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MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge
What is M3 Challenge?
MathWorks Math Modeling (M3) Challenge is a contest for high school juniors and seniors. Through participation, students experience what it’s like to work as a team to tackle a real-world problem under time and resource constraints, akin to those faced by professional mathematicians working in industry. Extra credits awards are available for teams who choose to write or employ outstanding code as part of their solution. The Challenge awards $100,000.
About M3 Challenge
The Challenge is entirely Internet-based with no registration or participation fees.
Who is Eligible?
11th and 12th graders from anywhere in the United States, including territories and DoDEA schools, may participate. Homeschool and cyberschool students in those areas are also eligible. Teams must be comprised of three to five students and one teacher-coach and a maximum of two teams per high school may register.
The 2019 Problem
ONE IS TOO MANY AND A THOUSAND NOT ENOUGH: SUBSTANCE USE AND ABUSE
This problem asked teams to create a mathematical model to predict the spread of nicotine use due to vaping over the next 10 years and compare vaping to cigarette use, and then to build a second model to simulate the likelihood that a given individual will use a given substance, taking into account social influence and characteristic traits as well as characteristics of the drug itself, and predict how many high school seniors will use these substances.
Want to See More Problems?
Study former Challenge problems, winning solutions, practice problems and judging perspectives from 2006 to the present.
Archives
To get a glimpse of what it’s like to participate in this competition, explore our collection of archived Challenges, winning solutions, photos, videos, press releases, flyers, and more.