When students study mathematics, they often ask the questions: ”When am I going to use this?” or “Why do I need to know this?” Our Mohawk Math and Engineering Competition $m^2$$Ec$ tried to help answer these questions by hosting Grade 9 and 10 applied math high school students who were interested in discovering and exploring math applications in different engineering fields (Civil and Architecture, Chemical, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science).

We will share our experiences with the process of developing this competition: looking at how we selected our target audience, how we developed the competition questions, why we choose Mathematical Modeling as the theme, how the competition linked to programs at Mohawk College and why we felt it of importance to applied math students.We focused on real life application problems that are used in the professional lives of engineering technologists and technicians (as our goal was to install a mindset for future college studies).

Bios:

Frosina Stojanovska-Pocuca is a professor at Mohawk College in Hamilton, where she has been teaching mathematics and statistics courses for Engineering Technology for the past 12 years. She started her career in education as high school mathematics teacher in Macedonia where she taught for 7 years before immigrating to Canada. After teaching three semesters in a private high school in Ancaster, she continued her teaching career at Mohawk College. Frosina holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from University of Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia (FYROM) and a Masters’ of Mathematics for Teachers from University of Waterloo.

Valerie Webber is a Professor in the McKeil School of Business. She came to Mohawk College after 16 years in the steel industry. Her career took her from industrial research to production to quality assurance where she gained knowledge and experience in a cross-section of applications. She currently teaches mathematics, statistics and project management in business programs after spending 13 years teaching within the School of Engineering Technology. Valerie has a B. Eng. in Metallurgy from McGill University and an M.B.A. in Innovation from McMaster University.