Teams involving students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University Global College (SJTUGC, abbreviated as GC hereafter) delivered outstanding performance in the 2026 Mathematical Contest in Modeling/Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (MCM/ICM), claiming six Meritorious Winner awards, 12 Honorable Mentions, and 22 Successful Participant awards, according to the results announced by the organizer recently.
The MCM/ICM competition was launched in 1985 by the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP). It is widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential mathematical modeling competitions, attracting university students from around the globe each year. The contest challenges teams to apply mathematical modeling and interdisciplinary approaches to solve real-world problems in areas such as economics, management, environment, resources, ecology, medicine, and public safety. Participants are required to complete modeling and paper writing for a specific problem within four days.
A total of 32,213 teams from 28 countries and regions participated in the competition this year, including students from renowned universities such as the University of California, Los Angeles, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, the University of Oxford, King’s College London, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Work of the Meritorious Winner team consisting of Dingxuan Zhang, Zihang Li, and Guoran Zhang for Problem A.
Work of the Meritorious Winner team consisting of Jin Zhang, Dongtai Wu, and Yicheng Zhao for Problem B.
GC students have participated in the MCM/ICM competition since 2012 under the organization of the college’s Science and Innovation Association. Over the years, participating teams have consistently achieved outstanding results. To date, GC students have won a total of five Outstanding Winner awards, 20 Finalist Winner awards, 56 Meritorious Winner awards, and 132 Honorable Mention awards.
Faculty Advisor
Runze Cai
GC Assistant Professor Runze Cai received both his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Ph.D. degree in Control Science and Engineering from GC, in 2011 and 2019 respectively. He currently teaches courses including Calculus and Discrete Mathematics, and serves as faculty advisor to the Global College Science and Innovation Association. His research interests include robust control and Fourier analysis.
