Trine hosts high school students for Modeling the Future event

Trine University hosted 28 students from two high schools for its second annual Modeling the Future Student Workshop on Nov. 8.

Students from Huntington North and Bryan (Ohio) high schools visited Trine to learn about actuarial science, the Modeling the Future Challenge (MTFC) process and to practice a qualifying scenario for the competition.

The MTFC is an academic competition conducted by The Actuarial Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to changing lives through math education, and managed by the Institute of Competition Sciences.

“The workshop this year was more focused and targeted,” said Michael Smith, assistant professor of mathematics and actuarial science at Trine. “Students had more primers with their teachers than they did last year, allowing us to dive head-first into the actual workshops. We gave the students more chances to explore a topic of their choosing in preparation for them to compete in the full competition.”

The high school students were guided through the MTFC qualifying scenario by actuaries as well as Trine actuarial science faculty and students. They also learned how actuaries approach data science, mathematical modeling and risk analysis.

The event was sponsored by the Actuarial Foundation.

Currently involving about 600-700 high school students each year, the Modeling the Future Challenge (MTFC) seeks to increase engagement with and awareness of actuarial science, data science and mathematical modeling among high school students, teachers and the general public.

In the competition, teams of one to five high school students conduct an actuarial research project in which they make recommendations to companies, organizations, government agencies or other groups based on their own mathematical models, real-world data analysis and risk management. Top teams are invited to the national MTFC Symposium to present their work and compete for college scholarships.

Trine University was named a partner for the MTFC in 2022. The university launched its Bachelor of Science in actuarial science degree program in 2020.