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
Shanghai High School International Division
Mainland, China
Team 2026033
WEN, Ricardo You
YANG, Jeremy
LU, Austen
Advisor: Yan Jie
Meritorious Award Winners
2026 International Summit & Awards Ceremony
August 5-9, 2026 | Boston, MA
Twenty-seven students from nine teams traveled to Boston and Cambridge for the 2026 IM²C International Summit and activities leading up to it.
Over several days, students explored Boston, visited MIT and Harvard, attended MAA MathFest, and connected with fellow student modelers from around the world. The formal Summit at the Harvard University Science Center included team presentations, keynote speakers, student and teacher breakout sessions, hands-on modeling activities, and the 2026 Awards Ceremony.
The Outstanding Award was presented to Collingwood School in Canada and Shanghai High School International Division in Mainland China.
Read highlights from the 2026 IMMC International Summit
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.