USD Students Double Participation Numbers in Math Competition

“To be honest, in my opinion, these are the students who are going to be most successful in their future careers,” said Professor of Mathematics Diane Hoffoss, PhD. 

The University of San Diego’s Department of Mathematics has been supporting student participation in the global Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) for more than two decades. Two teams of six students participated in the competition last year, and this year that number doubled. 

Competing in teams of two and three, Biophysics and Math Major Gabriel Ambrose, Environmental Science Major Brayden Buchanan, Computer Science and Business Analytics  Major Cameron McNamara, Computer Science and Math Major Richard Ngo, Integrated Engineering Major Logan Scottlind, Chemistry Major Benjamin Zabel, and Math Majors Jacob Bruner, Hailey Hall and Eva Kascak, faced this 96-hour challenge for the first time. Industrial and Systems Engineering Major Josh Basseti, Engineering and Math Major Peter Casaschi and Economics Major Grant Sobek ran it back and competed together for a second year in a row. 

“Josh, Peter and I had a lot of fun competing during the first year,” Sobek said. “We got along well and since we all came from different disciplines, our individual spheres of knowledge worked really well together.”

Math and problem-solving skills are helpful when it comes to participation in this contest, but not required. Any student from any major can participate to gain experience solving a real-world problem in a team setting. And while it’s a nationally recognized event, there’s room for fun and creativity. 

“We wanted to win the most creative award, and we definitely did our best to work toward that this year,” Sobek said. “Dr. Hoffoss said that we might be the first and only participating team to quote Gru from Despicable Me in a mathematics research paper.”

The student team entries this year were again generously supported by the Fletcher Jones Mathematics Endowment and advised by Dr. Hoffoss.

“This willingness to step outside of their comfort zone, push their boundaries and learn something new, independently, is such a valuable and increasingly rare character trait,” Hoffoss reflected. “I’m so proud of the humans that they are and I feel so grateful each year to get to witness their struggles and transformation through this experience.”

If you are interested in learning more about or participating in the MCM, contact the department at math@sandiego.edu for more details.