Students take part in MathWorks Math Modelling Challenge

News - Mar 19

How can we predict the indoor temperature of non-air-conditioned urban dwellings during a heat wave? How much demand should a power grid be prepared to handle during the summer months? Will this demand change over time? Can cities minimise the effects of a heat wave or a power grid failure?  

Between February 28th and March 3rd, over 800 teams from across the UK and the US took part in the annual MathWorks Math Modelling Challenge (M3 Challenge). Students used mathematical modelling alongside research and teamwork skills to analyse temperature trends, predict power demand, and identify the populations most at risk. The goal: help governments and communities strategically allocate resources to effectively manage heat waves and avoid power outages.  

We had two teams representing Colyton; a Year 12 team consisting of Jerry M, Daniel X, Calvin C, Teddie H and Elliot M and a Year 13 team of Jack N, Euan B, Joshua A, Alice K and Ryan M.  

Part of the challenge is to suggest creative solutions to a complex and multifaceted problem, with huge amounts of data to find and trawl through. The rules state that teams must work in one continuous block of 14 hours, and present one final submission before the time runs out. This first appears to be a huge amount of time but the teams had to plan carefully and constantly adapt as the time trickled away. We were completely blown away by how well both groups worked. These students completely exemplified what it means to be a part of a team: all working individually yet together to achieve their goal. The last house of the Year 13s challenge was the most incredible display of teamwork. All our students should be extremely proud of what they managed to achieve and a huge congratulations to them all. 

We would like to thank Mrs Langdon, Mr Mould and Mrs Stenner for supervising the challenge outside of school hours.