About the M3 Challenge
The M3 Challenge spotlights applied mathematics as a powerful problem-solving tool, as a viable and exciting profession, and as a vital contributor to advances in an increasingly technical society. Scholarship prizes total $100,000. The Challenge is entirely Internet-based. Each high school may enter up to two teams of three to five junior and/or senior students. No exceptions will be made to allow underclassmen. Students choose which day they wish to work on Challenge weekend and have 14 hours (7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.) to solve an open-ended, realistic, applied math-modeling problem focused on a real-world issue. Teams can work from any location they choose and can use any free and publicly available resources, but they may not discuss any aspect of the problem with, or seek help from, their coach or anyone other than their teammates.
Coaches and teams will be notified in April of the results of the triage (1st) and contention (2nd) judging rounds of the M3 Challenge. Teams selected for the top six prizes are required to present their papers at the validation (3rd) judging round to determine final rank-order of those papers. A panel of Ph.D.-level applied mathematicians serves as judges. There is an awards ceremony immediately following the presentations.
It is probable that video will be taken of the top six team presentations in New York City at the Moody's Corporation headquarters and posted to the M3 Challenge website. Some of the top solution papers may be deserving of publication.
The top six prize winning teams receive scholarship awards ranging from $2,500 to $20,000, which are divided equally among team members and paid directly to the colleges or universities at which the winning students enroll. Honorable Mention winners receive team prizes of $1,000.
In 2010, high schools located in the following states are eligible to participate: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.
M3 Challenge Awards and Recognition: 2009 ASAE Associations Advance America (AAA) Award of Excellence; 2008 Excellence Award Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP). IMPORTANT: Please read the rules and guidelines for more details. This summary is subject in all respects to the rules and guidelines.
Awards program 2009
Teacher-Coach
Each team must have a teacher-coach who is a full-time teacher or an administrator at its school. A teacher-coach may work with one or both teams from his or her school in advance of the Challenge day, but is prohibited from providing student teams any assistance with the Challenge problem during Challenge weekend.
The teacher-coach's role is to make students aware of the contest, to encourage the organization of student teams, to register the team, and to help prepare the teams for the Challenge.
Once the problem has been downloaded on their team's Challenge day, coaches may not assist or be in contact with any team member regarding any aspect of the problem until the Challenge is over, after 9:00 p.m. that night. Students must troubleshoot problems on their own; they may not discuss any aspect of the problem, or seek help from anyone other than their teammates. Failure to adhere to this requirement is grounds for disqualification.
Coaches are not required to be physically with or near the team on Challenge day.
Both teams from a single school are permitted to have the same teacher-coach.
The coach of each team submitting a viable solution paper on time and in the proper format receives an appreciation gift for his or her efforts in helping the team participate. Coaches receive a gift regardless of the team's final standing in the competition.
Elk County Catholic High School's team presents their solution to the judges during the 2009 Challenge finals.
Team Building
It is important that student teams include members with complementary skills. While it is obvious that strength in mathematical modeling is a requirement for solving the real-world problems posed in the Challenge, it is often helpful if one of the team members is adept at writing (and debugging) computer programs if computation should be needed or desired for a solution during the course of the Challenge.
In addition, at least one of the members should have excellent writing skills, i.e. clear and concise exposition, as a detailed account and summary of the solution is a stated requirement.
Finally, it is suggested that team members have compatible personalities since they will be working intensely together for up to 14 hours, under pressure to meet a deadline, and the potential for frustration is likely.
Judging
After all solution papers have been received at M3 Challenge headquarters, panels of applied mathematicians serving as triage judges read each solution paper, score each paper according to the competition guidelines, and eliminate all but the very best submissions. Each paper is read by a minimum of two triage judges. During the second round of judging, a panel of mathematicians serving as contention judges calibrate the remaining papers, select papers worthy of receiving honorable mention team awards, and tentatively rank the top six winning teams.
The third and final phase of judging involves presentations by the top six teams at the Moody's Corporation headquarters in Manhattan. A panel of PhD level professional mathematicians determines the final rank order of these top six teams. A ceremony immediately follows, during which scholarship prizes of $2,500 to $20,000 are awarded. Travel and expense funds for the top six teams to get to this final event, in amounts depending on distance from NYC, will be provided.
All solution papers are judged blind, meaning that judges will only see the team ID # and do not have any other information about the team that submitted the paper. Solution papers with identifying marks other than the team ID # are disqualified.
As part of the Challenge education process, a "judge perspective" document is prepared each year by one of the participating judges. Its purpose is to help teams better understand what makes some papers more successful than others, especially with regard to that year's problem and the approaches that teams took in tackling it. Individual team commentary and scores will not be provided. Learn more about the judging process.
Contest consultants and lead judges:
- Dr. Ben Fusaro, Florida State University
- Dr. Lee Seitelman, United Technologies (retired)
Staples High School team shows off their big check during the reception at the 2009 Challenge.
Prizes
Teams that are judged to have submitted the best solution papers receive special recognition in the form of tuition scholarships for college education. Each scholarship is shared equally among the members of a team and is paid directly to the college or university at which winning students enroll. Scholarship awards may be used for tuition or fees or placed in school-sanctioned (flexible) spending accounts that are administered by the institution and used for educational materials. Scholarship prizes are as follows:
| M3 Challenge Champions (Summa Cum Laude Team Prize) | $20,000 |
| M3 Challenge Runner Up (Magna Cum Laude Team Prize) | $15,000 |
| M3 Challenge Third Place (Cum Laude Team Prize | $10,000 |
| M3 Challenge Fourth Place (Meritorious Team Prize) | $7,500 |
| M3 Challenge Fifth Place (Exemplary Team Prize) | $5,000 |
| M3 Challenge Sixth Place (First Honorable Mention Team Prize) | $2,500 |
Judges have the option of awarding up to 40 additional honorable mention team awards of $1,000 per team.
Recognition
All students who submit a viable solution paper receive certificates of participation, which are mailed to the coach. Certificates display the information provided at registration for each team member (or changed by the March 1st deadline) and will not be re-issued for mistakes made at that time.
Schools whose teams receive honorable mention prizes are awarded a plaque. The top six teams are awarded trophies.
Press releases are prepared on a regular basis and distributed to appropriate media. Publications and participating schools can use these releases or portions thereof to promote their students' hard work and achievement. All releases can be found in the M3 Challenge Media Center. Collateral materials are found in the Archives.
Moody's Summer Internship Program
Previous prize winners of Moody's Mega Math Challenge will be invited by SIAM to submit applications for summer internships at Moody's Corporation. Only M3 Challenge winners currently enrolled as college students and for whom SIAM has a valid email address are eligible and will be notified when and if the opportunities are available. Several 10-week internship opportunities in New York City, San Francisco and Pennsylvania are offered.
Challenge Media Center
View press releases for the current Challenge year.
Challenge Archives
View Challenge problems, winning solutions, participating schools, photos, and video for all past years.
About The Moody's Foundation
The Moody's Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting a
variety of nonprofit education, health and human services, civic, and arts and
culture programs. Established by Moody's Corporation in 2001, the Foundation's primary
area of giving is secondary and higher education with a focus on mathematics, economics,
and finance. Further information is available at
philanthropy.moodys.com.
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. Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is the parent company of Moody's Investors Service, which provides credit ratings and research covering debt instruments and securities, and Moody's Analytics, which encompasses the growing array of Moody's non-ratings businesses including risk management software for financial institutions, quantitative credit analysis tools, economic research and data services, data and analytical tools for the structured finance market, and training and other professional services. The Corporation, which reported revenue of $1.8 billion in 2008, employs approximately 3,900 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 29 countries. Further information is available at www.moodys.com.
About SIAM
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), headquartered in
Philadelphia, PA, is an international society of over 13,000 individual members.
These include applied and computational mathematicians and computer scientists, as
well as other scientists and engineers. Members are researchers, educators, students,
and practitioners from 90 countries working in industry, government, laboratories, and
academia. The Society, which also includes nearly 500 academic and corporate/institutional
members, serves and advances the disciplines of applied mathematics and computational
science by publishing a variety of books and prestigious peer-reviewed research journals,
by conducting conferences, and by hosting activity groups in various areas of mathematics.
SIAM provides many opportunities for students including regional sections and student
chapters. Further information is available at
www.siam.org.
