The Seven Hills School Represents the US in 2026 International Mathematical Modeling Challenge, Earns Honorable Mention

Seven Hills was one of just two US teams selected to advance to the international round

A team of students from The Seven Hills School represented the U.S. in the 12th Annual International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IM²C), earning an honorable mention among 68 finalist teams from 37 countries and regions. Seven Hills was one of just two U.S. teams selected to advance from the competition’s national selection round, in which 273 teams competed.

Every year, IM²C invites secondary school students from around the world to apply mathematics to an authentic real-world problem. Working in teams of up to four students, students analyze a complex situation, develop mathematical models, and communicate their findings through professional-quality reports. During a five-day period between February and April 2026, teams worked at their respective schools to prepare a submission for this year’s challenge problem titled “Protecting Wildlife at Scale.” This problem required students to develop mathematical models to guide conservation strategies for large wildlife reserves using Namibia’s Etosha National Park as a case study. Teams devised data-driven approaches to coordinate park rangers, monitoring technologies, and conservation resources to protect wildlife across a large and complex landscape.

The Seven Hills team was comprised of then juniors Austin Wang, Danny Beyerbach, and Irene Zhang, as well as then freshman Sophia Liu. Brian Berning, Upper School science teacher, served as the group’s adviser.

“What I appreciate about IM²C is that it challenges students to solve a problem that doesn’t have just one correct answer,” Berning said. “Students are required to be creative, work together, and consider how mathematics can apply to the real world. I’m so proud of these students, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see their hard work recognized on an international stage.”

Similar to IM²C, the Seven Hills Upper School math curriculum focuses on mathematical relationships and problem-solving strategies rather than simply arriving at a given answer. As students discover the many different ways to approach a problem, they start to apply that insight in their other classes as well, widening their perspective and sharpening their thinking in the world beyond the classroom.