Undergraduate-led Interdisciplinary Team Recognised as Meritorious Winner at Mathematical Contest in Modeling 2023

An interdisciplinary undergraduate team from the Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics at Hong Kong Baptist University has been recognised as a Meritorious Winner at the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) 2023, showcasing their exceptional mathematical modeling skills in solving complex open-ended real-world problems.

The team consisted of three undergraduates, Yubo Zhou (BSc in Business Computing and Data Analytics, Year 2), Weizhen Bian (BSc in Computer Science, Year 4), along with Yuanhang Luo (BSc in Mathematics Statistics, Year 4). Their project focused on analysing and predicting player performance in the popular game, WORDLE. Despite facing the challenge of a relatively modest dataset containing just a few hundred rows of data, the team confronted the limitations of traditional machine-learning techniques. Consequently, they conceived the ingenious idea of developing a Wordle Player Simulator, which employed a novel approach combining derivative-free optimization with Markov chain Monte Carlo and Gibbs sampling. The simulator demonstrated excellent performance in cross-validation and successfully classified words into different difficulty levels.

Yubo Zhou expressed the team’s excitement and growth throughout the MCM competition, sharing, “We discovered the power of teamwork and the thrill of solving complex problems through innovative thinking. It challenged our skills and unlocked our potential, proving that collaboration and creativity can lead to remarkable achievements.”

The team's outstanding performance can undoubtedly be attributed to the guidance and mentorship provided by Dr. Renjie Wan, an Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science. His invaluable advice throughout the competition greatly contributed to their success.

The 39th annual MCM, organised by the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP), attracted a total of 11,296 participating teams representing institutions from 21 countries/regions. Our team achieved a remarkable feat by ranking among the top 10% of participants, placing them in the distinguished category of Meritorious Winners.