Moody’s Mega
Math Challenge
ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
Moody’s Mega Math Challenge is an Internet-based math modeling contest in which teams of high
school students must solve an open-ended, realistic, applied math problem focused on a real-world
issue. Each school may enter up to two teams of three to five junior and/or senior students, who spend
up to 14 hours on Challenge weekend devising and submitting a solution to the Challenge Problem.
Following a rigorous two-stage judging process, the top six teams present their findings to a panel of
professional mathematicians who determine the final ranking of the winning papers. Since 2006, the
Challenge has awarded $955,000 in scholarship prizes to students from within the 45 eligible states
and Washington, D.C.
®
Monday, April 27, 2015
Moody’s Corporation, Manhattan headquarters
7 World Trade Center, 20th Floor
250 Greenwich Street, New York, New York
ABOUT THE SPONSOR
The Moody’s Foundation, a charitable foundation established by Moody’s Corporation, is committed
to supporting education, in particular the study of mathematics, finance, and economics. The Foundation
also funds specific initiatives in the areas of global economic development; microfinance; civic, health,
and human services, as well as arts and cultural programs. The Foundation supports programs located
in select metropolitan areas in the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere around the
world. Further information is available at moodys.com/csr.
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 members, including applied
and computational mathematicians and computer scientists as well as other scientists and engineers.
Members are researchers, educators, students, and practitioners from more than 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.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
ASAE Associations Advance America (AAA) Award of Excellence
Excellence Award, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP)
The National Association of Secondary School Principals has placed this program
on the NASSP National Advisory List of Student Contests and Activities since 2011.
M3Challenge.siam.org
7:40 Tour of 20th floor
8:00Breakfast
8:30Welcome
Linda Huber, Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer, Moody’s Corporation
Team Presentations (random order)
9:00 Team #5560 Elk River High School
9:25 Team #4904 North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
9:50 Team #5057 Staples High School 10:15Intermission
10:30 Team #4187 South County High School
10:55 Team #4902 North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
11:20 Team #4892 Maggie Walker Governor’s School
11:45–1:00 Lunch
Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics
Awards Ceremony and Reception
1:15–2:00 Retrospective: The First 10 Years
Frances G. Laserson, President, The Moody’s Foundation
Rachel Levy, SIAM Vice President of Education, Harvey Mudd College
2006 M3 Champs, Was College Worth It?
2:00
5:00 and later
Organized by
Possible media interviews for teams
Meet at Marriott for transport to airport/trains.
Funded by
Society for Industrial
and Applied Mathematics
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THE WINNERS
Of the 1,128 papers submitted to this year’s Moody’s Mega Math Challenge, 201 (17.8%) advanced
to the second round of judging, of which 65 (5.8%) were deemed worthy of recognition.
Semi-Finalists
Papers from the following six schools underwent in-depth discussion and were deemed of exceptional quality
by judges. These teams are recognized as Semi-Finalists and will receive prizes of $1,500 each.
Fort Mill High School
Team # 4473, Fort Mill,
South Carolina
Coach: Annemarie Dowd
Hamilton High School
Team # 4658, Chandler, Arizona
Coach: Kathleen Royal
High Technology High School
Team # 4750, Lincroft, New Jersey
Coach: Raymond Eng
Lebanon High School
Team # 5935, Lebanon, Ohio
Coach: Scott Nash
Holmdel High School
Team # 5012, Holmdel, New Jersey
Coach: Jason Lewis
Yorkville High School
Team # 4131, Yorkville, Illinois
Coach: Kevin Bannon
Honorable Mentions
Teams representing the following schools are recognized for Honorable Mention distinction.
Prizes of $1,000 will be awarded to each of the 53 teams for noteworthy submissions.
Academic Magnet High School
North Charleston, South Carolina
Herricks High School
New Hyde Park, New York
Pocono Mountain East High
Swiftwater, Pennsylvania
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Lincolnshire, Illinois
High Technology High School
Lincroft, New Jersey
Ridgefield High School
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Lincolnshire, Illinois
Holmdel High School
Holmdel, New Jersey
Salida High School
Salida, Colorado
Baylor School
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Homestead High School
Mequon, Wisconsin
Springboro High School
Springboro, Ohio
Bloomington High School North
Bloomington, Indiana
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Aurora, Illinois
Stanton College Preparatory
Jacksonville, Florida
Bloomington High School
Bloomington, Illinois
Immaculata High School
Somerville, New Jersey
Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
Houston, Texas
Brookfield East High School
Brookfield, Wisconsin
Marple Newtown High School
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
The Taft School
Watertown, Connecticut
Burrell High School
Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania
Middlesex County Academy
Edison, New Jersey
Centerville High School
Centerville, Ohio
Montgomery Blair High School
Silver Spring, Maryland
Thomas Jefferson High School
for Science and Technology
Alexandria, Virginia
Charter School of Wilmington
Wilmington, Delaware
Montgomery Blair High School
Silver Spring, Maryland
Conifer High School,
Conifer, Colorado
Nashoba Regional High School
Bolton, Massachusetts
Council Rock High School
South Holland, Pennsylvania
Needham High School
Needham, Massachusetts
DeKalb High School
Waterloo, Indiana
New Canaan High School
New Canaan, Connecticut
Dulaney High School
Timonium, Maryland
New Hope-Solebury High School
New Hope, Pennsylvania
Eastview High School
Apple Valley, Minnesota
Niles North High School
Skokie, Illinois
Grapevine High School
Grapevine, Texas
Niskayuna High School
Niskayuna, New York
Haddonfield Memorial High School
Haddonfield, New Jersey
Northwestern Lehigh High School
New Tripoli, Pennsylvania
Harrison High School
Harrison, New York
Pine View School
Osprey, Florida
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Troy High School
Troy, Michigan
Union County Magnet High School
Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Wayne Hills High School
Wayne, New Jersey
Finalists
The top six awards, ranging from $2,500 to $20,000, will be awarded after the final round
of judging on April 27 to teams representing the following high schools.
Elk River High School
Team # 5560, Elk River, Minnesota
Coach: Curt Michener
Students: Jordan Haack, Peter Jones,
Chase Gauthier, Joe Evans, Zach Glasgow
NC School of Science and Mathematics
Team #4904, Durham, North Carolina
Coach: Daniel Teague
Students: Vinay Kshirsagar, Alex Li,
Howard Li, Graham Pash, Keshav Patel
Maggie Walker Governor’s School
Team # 4892, Richmond, Virginia
Coach: Dickson Benesh
Students: Will Overman, Wilton Wu,
Alan Zhang, Pranay Vissa, Anant Kharkar
South County High School
Team # 4187, Lorton, Virginia
Coach: Daniel Southard
Students: Brian King, Trung Nguyen,
Alex Coppeans, Peter Wang, James Wang
NC School of Science and Mathematics
Team #4902, Durham, North Carolina
Coach: Daniel Teague
Students: Michael An, Guy Blanc,
Evan Liang, Sandeep Silwal, Jenny Wang
Staples High School
Team # 5057, Westport, Connecticut
Coach: Kerrigan Warnock
Students: Chaihyun Kim,
Claudia Landowne, Claire Sampson,
Terrie Yang, Madeline Schemel
The Prizes
M3 Challenge Champion
$20,000
M3 Challenge First Runner Up
$15,000
M3 Challenge Third Place
$10,000
William G. Enloe High School
Raleigh, North Carolina
M3 Challenge Fourth Place
$7,500
Winchester High School
Winchester, Massachusetts
M3 Challenge Fifth Place
$5,000
M3 Challenge Sixth Place
$2,500
Prize of $500 each to finalist coaches
$3,000
Wayzata High School
Plymouth, Minnesota
West Ottawa High School
Holland, Michigan
White Bear Lake Area High School
White Bear Lake, Minnesota
Winchester High School
Winchester, Massachusetts
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