An Academic Trifecta: students win big in math, robotics, economics competitions

By Nathan Kim, Jennifer

After downing their 16th shot of espresso and devouring the last of their Doordash order, the team of four seniors and one junior rushed to complete their data before 9 p.m., the end of the 14-hour competition.

On March 6, the team, which included seniors Ananya Das, Caden Juang, Oliver Lin, Addison Spiegel and junior Ben Lu, worked relentlessly to research and compose a 20-page paper over this year’s M3 Challenge prompt that modeled electric bike growth.

The Mathworks Math Modeling Challenge is a competition that tasks upperclassmen with using mathematics to solve a real-world problem.

The paper included three parts: modeling the growth of the e-bike market, analyzing the causes of the sudden spike in e-bike purchasing, and the impacts of e-bike growth on both Europe and the US. The team concluded that the increase in e-bike riders was due to more online attention and a decrease in lithium battery prices. The team also determined that the growing popularity of e-biking would improve overall health of riders in both the US and Europe.

Hundreds of teams participated in the M3 Challenge from across the US and UK. After three rounds of judging from a panel of expert mathematicians, six teams were selected for an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to present their research for a final round of judging.

The St. John’s team was notified on the night of prom that they had advanced to the final round.

It

science or social sciences,” Gao said. “For example, elections usually have a statistician who is making predictions, calling certain districts or states for candidates.”

Das said that the high-pressure competition equipped her with new team-building skills that will serve her well in her eventual career.

“It was really nice to be able to practice with a team, and having to do it in 14 hours was also a super great experience,” Das said. “Learning how to collaborate under the pressure of a time crunch was a valuable skill to learn.”

First Tech Challenge

The robot was named, prophetically enough, Omen. And for opponents in the First Tech Challenge competition, Omen indeed spelled doom.

Unlike the popular battle bots TV shows, the FTC competition issues a different challenge each year, but none involve the destruction of enemy robots.

The FTC is a national robotics competition for students in grades seven to 12, who spend months designing and developing a robot.

This year, the prompt was Powerplay. Teams programmed robots to push, pick and place cones in specified areas or on poles of varying sizes to score points. The robots are controlled by a combination of preprogrammed automation and manual driving.

St. John’s began participating in FTC in 2017 with only a handful of students, and over the last few years, the program has split into three different teams for the Engineering Club, Engineering Capstone class and the Robotics class.

A product of the Engineering Capstone Project, the highest level of engineering course offered at the School, Omen squared off against opponents, maneuvering throughout the arena in a red and black blaze.

National Economics Challenge

Despite lacking the opportunity to take any year-long or advanced economics courses, many St. John's alumni end up in jobs or majors related to economics.

Last year, Lin, Das, senior Harris Lee and Duncan McLaren ('22) took first place in the National Economics Challenge. The graduating seniors have passed the torch to underclassmen, giving them the resources they themselves did not receive.

The Economics Club, founded last year by Lin and Das, gives students the opportunity to pursue their interests in economics and encourages club members to enter competitive Quiz Bowl-style economic challenges.

“The competitions act like stepping stones because they give people something to look forward to and a goal to study towards,” Lin said. Instead of having a vague desire to learn economics, students feel a need to learn economics in order to do well in the competitions.

To have it not just be a solo passion project, but a shared one, was the most enjoyable thing.

Das especially enjoyed bonding with her team in the build-ups to competitions.

“Group study sessions, taking tests together, quizzing each other, going to restaurants after a study session — everything involves the team,” Das said.

Sophomore Mark Doan appreciated the collaborative preparation for the Harvard Economics Challenge.

A month later, they delivered their presentations to and fielded questions from a panel of judges in New York City.

Following a nerve-wracking wait, the team was awarded second place, which included a ceremonial giant check for the $15,000. The M3 competition awarded $100,000 total to the finalists. Members of the SJS team will each receive a $3,000 college scholarship.

According to math teacher Eric Gao, who accompanied the team to New York, each member brought their own specialized skill set to the project. Although primarily a math competition, the M3 Challenge is a team event first and foremost.

“We had people that were really good at programming and could write algorithms or implement the models in computer language,” Gao said. “We had people that were very good at writing and could make strong arguments, and we had people that understood the math of which model to choose.”

Specialization allowed the team to work more efficiently, but it also sometimes led to tension.

“We were all arguing over which model to employ,” Das said. “A lot of fighting resulted from some really bad communication, but we ended up resolving it by learning to communicate more effectively and just trusting the team.”

Gao also praised the M3 competition for teaching applied math, which he says has strong real-world applications.

“The field of mathematics that M3 is involved in, applied math, has a lot of overlap with other disciplines, such as

Competition begins at the local level, and for those that qualify, the regional, state and national level. Participants are judged for both game performance and sportsmanship.

The Capstone team advanced to the state competition, while the Engineering Club and SJS Robotics teams made it to regionals. The Robotics class team, Glowbotics, placed third at the local level.

Sponsors Matthew Bounds and Franco Posa, who both teach engineering, were excited about the level of participation and success of the groups.

“Last year we were pretty much at the bottom of the charts in the regional competition, and this year we went all the way to the state competition,” Bounds said. “It's very quick progress with a pretty small group.”

Senior Rhyder Swen, captain of the Robotics team, is optimistic about the future of robotics at St. John’s.

“I really hope more people get involved in the club so that you have people participating in robotics for more than just one or two years," Swen said.

Bounds and Posa are looking to expand the program beyond the Upper School. After a morning workshop with Class 4 students, Bounds and Posa were impressed with the enthusiasm and potential of the younger students. Including young students in future engineering programs would foster their skills before they even reach high school.

“It’ll become a pipeline, and they can get better, but it’ll also build a community together in advance,” Posa said.

“I hope that over time, we will build it across the whole school.”

“To have it not just be a solo passion project, but a shared one, was the most enjoyable thing,” Doan said.

Das also emphasized the importance of economics and its far-reaching impact.

“At any business, corporation or industry, economics is ingrained into the system,” Das said. “You need a basic understanding of economics; simple notions like supply and demand or labor force are vital.”

When Lin registered for the National Economics Challenge, another prestigious competition for students interested in economics, friends told him that there was no way St. John’s could win. “The same five teams win every year,” they said. “It's a waste of time.”

Despite the naysayers, the trio of juniors won the challenge and the $4,000 prize.

This year, the Economics Club entered two four-person teams in the HEC, which took place in Boston on April 8. Students participated in trivia against other schools, testing their knowledge of fictional scenarios, vocabulary and history. Participants were also given the opportunity to listen to a lecture from Nicholas Gregory Mankiw, who served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2003 to 2005.

As the Economics Club grows, sophomore Lucy Janssens hopes it will continue to push the limits.

“There's definitely more opportunities for growth,” Janssens said. “We haven't hit our peak just yet, so I'm excited to take it even further in future years.”

ST. JOHN’S SCHOOL