The results of the 2026 Mathematical Contest in Modeling and Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (MCM/ICM) were released recently. Competing against more than 32,000 teams worldwide, students from HIT Weihai achieved a landmark result: they won an Outstanding Winner award and the Vilfredo Pareto Special Award, marking a historic breakthrough for the Weihai Campus in winning this named special award of the contest.
The MCM/ICM is one of the world’s most influential academic competitions. Teams must complete model construction, data analysis, argumentation and a full English paper within four days. The contest tests interdisciplinary thinking, research skills and resilience. This year The global Outstanding Winner acceptance rate stood at merely 0.13%, underscoring the award’s difficulty.The Vilfredo Pareto Special Award, named for the Italian economist, is the top prize for Problem F(policy). It recognizes the best policy-modeling papers worldwide and is given only to the most outstanding submissions for that problem.
All teams from HIT Weihai strove for excellence and reaped fruitful rewards in this competition. In total, the campus won 83 awards: 1 Outstanding Winner together with the Vilfredo Pareto Special Award, 2 Finalist Awards (F Awards), 22 Meritorious Winners (M Awards) and 58 Honorable Mentions (H Awards). The overall performance is outstanding, and the highest-level awards hit a record high. The team supervised by Instructor Jiang Xinrui won both the Outstanding Winner and the Vilfredo Pareto Special Award.
Certificate of Outstanding Winner and Vilfredo Pareto Special Award
Behind these results were sustained efforts by faculty and participating students. Contestants used spare time and winter break to refine modeling architectures, optimize algorithm logic and review past contest problems. Faculty provided targeted training and one-on-one coaching on model design, algorithm tuning, logical argumentation and English writing, building a strong foundation for competing at the highest level.
The achievement reflects HIT Weihai’s ongoing work to strengthen talent development, improve competition support and integrate science and innovation into education. The campus plans further reforms to core course teaching and will continue adhere to the development philosophy of "promoting learning, teaching and innovation through disciplinary competitions". It aims to cultivate more high-caliber students with global vision, interdisciplinary skills and thecraftsman’s spirit.(By Chen Tianrui)
