the team placed in the top third in the Sixth Annual Kryptos Competition, held April 7-11 at Central Washington University. The international code-breaking competition attracted 92 teams from universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

According to Kaul, “The continuing success of IIT teams in these international competitions is encouraging, but I hope we can build upon this and increase the number of participants here.” Both of these competitions are open to all undergraduate students, and those who are interested in learning more can contact Kaul at kaul@iit.edu.