Highlights of 2024-25 Competition

In 2025, we continued to have three categories for projects; posters, videos, and mathematical artifacts. We received 25 submissions for posters, 13 submissions for videos, and 5 submissions for mathematical artifacts, making a total of 43 submissions this year.

We had 116 highschool students, 60% male and 40% female, from 18 schools registered in 46 teams of two/three. The teams were mentored by 20 teacher and teacher candidatesmentors and 12 university student mentors.

Timeline

Team Registration: Opens on December 10^th, 2024.
Mentor Application: Opens on December 10^th, 2024.
Team Registration: Extended up until February 23rd, 2025.
Mentor Application: Extended up until February 23rd, 2025.
Theme and Format release time: February 20^th
Project Submission Deadline: March 19^th, 2025 before 11: 55 pm London Ontarion Local Time
Prize ceremony: Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 1:30-4:30 pm at NSC 145.

Prizes

Thanks to the support of our generous sponsors, the winner(s) of the competition, the winners of each category was awarded cash prizes. The first teams in each category received $1000, silver medal medal winners received $500 and the third team (only in video and poster category) received $300.

This year's the special category is Contributions of Black Mathematicians to explore and honor the mathematical achievements and contributions of black mathematicians throughout history and their enduring impact on the field of mathematics. This special category honors individuals who creatively articulate the contributions of Black mathematicians to the field of mathematics. If your project, covering one of the above four themes, also includes the special topic and this contribution is properly explained in your work, your team will be (automatically) qualified to compete in this special category which has a separate $500 award for the winning team.

Themes

Theme 1: Birth of a Mathematical Idea: Explore the origins of a specific mathematical topic, definition, problem, theorem or in general a mathematical idea. This may involve discussing the historical background, the mathematicians who contributed to its development, and the original problem or purpose the theorem addressed. Teams might also explore how the theorem has transformed over time and its present-day applications.
Theme 2: Mathematical Paradoxes (Counter-Intuitive Results in Math): Delve into mathematical paradoxes that challenge intuition. Participants should choose a paradoxical result, explain why it defies initial expectations, and provide a clear resolution or interpretation.
Theme 3: Mathematics and Art: Music and Math and Other Connections: Investigate the deep connections between mathematics and art forms such as music, visual arts, or architecture. Participants might examine how mathematical concepts like symmetry, patterns manifest in art or how sound waves and frequencies relate to musical harmony.
Theme 4: Mathematical Modeling: Highlight the role of mathematical modeling in solving real-world problems. Participants should select a specific problem or scenario and demonstrate how mathematical modeling provides insights or solutions. Possible focuses include climate modeling, financial forecasting, or biological systems.

Winners:

Winners of Poster Projects

Gold Medal Winning Poster:
- Title: The Sleeping Beauty Problem
- School name: London Central Secondary School
- Mentor: Adam Ursenbach (Student Mentor)
Silver Medal Winning Poster:
- Title: Geoid Model - The Secret to GPS Accuracy
- School Name: Catholic Central Highschool
- Mentor: Andrea Sproule (Teacher Mentor)
Bronze Medal Winning Poster:
- Title: Calculus - Unearthing the Treasure of Change
- School Name: Westmount Charter School, Calgary, Alberta
- Mentor: Cory Gagnon (Teacher Mentor)

Winners of Video Projects

Gold Medal Winning Video:
- Title: Math behind Music Harmony
- School name:London Central Secondary School
- Mentor: Paige Bloomfield (Student Mentor)
Silver Medal Winning Video:
- Title: David Blackwell: A New Way to Play
- School Name: Westmount Charter School
- Mentor: Cory Gagnon (Teacher Candidate Mentor)
Bronze Medal Winning Video:
- Title: Rufus Issacs’ Problem: Games of Pursuit
- School Name: Catholic Central High School
- Mentor: Frank Tancredi (Teacher Candidate Mentor)

Winner of the Mathematical Artifact Projects

Gold Medal Winning Mathematical Artifacts:
- Title: DIGICOMP II
- School name: Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School
- Mentor: Barham Dababneh (Teacher Mentor)
Silver Medal Winning Mathematical Artifacts:
- Title: Mechanical Turing Machine The Game of Life
- School name:London Central Secondary School
- Mentor: Phillip Bannon (Teacher Mentor)

Winner of The Special Category (Contributions of Black Mathematicians)

Gold Medal Winning Project:
- Title: Geoid Model - The Secret to GPS Accuracy
- School Name: Catholic Central Highschool
- Mentor: Andrea Sproule (Teacher Mentor)

Organizing Team:

Organizing Committee

Dr. Asghar Ghorbanpour, Coordinator
Anna Ng, Coordinator Assistant
Adrian Chitan, Mathematics Element Advisor
Bahar Zali Kah Kesh, Marketing and Outreach Director

Judicial Panel

Dr. Lindi Wahl, Professor, Department of Mathematics
Dr. Anibal Medina Mardones, Assisstant Professor, Department of Mathematics
Dr. Allen O'Hara, Assisstant Professor, Department of Mathematics
Dr. Diego Fernando Manco Berrio, Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Mathematics
Dr. Hamed Hessam, Department of Mathematics
Dr. Marwa Tuffaha, PhD Graduate, Department of Mathematics
Sepideh Bahrami, PhD Student, Department of Computer Science
Michelle Hatzel, MSc. Student, Department of Mathematics
Victoria Marie Quance, MSc. Student, Department of Mathematics

Sponsors:

This is made possible by the generosity of our donors as well as the financial support from the Department of Mathematics, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, and the Canadian Math Society.