On October 25th, 2018 the UConn graduate student chapter of the AMS held their Second Annual Integration Bee where undergraduate students of varying levels of mathematical background came together to test their knowledge of integrals. Students were taking turns going to the chalkboard in groups of six to complete various integrals on the spot. The rules were that each round a student had four minutes to complete the integral and if they ran out of time or got the answer incorrectly they would receive a strike. They were each given 2 strikes until they were out of the competition.
After an hour and half many contestants were eliminated and we had two finalists and five other students competing for the third place. The rivalry was pretty intense among the students fighting for the third place. They were holding the ground round after round until it was the turn of cos(ln(1/x)) to be integrated. This integral decided the fate of the third place after Nick Juricic was the only student who evaluated it correctly.
The two finalists were Samuel Degnan Morgenstern and Zhongwei Wang. The final battle was very dramatic and exhausting for both of them. After another hour or so we finally got the winner with Samuel successfully integrating 1/(e^2-x^2). The contestants who scored in the top three won prizes which were generously donated from our sponsors: Cengage, Lizzie’s Curbside Catering, and Moe’s.
Although there were only three winners who officially won prizes, all students attending the Integration Bee received a nice meal compliments of the AMS and the joy of solving math problems.
The AMS graduate student chapter at UConn thanks all the participants and volunteers for their help making this event a success and it looks forward to organizing the Integration Bee again next year.
Sean Eustace explains the rules and procedures
