A team of Boise State
University students has received honorable mention in an
international mathematical contest in modeling funded by the
National Security Agency and the National Science Foundation.
Tamara Ross, Abe Oros and Cap
Petschulat competed against participants at 265 institutions
in nine countries in the 19th annual contest. The contest is
administered by the Consortium for Mathematics and its
Applications.
The Boise State team had four
days to submit a solution to this open-ended modeling problem:
Determine the size, location and number of cardboard boxes
needed to cushion a stunt person’s fall using different
combined weights for the stunt person and motorcycle and
different jump heights.
Three percent of the
participants were named outstanding winners in the contest, 14
percent were meritorious winners, and 33 percent, including
the Boise State team, received honorable mention awards,
according to Jodi Mead, a Boise State mathematics professor.
The Consortium for Mathematics
and its Applications is a non-profit organization that
develops curriculum materials and teacher development programs
that are multidisciplinary, academically rigorous, and fun for
teachers to teach and students to learn. COMAP’s educational
philosophy is centered around mathematical modeling: using
mathematical tools to explore real-world problems. Its
products are developed in print, video and multimedia formats,
and support the standards of the
National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics.
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Contact
Jodi Mead
Mathematics
426-2432
Media contact
Janelle Brown
communications and marketing
426-1790
