Canberra students ace international maths challenge

28 June 2018: Results from the international round of judging in the 2018 International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IM²C) have been announced, and one of Australia’s two finalists topped the class.

The Radford College team, located in the Canberra suburb of Bruce, had its report designated ‘outstanding’ by the international judging panel. It was the only team to receive the ‘outstanding’ designation among the 55 team entries from 30 countries and regions around the world. The team comprised members Ryan Stocks, Brianna Wiseman, Emily Li and Stone Sima, all in Year 12, and team advisor Ms Kym Palfreman.

The team members will be invited to attend a series of activities in Melbourne from 16-19 August, with an award presentation ceremony on 18 August.

They will be joined by the four teams whose reports were designated ‘meritorious’ in the final judging. Those teams come from schools in Shanghai (China), Dobbs Ferry (USA), Taipei (Taiwan), and Bandung (Indonesia).

Australia’s second entry to the international judging round was from Baulkham Hills High School in NSW. The team of Clement Luong, Ezra Hui, Laeeque Jamdar and Alexander Tan, also all in Year 12, with advisor Ms Elizabeth Sree Kumar, was one of the 31 teams to receive an ‘honourable mention’ from the judging panel.

Coordinated in Australia by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), IM²C is a mathematical modelling competition that invites teams of up to four students from secondary schools to visualise, understand and apply mathematics in order to develop an original mathematical model that solves a common problem. This year was the fourth international challenge, and the third time Australia has participated.

Teams this year were asked to develop a decision-making model to help solve a problem that students might face in their daily lives: deciding which hospital would be the best choice for non-emergency treatment.

Ross Turner, project director for IM²C at ACER said the IM²C facilitates collaborative team work, and requires teams to communicate their findings in a written report.

“The IM²C is designed to promote the use of maths to solve real world problems and promote the use of mathematical knowledge, thinking and reasoning in a range of practical situations.”

For more information, visit www.immchallenge.org.au

****************ENDS****************

For media enquiries, or to request a media invitation to the awards ceremony, contact: Julia Robinson, 03 9277 5582 or 0419 340 058 communications@acer.org

Download this media release as a PDF