Projects for AMSC/Math 420: Spring 2014
Mathematical Modeling

There are two projects in the course --- one before spring break and one after spring break. Teams will be assigned to topics for the first project on Monday, February 10 and for the second project on Monday, March 24. Topics for both projects will be listed below. They are drawn from the threads of Modeling Epidemics and Modeling Portfolios that Contain Risky Assets. Students can choose to either do both projects from the same thread or do one project from each thread. Because each topic will be assigned to at most one team, it is likely that not everyone will get their first choice of topic. Ideally, students who are teammates for the first project will not be teammates for the second project.

Teams are expected to meet regularly outside of class. For each project, the team must submit a written report describing (among other things) the problem that was investigated, the model used and the justification for it, results from analysis and simulation of the model, and the conclusions drawn from the results. To get a better idea of what is expected, take a look at this sample report for this sample project. Teams will also give a brief oral report summarizing their methods and findings. Teams must submit both a paper copy and an electronic copy (pdf) of their written report. Each team member must participate in the team's oral report as well as in its written report. The maximum score for these components are given by the following table.

For each oral presentation, every person not in the team is expected to submit a paragraph or two on a separate sheet of paper summarizing and critiquing the report -- what did you feel were the main points of the report, what was hard to understand, what did you find particularly effective, etc. The quality of your summaries will contribute up to 5 points to your class participation score.