Spring 2003
Contents
Competition results: Four score!
Putnam Exam
Results are in for the Putnam Competition in Mathematics, and four EMU students earned points!
Freshman Ali Abdollahi scored one point, and Kevin Davis, Kevin Kingston, and Daryl Posnett each scored two points. It’s possible to earn up to 120 points, but a score of two points on the December 7, 2002 exam placed students at about the 50th percentile.
The Putnam exam is a six hour grueling exam with six problems in the morning and six problems in the afternoon. “To prepare for the Putnam exam, a small group of us met every Friday afternoon with Dr. Hee and Dr. Parry to solve old Putnam problems,” says Daryl Posnett. Dr. Hee adds: “The problems are tough – really tough. There’s nothing obvious about them or apparent about their solution.”
The highest Putnam score ever at EMU was when Sandy Becker earned 21 points on the 2001 exam. While not matching Becker’s score, none of this year’s students were discouraged. “I’m already thinking ahead and preparing for next year,” says Posnett.“It was a great experience”.
Many thanks to Putnam coaches and enthusiasts Chris Hee, Walter Parry, and Dave Folk.
Modeling Team
Results were a little disappointing for this year’s math modeling team however Dr. Hee is no less proud of our team. “The competition is getting tougher”, says Dr. Hee We had two teams of students participating in the International Mathematics Modeling Competition on February 6 - 10, 2003. Participating were Kevin Kingston, Kevin Davis, Becky Dibbs, Steve Patterson, Sarah Caine, and Dan Stanish. Dr. Chris Hee is the coach for the modeling team.
The competition begins with two problems in a sealed envelope. Team members decide on which of the two problems they want to attack over the 3 day weekend.
This year’s competition gave the teams two interesting choices. The first problem involved the use of laser beams to treat a brain tumor without damaging the surrounding tissue. The other problem involved a motorcycle stunt in which the motorcyclists was to jump over an elephant and land safely on a pile of cardboard boxes.
What was the minimum number of boxes required for a safe landing? “We ended up at the UPS website to determine the strength and tolerance of card board boxes” says Becky Dibbs.