Measuring the harm created by online gambling earned Borehamwood students a place in the finals of an international maths competition in New York.
The students—Aarav Shah, Aarav Rajput, Arav Mathur, Anika Gupte, and Sofia Rusche from Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School—reached the final round of the MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge (M3 Challenge) after their mathematical model was selected as one of just nine global finalists.
More than 3,430 participants from the UK and the US entered the competition, which required students to create a mathematical model addressing a complex, real-world issue.
This year’s challenge asked teams to consider the impact of online sports betting and to estimate the amount of money lost annually to sports gambling in the UK and US.
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Aarav Rajput said: "Spending 14 hours on a single maths problem from early on a Sunday morning isn’t easy, but that’s exactly what made this experience so valuable. M3 Challenge pushed us to think deeply, collaborate under pressure, and trust each other’s ideas and innovation.
"There's nothing quite like the moment when a solution finally clicks just before the deadline and makes all the effort worthwhile. More than anything, we came away stronger as a team and more confident in tackling real-world problems."
Kim Harrison, the team’s coach and a mathematics teacher at the school, said she was deeply proud of the students’ work and dedication.
Ms Harrison said: "I am so proud to see how well the group has done in entering the competition.
"They worked tirelessly to upskill in their MATLAB skills, and alongside their strong mathematical abilities and team working skills, have been able to successfully complete the mathematical modelling task. Alongside this they have developed their communication and project-based skills, it has been an enriching experience for them."
After 14 hours of problem-solving, the team’s work progressed through two rounds of judging, earning them a spot in the finals in New York City. They will present their findings to a panel of professional mathematicians on April 27.
Dr Neil R. Nicholson, professor of the practice at the University of Notre Dame and a member of the M3 Problem Development Committee, said: "More and more, conversations around sports are filled with spreads, lines, and suggested parleys.
"That got us thinking about gambling in all its aspects, and we eventually settled on app-based sports gambling for this year’s problem topic."
He explained that the aim was not to judge gambling as right or wrong, but rather to better understand its place in modern society.
Just over 70 per cent of all 770 teams entered were from the US, representing 40 states. Approximately 32 per cent of team submissions self-indicated they used MATLAB technical computing software to support and enhance their solutions.
The code included in these papers underwent a separate judging process for the MATLAB Technical Computing Awards, which are additional scholarship prizes for outstanding use of MATLAB.
The M3 Challenge is organised by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and sponsored by MathWorks. It promotes applied mathematics as a tool for solving real-world problems and encourages students to explore careers in data science, computational science, and technical fields.
Now in its 21st year, the competition will award a share of around £75,000 in scholarships to top teams, with the overall winner receiving some £16,000. Finalists include teams from across the US and one other UK team from Colchester in Essex.
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