2026 IM²C Competition Results & International Summit
The 2026 International Mathematical Modeling Challenge brought together 68 finalist teams from 37 countries and regions, each earning the opportunity to represent their country or region on the international stage. During a five-day period between February and April 2026, teams tackled Protecting Wildlife at Scale, developing mathematical models to help guide conservation strategies for large wildlife reserves using Etosha National Park in Namibia as a case study.
2026 Modeling Problem: Protecting Wildlife at Scale
The 2026 IM²C problem challenged teams to develop a mathematical modeling strategy for Protecting Wildlife at Scale. Using Etosha National Park in Namibia as a case study, teams designed data-driven approaches to coordinate park rangers, monitoring technologies, and conservation resources to protect wildlife across a large and complex landscape.
Competition Resources
Access the official problem statement, competition results, and team certificates from the 2026 International Mathematical Modeling Challenge.
Outstanding Award Winners
Collingwood School
Canada
Team 2026025
Daniel (Xiuming) Li
Frank (Zhengyuan) Zhou
Lucas (Licheng) Yu
Advisor: Annie (Yueyue) Cai
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Shanghai High School International Division
Mainland, China
Team 2026033
WEN, Ricardo You
YANG, Jeremy
LU, Austen
Advisor: Yan Jie
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Meritorious Award Winners
2026 International Summit & Awards Ceremony
August 5-9, 2026 | Boston and Cambridge, MA
Twenty-seven students from nine teams traveled to Boston and Cambridge for the 2026 IM²C International Summit and activities leading up to it.
During the five-day experience, students explored Boston, visited MIT and Harvard, attended MAA MathFest, and connected with fellow mathematical modelers from around the world. The formal Summit took place on August 8 at the Harvard University Science Center, where teams presented their solutions to Protecting Wildlife at Scale.
The program also featured a keynote from Dr. Gwen Spencer of Netflix, student and educator breakout sessions, collaborative modeling activities, and presentations focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. The Summit concluded with the 2026 Awards Ceremony and a gala dinner at Harvard’s Loeb House featuring mathematician and educator Dr. Po-Shen Loh.
The Outstanding Award was presented to Collingwood School in Canada and Shanghai High School International Division in Mainland China.
2026 Summit Videos & Photos
Putting Shape on the Problem and Defining Objectives
Dr. Gwen Spencer, Staff Machine Learning Scientist, Content DSE at Netflix, shares lessons from applying mathematics and modeling across industries, including logistics, fintech, and entertainment.
IM²C Alumni as Entrepreneurs
Felipe Quintero Ochoa and George Zhan of the AI Youth Global Organization (AIYGO) discuss how their experiences with mathematical modeling helped lead to new ideas, projects, and opportunities.
Congratulations to the 2026 Teams
The creativity, analytical thinking, and problem-solving demonstrated by every participating team showcase the power of mathematical modeling to address real-world challenges. Congratulations to every student, advisor, and school that participated in the 2026 International Mathematical Modeling Challenge. We look forward to welcoming teams from around the world again next year.