The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics is one of only 21 organizations nationally to receive an Award of Excellence in the first round of the 2009 Associations Advance America (AAA) Awards program, a national competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) & The Center for Association Leadership, Washington, D.C.
SIAM received the award for its role in organizing and administering Moody's Mega Math Challenge, and is now in contention to receive a Summit Award, ASAE & The Center's top recognition for association programs, to be presented in ceremonies at ASAE's 10th Annual Summit Awards Dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., on September 29, 2009.
Moody's Mega Math Challenge fulfills a need in the K-12 education community for innovative ways to help students succeed in math, science, and technology. The Challenge is designed to inspire high school students to become more interested in solving real-world problems using computation and modeling skills. It spotlights applied mathematics as a powerful problem-solving tool, as a viable and exciting profession, and as a vital contributor to advances in an increasingly technical society. There are no financial barriers for participation in the Challenge—no entrance or participation fees; teams need only sign up and have access to the Internet. The M3 Challenge is funded by The Moody's Foundation and organized and administered by SIAM.
The Challenge is an entirely Internet-based applied mathematics competition open to high school students in New England and Mid-Atlantic states. Scholarship prizes total $80,000 in 2009. Teams choose a day to work on Challenge weekend as well as the location(s) where they work. The competition requires as little or as much preparation time as the students and coach choose. Teams have 14 hours to solve an open-ended, realistic, and challenging modeling problem focused on real-world issues. More than 30 professional applied mathematicians serve as judges throughout the three levels of judging, which is blind until the final round, during which teams must present their solution papers to a panel of Ph.D.-level mathematicians.
Now in its 19th year, the prestigious Associations Advance America (AAA) Awards program recognizes associations that propel America forward—with innovative projects in education, skills training, standards-setting, business and social innovation, knowledge creation, citizenship, and community service. Although association activities have a powerful impact on everyday life, they often go unnoticed by the general public.
"SIAM's program truly embodies the spirit of the Associations Advance America campaign. It is an honor and an inspiration to showcase the M3 Challenge as an example of one of the many contributions associations are making to advance American society," remarked 2008-2009 Associations Advance America (AAA) Committee Chair Janet C. Gibbs, chief financial officer for Feeding America.
For more information on SIAM or Moody's Mega Math Challenge, please visit the websites (below) or contact:
Jessica Stephenson
Project Public Awareness
Moody's Mega Math Challenge
M3Challenge.siam.org
Public Awareness Officer
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)
267-350-6383
Stephenson@siam.org
www.siam.org