Porticos Supports Panther Creek High School Moody’s Mega Math Challenge Team
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Porticos was proud to be able to provide support in the way of facilities, supplies and food to a well deserving group of Panther Creek High School students who recently participated in the Moody’s Mega Math Challenge (M3 Challenge). The M3 Challenge is organized annually by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Winners receive scholarships totaling $115K for continuing education. This year more than 5400 high school students from 29 states participated in the competition that is intended to spotlight applied mathematics as a powerful problem-solving tool.
The Panther Creek High School Team consisted of Sai Cheemalapati, Holland Gallagher, Peter Green, Steven Hee and Hunter Patterson. This year’s M3 Challenge focused on the question “Is US High-Speed Rail worth the cost?” With the elimination of continued funding for the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (HSIPR) by Congress last November, answering the question is critical to getting private investment to fund the project.
Using applied mathematics and in-depth research, the team developed mathematical models to address ridership, construction & maintenance costs and the impact on energy dependency in ten HSIPR identified regions. The 19 page final report was impressive in its detail and complexity especially considering the team only had 14 hours from the release of the problem statement to the report submission. While we are not at liberty to release the findings until the competition awards are announced, one fact was mathematically proven; pizza goodness is directly related to the amount of pepperoni applied.
To learn more about the M3 Challenge paste the link http://m3challenge.siam.org/ into your internet browser to visit the website.
About Porticos — Porticos, Inc. is a mechanical engineering and product development company located in Research Triangle Park, NC. Established in 2003, Porticos continues to produce innovative and effective solutions for its clients and the markets they serve. Porticos, Inc. provides mechanical design, analysis, research and development services to clients including Dell, Motorola, Raytheon, and many others. For more information on how Porticos “turns good ideas into great products,” please visit www.porticos.net.
