Team from Blair High School Wins $20,000 Moody's Math Challenge

[Howard Hartman]

Team from Blair High School Wins
$20,000 Moody's Math Challenge

Four students from Montgomery Blair High School have won first place and a check for $20,000 in the Moody's Mega Math Challenge 2010 held on April 28 at Moody's Corporation headquarters in New York City. The winning team members are Jacob Hurwitz, Andrew Das Sarma, David Tolnay and Scott Yu.

Approximately 600 participating teams were previously given 14 hours to solve an applied-math modeling problem focused on a real-world issue. The challenge was to evaluate U.S. Census Bureau figures and methods, and submit a paper proposing recommendations for undercount adjustment, the best method for apportioning the U.S. House of Representatives, and the fairest way to draw Congressional districts.

At that time, teams were allowed to work from any location they chose. They could use any free and publicly available resources, but could not discuss any aspect of the problem with, or seek help from, their coach or anyone other than their teammates.

The Blair team and five other team finalists were then invited to present their math modeling paper in front of a panel of applied mathematicians at Moody's Corporation headquarters. Each team had 15 minutes to explain their solutions and justify their conclusions.

One of the unique aspects of the Mega Math Challenge is that it incorporates math, computer science, social studies, English, and public speaking. According to Blair teacher and team coach David Stein, "Many of the judges and Moody executives told me that what distinguished the Blair team from all the others was the kids' ability to incorporate all of these abilities. They all said it spoke well to the education these kids have been fortunate to have received at Blair."

More information about the competition and the winning team

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