“Mathematics and Pandemics”

1. The Singapore Mathematical Society will carry on with the Series in the Application of Mathematics in order to encourage students to explore and discover different facets of Mathematics in our everyday life. We have chosen “Mathematics and Pandemics” to be the theme of the competition this year.
2. The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the importance of mathematics in fighting pandemics. Throughout history, a growing corpus of mathematical models has always been used to inform and guide pandemic responses, but never more so than in recent years. There’s never been a better time than now to motivate students to learn about the mathematics applied in disaster management, public healthcare and biomedical science.
3. We hope that through this competition, students will discover the different types of mathematical models for its corresponding pandemic response purpose. This includes deterministic models, empirical models, and simulation models. They will understand how mathematics is applied through the modelling process in constructing effective model for informing health policy and increasing the efficiency in screening and tracing. Some examples of these mathematical tools are Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Probability, Statistics, Discrete Mathematics, Graph Theory, Regression, Multivariate Calculus, Gradient Algorithms, Optimization, Markov Chain, Transition Matrices, etc., which clearly offers diverse topics for the students to explore.

Category A

1st Prize : 
Mathematics In Pandemic
Raffles Institution, Cai Haowen

2nd Prize : 
Predicting the future with mathematical models: Fighting a pandemic with mathematics
Raffles Institution, Wong E Jeh, Men Jiahe and Zhang Juntao

3rd Prize : 
National Day: A Live Event?
Nan Hua High School, Yan Woon Hong Jaydon, Ryan Ng Yi Cheng and Yin Xiwei

Honorable Mention : 
Time distance between getting COVID-19 and death studied using correlation function
Tanglin Trust School, Sophia Konstancia Novoselov and Victoria Konstancia Novoselov

Category B

1st Prize : 
When can we lead a mask-free life again?
Nan Hua High School, Chau Wen Jian, Peh Jia Qian and Liu Zihan

2nd Prize : 
The Spread of Pandemics through International Travel
Fuhua Secondary School, D’yang Eng, Vania Lum Hui’en and Karisma Luthfitanto

3rd Prize : 
Tackling a Pandemic with the SIR Model
Clementi Town Secondary School, Wong Yum Wayne, Sasikumar Roshini and Goh Jun Yu, Royce

Honorable Mention : 
Mistakes, Misunderstandings and Math
Hwa Chong Institution, Poon Wai Yew Gabriel, Hong Wei En and Pui Jiin Loong Darrell

Category C

1st Prize : 
Using a model of differential equations to assess the effectiveness of public health measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19
St Joseph’s Institution, Timothy Tan, Loh Zi Quan Keith and Evan Michael Neo Ren Jie

2nd Prize : 
Theory of Epidemics and Mathematical Models
NUS High School of Math and Science, Chong How

3rd Prize : 
Mathematics’ Killing Power: Math Models and Public Health Policy
Raffles Institution, Mei Feifei