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International Mathematical Modeling Challenge
International Mathematical Modeling Challenge
Challenge
The International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IMMC
International Mathematical
or sometimes IM2 C) is an international mathematical modeling
competition for high school students in team mathematical Modeling Challenge
modeling co-sponsored by COMAP[1] and the NeoUnion ESC
Organization.[2][3] Teams are selected on a country-by-country
basis, with each country sending its top two teams to the
competition. The IMMC was inspired by the HiMCM, a similar
contest sponsored by COMAP but mainly attracting teams within
the United States.[4] The HiMCM in turn was established in the
1990s to create a high school counterpart to COMAP’s
MCM.[5][6][7] Contestants in the IMMC are given five days to
research (the contest permits the use of any inanimate source) and
write a mathematical paper detailing their mathematical model for a
given situation.[8] At the conclusion of the five-day period, papers Founder Sol Garfunkel
are sent to an international expert committee composed of
mathematics faculty from the world’s leading universities. Founded at Boston, MA
Traditionally, 3-4 teams are awarded the top designation of Type Mathematics
Outstanding and invited to an awards ceremony, held in a different Competition
country each year.[9]
Headquarters Boston, MA
Location International
Team selection
Official English
Each participating country is expected to choose its two best teams language
of four contestants each to compete in the IMMC. Globally, Co-Founders Sol Garfunkel and
different methods have been used to select teams from their Alfred Cheung
respective countries.
Parent COMAP,
organization NeoUnion
Hong Kong holds the contest early and allows any interested team
to participate.[10] A national judging panel selects the two best Website immchallenge.org
papers to move on to the international round of the competition. In (http://immchallen
2015, 60 papers came out of the Greater China region alone.[11] ge.org)
In 2015, the United States used a different qualification process, inviting the top two teams from the 2014
HiMCM to compete in the IMMC. In 2016, the United States adopted a hybrid of Hong Kong’s approach
and its own former approach: any team receiving a score of Meritorious or higher in the 2015 HiMCM
(roughly 25% of competing teams) was invited to compete in the 2016 IMMC. As in Hong Kong, the
United States held the IMMC early, completed a national round of judging, and selected the two best
papers to move on to the international round.[12]
Most countries use a selection process similar to that used by Hong Kong, and countries entering the
IMMC for the first time will also likely adopt a similar process.[13][14]
Judging
Papers passing the national selection round move on to the international expert judging panel. In 2015, the
Expert Panel included:[15]
Dr. Frank Giordano, Naval Postgraduate School, USA, former Head of the Department of
Mathematics at West Point Military Academy (Chair)
Dr. Konstantin K. Avilov, Institute for Numerical Mathematics, Russia
Dr. Ruud Stolwijk, Cito, The Netherlands
Dr. Yongji Tan, Fudan University, China
Results
2015
Belgium
Hong Kong SAR
Macau SAR
People's Republic of China
Russia
Singapore
Slovakia
Thailand
The Netherlands
United States of America
Of these teams, four were awarded the top designation of International Outstanding and invited to the
awards ceremony in Hong Kong:[17]
2016
40 teams from the following 23 countries or regions competed in the 2016 IMMC:
Australia
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
People's Republic of China
Germany
Hong Kong
Japan
Macau
Malaysia
Mexico
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Philippines
Russia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Korea
Taiwan
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States of America
Of these teams, three were awarded the top designation of International Outstanding and invited to the
awards ceremony at the International Congress on Mathematics Education in Hamburg, Germany:[21]
Advisor, Yeung Po Ki
Cheng Wai Chung
Liang Hui Lin
Poon Ho Kiu Allie
Jia Jimsyn
Chesterfield County Math/Science High School at Clover Hill, Midlothian, Virginia, USA
Trinity College, East Perth, Western Australia, Australia
National Junior College, Singapore
Perth Modern School, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
Staatliches Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium, Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Hermann Wesselink College, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
Gymnazium Postova 9, Kosice, Slovakia
KVIS Science Academy, Rayong, Thailand
Raffles Girls' School (Secondary), Singapore
Pui Ching Middle School, Macau (SAR)
Kaohsiung Municipal Senior High School, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Gyeonggi Science High School for the Gifted, Suwon, South Korea
Whangarei Boys High School, Northland, New Zealand
Seoul Science High School, Seoul, South Korea
2017
49 teams from the following 27 countries/regions competed in the 2017 IMMC: [23]
Argentina
Australia
Canada
China
Denmark
Germany
Hong Kong (SAR)
Israel
Japan
Macau (SAR)
Malaysia
Mexico
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Singapore
Slovakia
South Korea
Taiwan
Thailand
The Netherlands
Turkey
United States of America
US Virgin Islands
Of these teams, one was awarded the top designation of International Outstanding and invited to the awards
ceremony at the Harvard University, Cambridge MA., USA along with three randomly selected
Meritorious teams from Argentina, South Korea and Russia.[24][23]
Awards ceremony
The 2015 IMMC winning teams from the USA, Singapore, and China were brought to Hong Kong for the
IMMC Award Presentation Ceremony on 5 July 2015 at Hong Kong University, sponsored by Guangdong
Qtone Education Co., Knowledge Magazine, Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, Competition
on System Modeling & Optimization (COSMO), CUHK, HKACE, and the Hong Kong Entrepreneurs
and Executives Club.
Special guests included Hong Kong political leader the Honorable Mrs. Fanny Law and movie directors
Mr Tsui Siu-Ming and Mr Tang Yat-Ming.[25] Professor Frederick Leung, Chairman of the Board of
Faculty, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, gave the opening speech.[26] Law encouraged
educators in Hong Kong and elsewhere to continue to pursue the type of educational innovation promoted
by the IMMC. Given that the 2015 problem revolved around mathematically modeling a movie filming
production schedule, directors Tsui and Tang discussed their own experiences in the movie industry and
how applicable teams’ models were to real-world movie filming decisionmaking.[27][28]
The 2016 IMMC winning teams from the USA and Hong Kong, in addition to the Meritorious German
team, were brought to Hamburg, Germany for the IMMC Award Ceremony on 26 July 2016 at the
University of Hamburg as part of the quadrennial International Congress on Mathematical Education. Dr.
Sol Garfunkel described how the contest has evolved and discussed plans for the future.
Media coverage
The IMMC has received broad press coverage throughout the
world, with the majority of coverage concentrated in the U.S. and
Greater China. The IMMC has been featured by:
Leadership
The IMMC is overseen by an international Organizing Committee of the following people:[29]
Professor Kam Fai Wong, Deputy Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Chinese University of
Hong Kong
Professor Tong Yang, Head of Department of Mathematics, City University of Hong Kong
Professor Wai Ki Ching, Head of Department of Mathematics, University of Hong Kong
Professor Guanhua Chen, Head of Department of Chemistry, University of Hong Kong
Professor Houmin Yan, Dean of College of Business, City University of Hong Kong
Professor Hong Yan, Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic
University
Professor Fiona Yan Liu, Director of Cognitive Computing Lab, Hong Kong Polytechnic
University
Professor Michael Ng, Head of Department of Mathematics, Hong Kong Baptist University
Dr. Simon Hoey Lee, Deputy Secretary-General, Our Hong Kong Foundation
Mr. Terry K.W. Li, Associate Director, Sun Hung Kai Properties-Kwoks’ Foundation Ltd.
Future contests
The 2017 IMMC contest period will end on May 8, 2017 (national rounds within certain countries will end
earlier). Results will be announced in June, and teams awarded the Outstanding designation will be
honored.
References
1. COMAP (http://www.comap.com/)
2. NeoUnion ESC (http://www.neounion.net/)
3. International Conference on Industrial and Applied Mathematics (http://www.iciam2015.cn/M
S-Fr-D-67.html)
4. HiMCM (http://www.himcm.org/)
5. IMMC PowerPoint Posted on IMM Challenge Official Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.
com/immchallenge/photos/pb.1746968815530398.-2207520000.1444424370./1747227858
837827/?type=3&theater)
6. "Harvard University -- A Placement Problem" (http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/rbr/files/bmtc-5-
30-slides.pdf) (PDF).
7. "Mathematical Modeling Contests" (http://www.mathmodels.org/contests.html).
8. IMMC International Rules (http://www.immchallenge.org/Pages/Rules.html)
9. "National Council of Teachers of Mathematics -- Teaching Matters!" (http://www.utdanacente
r.org/wp-content/uploads/teaching_matters_umln_2-10-15.pdf) (PDF).
10. China Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling (CUMCM) (http://www.mcm.edu.cn/
html_cn/node/4a8cd11cda4e98ed825dffa50e5bc7b3.html)
11. Hong Kong Polytechnic University - CAM Digest (http://www.polyu.edu.hk/ama/CAM/cam-di
gest-html/15/v15n15.html)
12. IMMC USA Rules (http://immchallenge.org/Pages/Rules/USA/USA-Rules.html)
13. University of Utrecht -- International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (http://www.fisme.sci
ence.uu.nl/wiki/index.php/International_Mathematical_Modeling_Challenge)
14. "Математическая школа -- Международный конкурс "Математическое
моделирование" " (http://www.mathschool.ru/page/224.html).
15. IMMC PowerPoint Posted on IMM Challenge Official Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.
com/immchallenge/photos/pb.1746968815530398.-2207520000.1444424370./1747227965
504483/?type=3&theater)
16. MeJ Mathematical Research Association (http://www.mathenjeans.fr/sites/default/files/immc
2016-2.pdf)
17. IMMC Results 2015 (http://immchallenge.org/Contests/2015/2015-IMMC-Results.pdf)
18. Nanmo Model High School (http://www.nanmo.cn/portal/10/10-02-00/c6WN7Xkf/detail.html)
19. "National Junior College -- News" (http://www.nationaljc.moe.edu.sg/News.aspx).
20. "Diocesan Girls' School -- Prizes and Awards" (https://web.archive.org/web/2016030410372
2/http://www.dgs.edu.hk/index.php/achievements/prizes-and-awards/205-prizes-and-awards
-2014-2015). Archived from the original (http://www.dgs.edu.hk/index.php/achievements/priz
es-and-awards/205-prizes-and-awards-2014-2015) on 2016-03-04.
21. "The International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IMMC)" (http://immchallenge.org/Cont
ests/2016/Results.html). immchallenge.org. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
22. COMAP. "2016 IMMC Results" (http://immchallenge.org/Contests/2016/2016_IMMC_Result
s.pdf) (PDF).
23. COMAP. "2017 IMMC Results" (http://immchallenge.org/Contests/2017/2017_IMMC_Result
s.pdf) (PDF).
24. "The International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IMMC)" (http://immchallenge.org/Cont
ests/2017/awards/index.html). immchallenge.org. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
25. "Sky Post" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160220162352/http://www.skypost.hk/%E6%B8%
AF%E8%81%9E/%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E9%A0%AD%E6%A2%9D/20150706/00
1/%E8%A8%88%E5%87%BA%E6%8B%8D%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E6%9C%80%
E7%9F%AD%E6%99%82%E9%96%93%20%E6%B8%AF%E7%94%9F%E5%A5%AA%E
7%8D%8E/183278). Archived from the original (http://www.skypost.hk/%E6%B8%AF%E8%
81%9E/%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E9%A0%AD%E6%A2%9D/20150706/001/%E8%A
8%88%E5%87%BA%E6%8B%8D%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%E6%9C%80%E7%9F%A
D%E6%99%82%E9%96%93%20%E6%B8%AF%E7%94%9F%E5%A5%AA%E7%8D%8
E/183278) on 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2015-10-10.
26. Hong Kong Commercial Daily (http://www.hkcd.com.hk/pdf/201507/0706/HZ14706CLBA.pd
f)
27. IMMC Awards Ceremony (http://immchallenge.org/Contests/2015/video/index.html)
28. Hong Kong Economic Journal (http://www1.hkej.com/dailynews/views/article/1090860)
29. IMMC PowerPoint Posted on IMM Challenge Official Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.
com/immchallenge/photos/pb.1746968815530398.-2207520000.1444424370./1747227932
171153/?type=3&theater)
30. IMMC PowerPoint Posted on IMM Challenge Official Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.
com/immchallenge/photos/pb.1746968815530398.-2207520000.1444424370./1747228005
504479/?type=3&theater)
31. IMMC PowerPoint Posted on IMM Challenge Official Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.
com/immchallenge/photos/pb.1746968815530398.-2207520000.1444424370./1747228008
837812/?type=3&theater)
External links
How to Fix Our Math Education (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/how-to-fix-our-
math-education.html?_r=0) by Sol Garfunkel, founder of IMMC