Problem Contest

Every year at SUnMaRC, there is a student Problem Contest that runs concurrently with the conference. Below are the details concerning this year’s contest.

Congratulations

We were truly impressed with the number of students that participated in this year’s Problem Contest. The list of problems for both sessions can be found here.

The top 3 individual problem solvers were:

1. Courtney Schmitt from Northern Arizona University (15 points)
2. Jeff Covington from Northern Arizona University (14 points)
3. Sean McGee from Coconino Community College (8 points)

To compute the team awards, we divided the total number of points scored for a school by the number of distinct individuals from that school that solved at least one problem correctly. The top 3 teams were:

1. Northern Arizona University
2. University of Arizona
3. Mesa Community College

Detailed information about who got credit for which problems is available here.

Rules and Guidelines

• There will be four sessions for the Problem Contest:
  • Session 1A: 8:00-9:00pm on Friday, du Bois Ballroom
  • Session 1B: 9:00pm on Friday to 9:00am on Saturday
  • Session 2A: 5:15-9:00pm on Saturday, Adel Mathematics 163
  • Session 2B: 9:00pm on Saturday to 9:30am on Sunday
• No electronic calculating devices allowed, except where it says otherwise.
• List of currently solved problems is available here.
• Solutions must include: problem number, student name, and student institution.
• Session 1A: Following Friday evening’s plenary talk, the Problem Contest will be begin. During this time, the first student to submit a correct solution to a particular problem will earn 2 points for themselves and for their school. Once a problem has successfully been solved, no other student may receive credit.
• Session 1B: From 9:00pm on Friday until 9:00am on Saturday, students may continue working on unsolved problems, which they may submit prior to the first talk on Saturday morning. Problems should be submitted to room 163 in the Adel Mathematics building. Up to one student per school that submits a correct solution to a problem submitted on Saturday morning will receive 1 point for themselves and for their school. Unlike the problems completed on Friday evening, multiple students, but at most one per school, may receive points for the same problem.
• The Problem Contest is on hold during the day on Saturday so that students can focus on attending student and faculty talks.
• Session 2A: Following Saturday afternoon’s plenary talk, Session 2 of the Problem Contest will begin. During the second phase, a second batch of problems will be released. Similar to Friday evening, the first student to submit a correct solution prior to 9:00pm will earn 2 points for themselves and for their school. During 5:15-9:00pm, once a problem has successfully been solved, no other student may receive credit.
• Session 2B: From 9:00pm on Saturday until 9:30am on Sunday, students may continue working on unsolved problems from Session 2, which they may submit prior to the first talk on Sunday morning. Up to one student per school that submits a correct solution to a problem submitted on Sunday morning will receive 1 point for themselves and for their school. Multiple students, but at most one per school, may receive points for the same problem submitted on Sunday morning.
• The school that earns the most points will win the highly coveted SUnMaRC Problem Contest trophy. NAU won the team award last year.
• The top 3 individual scores will receive a prize.
• The team and individual awards will be announced on Sunday at 10:45am in the lobby of Adel Mathematics.

You can find a PDF version of the contest rules here.