Students’ competitions

MEI works with universities and industry to provide opportunities for students to contribute to the enhancement of mathematics learning

Poster Competition

Sponsored by Rolls-Royce, and using university contacts built up through the Further Mathematics Support Programme, MEI runs an annual poster competition for university students.

A poster may be designed by an individual student or by a group of students. Each poster should convey the essence of a mathematical topic that has been covered at university by the designer(s). The poster should be designed to convey this mathematics to school and college students who may be assumed to be studying AS or A level Mathematics. We are happy to accept posters that have been designed as part of a university course.

The poster designs must be the students’ original work. Students who enter will be required to sign a declaration that this is the case. No image used should be protected by copyright.

Entries may be submitted by students studying in any university department.

The best posters will be:

• mathematically accurate
• attractively laid out
• capable of enriching a course in AS or A level Mathematics
• likely to attract school/college students to take mathematics (or mathematics-related subjects) at university

The information sheet for the 2009-10 competition may be viewed at http://www.mei.org.uk/files/pdf/PosterCompInfo.pdf

Winning designs may be viewed at http://www.furthermaths.org.uk/student_area/

Year in Industry Competition

In 2008, MEI conducted a Mathematics at Work competition for students on the Year in Industry (YinI) programme. The idea was proposed at an MEI Industry Committee meeting.

Students then on a YinI programme (see www.yini.org.uk ) were invited to submit exemplars which illustrated how they used mathematics during their placement. The exemplars needed to convey how school mathematics was used in ‘real-life’ problems in the workplace. The winning exemplars are used to help give younger students insight into such applications.

We received many interesting exemplars and selected two winners. One was entitled ‘The use of mathematics (mechanics) in the testing of an automotive engine component’, which looked at the stress on a component. This was by Dave Stewart who was on placement at GKN AutoStructures. The second was entitled ‘Jet engines with Pythagoras’ and looked at using Pythagoras’ theorem to check the thickness and movement of blades. This was by David Cross who was on placement at Rolls-Royce.

The two winning entries may be viewed by clicking the following links:

• The use of mathematics (mechanics) in the testing of an automotive engine component
• Jet engines with Pythagoras

MEI has recently invited entries for a second competition to be submitted by 31 May 2010. The information sheet for the 2009-10 competition may be viewed at:
http://www.mei.org.uk/files/pdf/2010_Maths_in_Work_competition_info_sheet.pdf

Please note the deadline has now passed for entries to the above (2009-10) compeition. Thank you to all those who have submitted entries.

Durham University Distant Mathematics Challenge 2010

This challenge was designed to select students who will be invited to the Durham Gifted and Talented Summer School in August 2010 at Durham University. However, the wider mission is to promote mathematical thinking, so submissions from everyone in years 9 to 13 are welcome.

Please see the info sheet which includes the 10 mathematical problems.

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