LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Students may notice a Math Problem of the Week appear on the Canvas dashboard. It is actually a competition, and winners for the fall semester were announced. Stephan Fountain and Shivam Yadav, both undergraduate students at New Mexico State University, were rewarded with a joint first place.
This is the fifth year the Department of Mathematical Sciences has hosted the competition. The department accepts submissions from anyone who wishes to participate. As an incentive, the math department offers a cash prize. The NMSU student with the most correct answers will be rewarded $500. If there is more than one winner, the prize money is split evenly among the contestants.
The competition is run by Assistant Professor Prasit Bhattacharya and an additional professor and graduate student who help with grading submissions.
To create the questions, they use multiple sources. Problem-solving books, different internet sources, a math-problem-a-day calendar that hangs in Bhattacharya’s office, and problems the team remembers fondly from when they were younger all make up a problem bank for future questions.
The first few problems are written to be catchy and to grab the attention of those wanting to participate. This semester’s first problem included Pistol and Paydirt Pete as a fun way to get people interested. Initially, the competition started with around 28 applicants, but as the semester passed and problems got harder, the numbers dwindled. The problems began to increase in difficulty each week, but the team made sure to never make a question more difficult than a high school math skill level, ensuring everyone a chance to take part.
Participants have one week to submit their answers. The solution is then posted on the Math Department website. There are around eight to nine problems total, and participants can join at any time. The last problem of the semester is always the most difficult, even giving the math problem of the week team a challenge. Due to the difficulty, the team gives participants two weeks to submit solutions and makes the problem count for 30 points for those who may have started late.
Bhattacharya views this competition as a way to encourage the culture of mathematics and a way to scout for talent.
“We are sending a frequency,” Bhattacharya said. “We are giving opportunity to tune in to whoever wants to. We are providing that platform.”
The team is constantly impressed by the creativity students show in their solutions. They enjoy seeing how students are able to answer problems more efficiently than they might have.
Yadav is one of two winners for the fall semester. This is his second time winning, the first being in spring 2024. Yadav is an aerospace engineering student in his second year. He initially found the competition through the Canvas dashboard, but was unaware of what it was at first. He was curious and found he was able to answer the question with little difficulty, so he decided to continue. However, as the problems got harder, he started referencing textbooks to get ideas to help him along. Yadav found the final problem to be the biggest challenge, taking him a couple of days to answer.
Yadav enjoys having the competition and views it as something fun to do.
“Math is the most creative thing we as human creators can do,” Yadav said.
Currently, the only winners of the competition are NMSU students, but Bhattacharya wishes to expand the competition to high school students in the Las Cruces area. He thinks many students who have mathematical talent go into engineering. However, he encourages more people to consider a math degree instead due to its flexibility.
“By having a math degree, someone’s skills become more useful, and their work is more applicable compared to a more narrow channel an engineering degree might offer,” Bhattacharya said.
Bhattacharya reassures there is no harm in getting a question wrong. He said he understands math is a required taste, and many have been discouraged to learn it throughout their life. However, he wants people to try and change their way of thinking. He said he wants people to view math as learning a new technique and a way to improve skills instead of something that leads to negative feedback. Bhattacharya said he wants to keep the culture of math alive and says that in a media-consumed world, if this competition gives the chance for people to disconnect and focus on something else, then what he and his team are doing is a good thing.
For those wanting to participate, the problems can be found on the Math Department’s website. You can submit your answers to mathpotw@nmsu.edu.
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