Teams led or joined by the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (UM-SJTU JI, JI hereafter) undergraduate students delivered outstanding performance in the 2025 Mathematical Contest in Modeling/ Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (MCM/ICM), claiming awards including two Finalist Winners, six Meritorious Winners, 16 Honorable Mentions, and 11 Successful Participants for SJTU, according to the results announced by the organizer recently.
The MCM/ICM competition was launched in 1985 by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP). It is the only international mathematical modeling contest of its kind and regarded as the Olympic Game of mathematical modeling attracting worldwide contestants every year. The competition is conducted in teams of three members and requires participants to complete modeling and paper writing for a specific real-world problem within four days.
Diagrams of JI teams winning the Finalist Winner award
A total of 27,456 teams participated in the contest this year, including students from renowned universities such as Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Oxford University, King’s College London, University of Toronto, Tsinghua University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. JI students sponsored by the JI Technology and Innovation Association started to attend the MCM/ICM competition in 2012. So far, they have won a total of five Outstanding Winners, 20 Finalist Winners, 49 Meritorious Winners, 120 Honorable Mention awards.
Certificates of Finalist award for JI students
Enze Zhang, a JI sophomore student majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering, was part of a team that received the Finalist award in this year’s competition. He described the experience as a valuable opportunity that enhanced his skills in time management and teamwork. During the 72-hour contest, Zhang and his teammates maintained close coordination and a clear division of tasks. He took the lead in breaking down the problem, constructing the model framework, and setting parameters, ensuring a well-structured and logically coherent solution. “The problem was closely connected to real-life scenarios, which motivated us to engage deeply in the solution process,” he said.
Another Finalist Winner team consisting of three JI third-year students including Ruitong An, Shitong Guo, and Qiaosen Xue. They described the competition as a hands-on opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges. Throughout the mathematical derivation and modeling process, they continually sought innovative ideas and refined their work through iterative improvements. Ruitong An noted that the education system of JI provided them with unique advantages, including an open academic atmosphere that encourages creative thinking, a strong core curriculum that builds a solid foundation, and an all-English teaching model paired with systematic academic English training that supported the writing of their final paper.
