FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Becky Kerner
Digital Communications Manager
SIAM
Phone: 2679928681
E-Mail: [email protected]
Thursday, December 08, 2016
Philadelphia, PA -- Moody’s Mega Math (M3) Challenge will expand Challenge weekend in 2017, making it easier for students across all time zones to participate. The contest will begin Friday, February 24, at 12:00 p.m. EST and end Monday, February 27, at 8:00 a.m. EST. Teams may choose any continuous 14-hour period to work during that time frame.
The change was made to give students more flexibility and to maximize participation while maintaining the unique nature of the Challenge, which requires teams of students to solve a real-world problem online within the strict time limit. Flexible work time, which allows teams to choose the work time that is best for them, was introduced in 2016 when the high school math modeling competition went national after extending its eligibility area nearly every year since it began in New York City in 2006.
“We are continually looking for ways to elevate young people’s enthusiasm about applying math to real problems, and getting as many students as possible involved in the competition is one way to do that” says Michelle Montgomery, SIAM’s project director for the M3 Challenge. “By expanding Challenge weekend and making the work time flexible, we have made it easier for all students to participate.”
The M3 Challenge simulates what it’s like to work in the real world, with deadlines and time constraints, according to Montgomery. “We didn’t want to lose that component when we went national, so we solved our own ‘real-world’ problem by implementing a flexible work time and a clock that starts whenever the individual team is ready to begin their work,” Montgomery explained.
M3 Challenge is completely free and is open to juniors and seniors seeking a pinnacle high school experience and the chance to win a share of $150,000 in scholarships. Working in teams of 3-5, students must use math modeling to answer the questions posed---making predictions and providing insight about an important topic or issue---and ultimately submit a solution paper. Registration remains open until Friday, February 17, 2017, and teams are encouraged to register early to take full advantage of the many free resources available to help them prepare and succeed.
Learn more and register your team before February 17 at http://m3challenge.siam.org/.
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About the Sponsor
Moody's is an essential component of the global capital markets, providing credit ratings, research, tools and analysis that contribute to transparent and integrated financial markets.
Built on the recognition that a company grows stronger by helping others, The Moody’s Foundation works to enhance its communities and the lives of its employees by providing grants and engaging in community service in local neighborhoods. The Moody’s Foundation, established in 2002 by Moody’s Corporation, partners with nonprofit organizations to support initiatives such as education in the fields of mathematics, finance, and economics, as well as workforce development, civic affairs, and arts and culture. For more information, please visit https://www.moodys.com/Pages/itc003.aspx
About the Organizer
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an international society of more than 14,000 individual, academic and corporate members from 85 countries. SIAM helps build cooperation between mathematics and the worlds of science and technology to solve real-world problems through publications, conferences, and communities like chapters, sections and activity groups. Learn more at siam.org.