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Calvin runners at MathFest 2009 Calvin faculty and students at MathFest 2009

Departmental Activities

Weekly Colloquium

Each Thursday afternoon during the Fall and Spring semesters the Department hosts its Mathematics Colloquium. The Colloquium features a wide variety of talks given by students, Calvin faculty and numerous visitors. Check out our online schedule.

Problem of the Week

Each week a new problem is posted for students to solve.

Contests

Calvin students regularly participate in a variety of mathematics contests.

Contests Calvin students have participated in recently include:

MATH Challenge

In the Michigan Annuaul Take Home Challenge three-member teams have three hours to work on 10 problems. Students at various institutions across Michigan solve problems at their local campus and send in the results. The competition has been held each Fall since 1994.

Top ten finishes by Calvin teams: 1994 (1st and 2nd); 1995 (1st and 3rd); 1996 (1st and 3rd); 1997 (1st and 4th); 1998 (3rd); 1999 (2nd and 3rd); 2000 (1st); 2001 (1st); 2002 (6th, 7th, and 9th); 2003 (2nd and 5th); 2004 (4th); 2005 (1st, 6th and 7th)

More information about the competition, including top ten finishes for each year and copies of past exams can be found at http://www.mcs.alma.edu/mathchallenge/

Lower Michigan Mathematics Contest

In this competition three-member teams travel to a host institution to solve 10 problems in three hours. This competition has been held annually each spring since 1977. Calvin has often held the traveling Klein bottle trophy, having won the competition in 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2005.

Mathematical Contest in Modeling

This national contest held each January is sponsored by CoMAP (the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications). This competition takes place over a week-end, with each three-member team submitting its report at the conclusion of the competition. Calvin teams were rated Outstanding (highest award) in 1985, 1987, and 1997. For more information visit the MCM website.

William Lowel Putnam Competition

This North American competition has been administered by the Mathematical Association of America since 1938. It is typically held on a Saturday in early December. In this contest individual students have three hours in the morning to work on 6 challenging problems and three hours in the afternoon to work on 6 more. Three individuals from each school are designated team members and their scores are combined to provide a team as well as individual competition. For more information visit the Putnam Competition website.

Social Activities

Fall Picnic

The social highlight of the year is the annual Department Picnic held each fall, sometimes jointly with the Computer Science Department. The picnic is typically on a Friday evening in late September or early October.

Reading Room

Mathematics students are invited to meet and or study together in the Mathematics Reading Room (North Hall 282). This is also where we gather for refreshments prior to the weekly colloquium talks.