The interantional online competition, involving 949
teams from 12 countries, required students to analyze, model and submit
a solution to one of two problems. The Rowan senior math majors, Joshua
Dunn of Mickelton, Walter Jacob of Mullica Hill and Matthew Oster of
Marmora, chose to solve an airline-seating problem. The problem asked
teams to devise and compare procedures for boarding and de-boarding
planes with various amounts of passengers from 85 to 800.
The team, advised by Professor Hieu Nguyen, won MCM's
Ben Fusaro Award for the most creative solution for
their randomized approach to passenger seating. A big factor in winning
was the student's special training in operation research from Professor
Christopher Lacke.
Former Fusaro winners include the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, University of California- Berkeley and McGill University
