Harrison Earns Honorable Mention for MathWorks Modeling Challenge

Harrison High School’s Keon Azar, Eli Lapkin, Carl Spana, Brian Seigel, and Chanha Kim competed in this year’s MathWorks Math Modeling (M3) Challenge (previously known as the Moodys Mega Math Challenge) and were awarded Honorable Mention for their solution.

Of the 912 papers submitted in this year’s MathWorks Math Modeling (M3) Challenge, Harrison’s solution, under the coaching direction of HHS math teacher Michael Ciaverella, was selected to receive one of 22 honorable mention awards. Only 4% of the submitted papers were selected for recognition.

According to the organization’s website, 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. This year, the 912 teams were comprised of 4,175 high school juniors and seniors from across the country who applied their mathematical expertise and observations about food consumption to examine the problem of reducing food waste. During the intensive M3 Challenge weekend, teams gather and evaluate data, then build a solution in a 14-hour period.

The following was this year’s question:

“Most people in the United States have consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living—they are food secure. However, about 15.6 million American households experience food insecurity, meaning they have difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources, according to an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. At the same time, more food ends up in landfills and incinerators than any other single material in our everyday trash, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Keeping wholesome and nutritious food in our communities and out of landfills can help the 42 million Americans that live in food insecure households, but what are the best ways to do this?”

Coach Ciavarella says, “I expect a lot from my students but the teamwork, ingenuity and problems skills they displayed made me feel honored to coach this team.”