After very careful consideration of many factors, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person M3 Challenge Final Event on April 26, 2021 in New York City and hold it virtually instead. The health and safety of Challenge participants is our top priority and traveling to New York City is not a practical or responsible option. Instead of the in-person event, during the same original time frame, finalist teams will present their solutions to a prestigious panel of judges live on Zoom, followed by the traditional Q&A. The awards ceremony, at which the top winners are announced, will also take place via Zoom.
We know this is disappointing for student participants and coaches –it is the highlight of our work on the Challenge each year, and we are disappointed too! To make up for this just a bit, we are adding $25,000 in extra scholarship awards this year, for a total of $125,000+ (~£90,000) and 50 team prizes.
The revised awards and amounts for the 2021 Challenge are as follows:
- Champion: Increase from $20,000 to $22,500 (£16,130)
- Runner Up: Increase from $15,000 to $17,000 (£12,187)
- Third Place: Increase from $10,000 to $12,000 (£8,603)
- Finalist (3): Increase from $5,000 to $6,500 (£4660) each
- Semi-Finalist (no change): Six awards of $1,500 (£1,075) each
- Honorable Mentions @ $1000 (£716) each: Increase from 22 to 35 awards
- Technical Computing Scholarship Award (no change): 3 awards for a total of $6,000 (£4,300)
- Outstanding Communication of Results @ $500 (£358) each: Increase from 1 to 3 awards
Stay tuned for more information about the virtual final event.
