UP Math Challenge
The Upper Peninsula High School Math Challenge is a peninsula-wide competition for students in grades 9-12. Students compete on teams of four. Schools may register as many teams as they care to. Faculty and students from the Math and Computer Science Department volunteer every year for this fun event.
Practice Problems and Past Results
2019
2018
2017
2016
School Winner
Houghton Central High School
Individual Winners
1st: Ri Chen, Team 2; Houghton Central High School
2nd: Maggie Wang, Team 2; Houghton Central High School
3rd: Silas Talley, We Needed Four; Ishpeming High School
Team Winners
1st: "Team 2", Houghton Central High School
2nd: "Reach For the Pi", Escanaba High School
3rd: "We Needed Four", Ishpeming High School
2015
2014
Lake Linden-Hubbell takes home the team trophy!
One hundred eight students on twenty-eight teams from seven Upper Peninsula high schools participated in The Fifth Annual Upper Peninsula High School Math Challenge on Saturday, March 15, 2014, on the campus of Northern Michigan University.
This was the best Math Challenge to date! Of all the student enrichment activities offered by the Mathematics and Computer Science Department, the Math Challenge is certainly the fastest-growing. Many thanks to all the NMU students, faculty and staff who helped with this event!
The top three individual scorers were as follows:
1. Noah Stetson, Ishpeming High School
2. Zach Mazurek, A.D. Johnston Jr/Sr High School
3. Jess Masson, A.D. Johnston Jr/Sr High School
The top three team scorers were as follows:
1. "QT Pi's" - Lake Linden-Hubbell High School
2. "The Radicals" - A.D. Johnston Jr/Sr High School
3. "Math Mo's" - Escanaba Area Public High School
2013
One hundred thirteen students on twenty-eight teams from nine Upper Peninsula high schools participated in The Fourth Annual Upper Peninsula High School Math Challenge on Saturday 23 March 2013 on the campus of Northern Michigan University.
This was easily the largest Math Challenge to date. Of all the student enrichment activities offered by the Mathematics and Computer Science Department, the Math Challenge is certainly the fastest-growing.
The top three individual scorers were as follows:
1. Daniel Gershenson, Houghton Central High School
2. Maggie Wang, Houghton Central High School
3. Noah Gershenson, Houghton Central High School
The top three team scorers were as follows:
1. Houghton Central High School "Black"
2. Lake Linden-Hubbell High School "2"
3. Calumet High School
2012
Eighty-five students on twenty-two teams from seven Upper Peninsula high schools participated in the Third Annual Upper Peninsula High School Math Challenge.
This is a record for all three of the following: student participation, team participation, and school participation.
The first-place team was Houghton 1 from Houghton Central High School.
The second-place team was Dodecahedron from Marquette Senior High School.
The third-place team was Munising A from Munising High And Middle School.
The first-place individual winner was Daniel Gershenson from Houghton 1.
The second-place individual winner was Matt Schulz from Houghton 1.
The third-place individual winner was Kori Baij from Munising A.
2011
The Second Annual Upper Peninsula High School Math Challenge was a success, drawing seventy-nine high school students (actually seventy-eight high school students and one middle school student) comprising twenty teams from seven high schools (and one middle school) from across the Upper Peninsula. This was over twice the participation we had last year!
Round One was the individual event: ten problems, one at a time, with time limits of three to five minutes. Each correct answer earned the individual competitor one point AND earned the team one point.
Round Two was the team event: five problems, given to a team all at once. The teams had forty-five minutes to solve the problems; each correct answer earned the team four points.
Round Three was the relay event: Each member of the team was given a problem. Each member, other than the first, requires the answer of the previous player to solve his/her own problem. This was, to the students, by far the most fun event. If the relay was solved in three, six, nine, or twelve minutes, the team earned four, three, two, or one point respectively. The first, second, and third teams to submit correct answers received three, two, and one bonus points respectively.
There was a clear winner from the individual event, but there was a three-way tie for second place, so the tie was resolved with a Sudden Death question. This question had no time limit. The first person to get the right answer would earn second place, and the second person to get it right would earn third place.
The winning team was Houghton (with three students from Houghton High School and one from Houghton Middle School). The second place team was Munising D (from Munising High) and third place went to Girl^4 (from Marquette Senior High School).
2010
On Saturday, March 13, 2010, the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at NMU sponsored the First Annual U.P. High School Math Challenge. High school students from Calumet, Ishpeming, Lake Linden-Hubbell, Munising, and Newberry participated. There were 36 students on 9 teams. Awards were given for the top three students (for the individual problem portion of the contest) and the top three teams (for the team problem portion of the contest).
- 2010 UP Math Challenge Traveling Trophy goes to Newberry High School
- Top three individual students: Kori Baij 3rd place (Munising); Brian Ronquist 2nd place (Newberry); Mamiko Ozawa 1st place (Newberry)
- First Place Team from Newberry: Brian Ronquist, Mamiko Ozawa, Ashley Haupt, Shannon Lane
- Second Place Team from Munising A: Do Ahn, Melina Nordquist, Tik San Ling, Emily Graves
- Third Place Team from Munising C: Jordan Beauchaine, Zach Boucher, Jarett Sadler, Kori Baij
Programming Contests
The NMU Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has been planning and hosting this annual event since 2000. The NMU-hosted programming contest is designed specifically for college students and has had as many as 24 teams from five universities participating.
The NMU Invitational Programming Contest, although not having any ties to a larger international competition, draws more participation than the above competition does; it is the largest programming competition in the upper peninsula. This event allows our students and faculty to interact with their counterparts at other universities. The event has gotten strong positive feedback from the participants from other universities, and it receives positive exposure from the local media. The event is largely organized by our students, making this a learning experience on several fronts. As with the above competition, we generally perform quite well at the event, demonstrating that our program compares favorably to other programs in the region.
For more information, contact Dr. Andrew A. Poe
BonzAI Brawl
The BonzAI Brawl is a programming competition, but unlike the NMU or ACM programming contests, BonzAI Brawl is focused on artificial intelligence (AI) programming (similar to MIT's Battlecode). The test of a team's AI agent is how well it performs against other teams in its virtual environment. The contest has two main phases: the programming phase (8 hours of nonstop programming to build the AI agent), and a seeded elimination tournament (known as the "Brawl"). Each round of the Brawl itself is played out within the confines of a competitive strategy game.
For more information, contact Dr. Michael Kowalczyk.
ACM North Central North American Regional Programming Contest
The East Central North America Regional Programming Contest is one rung of international competition. All the major universities in the world send teams to the regional competition corresponding to their location. NMU has historically performed quite well in the ACM competition, and the students look forward to it every year. The University generally performs well at the competition, providing evidence that our computer science program is preparing students comparably to other programs in the region.
MI Mathematics Prize Competition
The Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition
The Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition (MMPC) is sponsored by the Michigan Section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) to encourage students to develop their interests and abilities in mathematics.
The students with the top 100 scores in the two parts of the competition are honored at an awards program. Approximately $20,000 in scholarships ranging from at least $250 to $2,500 will be awarded this year.
Part I of the MMPC is open to all students in Michigan high schools. This exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions involving topics from high school mathematics.
From over 6,000 participants in Part I, the top 1,000 students are invited to take Part II of the MMPC. In Part II of the exam, students work on five challenging problems and write their solutions providing full justification and proof of their claims.
There is no travel involved. We mail the exams to your school. The students take the test at their school. You mail them back. No one has to drive ALL THE WAY to the Upper Peninsula!
For more information contact the MMPC Co-Directors, Dr. Andrew A. Poe and Dr. Daniel R. Rowe.
Past Exams
The 2019 Part I Exam is now available! SOLUTIONS
The 2019 Part II Exam is now available! SOLUTIONS
The PART I of the 62nd. MMPC is now available! SOLUTIONS
The PART II of the 62nd. MMPC is now available! SOLUTIONS
Grading Day
Once a year, mathematics professors and educators gather together to the Part-II examinations of the Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition. If enough people volunteer, the examination can be graded between breakfast and lunch...and then lunch is provided.
The volunteers are divided into five teams, one for each problem and the examinations are passed around from team to team until they are all graded.
If you are interested in volunteering for Grading Day, please send an e-mail to Dr. Andy Poe with the following information:
Your Name
Your E-mail Address
Your Institution
Your preferred problems to grade
Please feel free to ask any questions about the process. FIRST-TIME VOLUNTEERS ESPECIALLY WELCOME!
School Supervisors, Please review the Registration Instructions.
Please look up your School ID here before registering.
Note: The School ID's have changed. Please look up and use your new ID!