Midland College math team selected as regional finalistJuly 27, 2022

On Monday, July 25, the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) notified Midland College (MC) that the college’s math research team was selected as a regional finalist in the organization’s Student Research League.  The MC team will now advance to the second round of competition.

Last spring, AMATYC announced the 2022 challenge nationally.  Teams throughout the U.S. had 18 days to research and prepare a report analyzing the costs and benefits of using electric vehicles, including direct costs to users and to the economy as well as costs to the environment. This project included a cost-benefit analysis on whether changing to an electric vehicle for a specific usage is feasible.

MC Associate Professor of Mathematics Jamie Kneisley mentored the three-person student team composed of Arnoldo Montanez, Jael Ornelas and Parker Tew.  

“The students chose to base their model around the personal use of electric vehicles,” Kneisley explained.  “After researching the costs of milling/forging lithium batteries, manufacturing and transportation of materials as well as environmental and economic impacts, they concluded that the focus for our society should not be on requiring government step-ins and huge alternative incentives, but rather let technological advances in the electric vehicle industry guide consumer interests.  They also concluded that as technology advances in hybrid systems, it will allow for more electrical usage and less gasoline consumption, thereby giving more mileage range, faster charging and cheaper consumer options.”

In their closing paragraph, the team wrote: “This means we should focus on more efficient technology that increases battery life and improves range technology rather than destroying the industry of the combustible engine and targeting the fossil fuel economy.  With fewer trade-offs, vehicles like hybrids are more and more viable for everyday consumers.”

Photo:  From left to right, Jael Ornelas, A. J. Montanez, Jamie Kneisley and Parker Tew