To help teams – and their coaches – prepare for success in M3 Challenge 2021, we want to share two solution papers below that earned honorable mention distinction in the 2016 Challenge.

Comments from M3 Challenge judges are included in the files and are meant to point out some of the strengths and weakness of the papers to help participants get an idea of what an honorable mention paper looks like. Honorable mention papers are potentially more relatable to many teams, and these are posted as they were received, with annotation by professional mathematicians. Finalist papers posted in the archives on the Challenge website can sometimes seem beyond the reach of students – they have been deemed outstanding for that problem by many judges, and they also receive a light edit by SIAM – as indicated on the cover pages – before they are posted.