Hatboro-Horsham Team Receives Honorable Mention in Elite Mathematics Competition

A team of Hatboro-Horsham High School students used their technological and mathematical expertise to identify recommendations for the National Park Service as part of nationwide elite mathematics competition. They were rewarded for their efforts with an honorable mention.

Seniors Dmitry Fay, Quinn Comber, Jack Duffy, Mat Varughese and Jason Walker were recognized for their submission to the 2017 Moody’s Mega Math (M3) Challenge. Eleven hundred teams comprised of 5,100 students from across the country participated. A total of 90 papers received awards: six finalists, six semi-finalists and 78 honorable mentions

This national competition gives participants the opportunity to use mathematical modeling to come up with solutions to topical issues. The challenge problem, which remained a secret until the day of the challenge, required that students evaluate global change issues and their impact on the National Park Service’s resources and visitor experience and use this information to make recommendations.

Students had 14 hours to gather and evaluate data and considered sea level change risk and the effects of climate-related events like hurricane frequency, annual rainfall increases, avalanches and wildfires on coastal park sites.

The event, organized by the Philadelphia-based Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and sponsored by The Moody’s Foundation, M3 Challenge is designed to spotlight the relevancy and power of mathematics in solving real-world issues, as well as motivate students to consider further education and careers in math and science.

Hatboro-Horsham Mathematics Teacher and Math Coach Robert Lochel said, “I am so proud of the performance turned in by this team of mathematically talented students.”