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Fifteen students from the University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences split into five teams to compete in an international math modeling competition held in February. All five UF teams were recognized for their successful solutions, and one was further honored with an honorable mention by the judges.

Hosted by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (opens in new tab) (COMAP), the contest required participants to come up with solutions to real-world problems in 96 hours.

Three UF teams faced more than 15,000 other groups in the 38th annual Mathematics Contest in Modeling (MCM), while another two teams were among more than 12,000 teams in the 24th annual Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM).

Students were given unfamiliar topics and were challenged to justify why their approach offered the best solutions. Two teams had to determine a method to approximate the ideal way for a cyclist to ride through a fixed course in the least amount of time. Two other teams were tasked with creating a forest management plan to maximize the ability to sequester carbon while also considering the communities who use the forest. Another team acted as market traders: Given gold and bitcoin prices, they were required to develop a strategy for trading based on the complex data.

Congratulations to the students who were recognized for their solutions.

Team 1 – Trading Strategies

Honorable Mention

Jake Shannin

Alexandria Teter

Xinyi Zhang

Team 2 – Power Profile of a Cyclist

Successful Participant

Ramsey Hamed

Arnav Pangasa

Johnny Velasquez

Team 3 – Power Profile of a Cyclist

Successful Participant

Daniel Gitlin

Nathan Wood

Thomas Yu

Team 4 – Forestry for Carbon Sequestration

Successful Participant

Sruthika Baviriseaty

Michael Fero

Ananya Jain

Team 5 – Forestry for Carbon Sequestration

Successful Participant

Aya Erquizi

Komal Parikh

Natalie Patten