Comprehensive Software Summary and Usage Instructions for the American Mathematical Contest

The 2023 American College Student Mathematical Modeling Contest (MCM/ICM) is about to start. Generally, students participating in the contest for the first time may not have had exposure to complete mathematical modeling or may have only briefly studied courses like C/C++. In any case, many modeling software and programming languages are not particularly familiar to everyone. This article introduces several useful software tools and how to quickly get started.

Common Programming Software

01 MATLAB

MATLAB, known as Matrix Laboratory in Chinese, performs all operations based on matrices. Therefore, to excel in MATLAB, a solid understanding of linear algebra is essential. The interactive interface is very user-friendly and supports a fully Chinese interface. MATLAB is not considered a programming language in itself; it is a platform for numerical computation and plotting. The programming syntax is very similar to C, so students with a basic understanding of C can quickly get started by following a beginner’s textbook or example. Unofficial statistics indicate that MATLAB users account for half of the participants each year, and many schools use MATLAB as the foundational training software for competition preparation. It is the most recommended modeling software by the author (unless you know Python).

Advantages: Easy to use, great for plotting, abundant online teaching resources, and numerous examples.

Disadvantages: While it can do many things, its performance can be average for specific problems, and there are fewer examples available.

02 Python

Python, combined with a good compiler, is also an omnipotent tool. Many schools and majors have replaced C with Python as the foundational computer teaching language. Python also requires a foundation in linear algebra; operations can be performed on individual elements or on vectors and matrices. With a good compiler, the graphical interface is also very user-friendly. The greatest advantage of Python is the availability of many third-party packages for AI algorithms, and it is open-source. If you use Python as your modeling software and become familiar with how to use the community, you can essentially turn the contest into a coding exercise. For example, many algorithms for big data processing and function optimization have open-source examples and source code available in the Python community. What you need to do is quickly combine your topic, understand the source code, and modify it to implement your own code.

Advantages: With various compilers, it can do almost anything, and it is very powerful for solving specific problems, with rich community resources.

Disadvantages: You may need to learn a lot of new things, resulting in a long preparation cycle.

03 C Language

Most science and engineering students have been exposed to C language, which is also a core language for graduate studies in computer-related fields. It is fast and a low-level programming language, but it has a steep learning curve and is not very user-friendly for beginners. For students new to mathematical modeling, it is better to focus on Python or MATLAB first. For those in computer and communication fields, use whichever language you are familiar with.

04 R and Origin

R is traditionally used for data processing, analysis, and plotting, and some students in economics and statistics are relatively familiar with it. If you have extra time, it is a good choice as an auxiliary software for plotting and analysis. Every year, there are many teams that win awards using only R.

Origin is a professional data plotting software and an essential tool for many science and engineering students in research. It is easy to use and produces beautiful plots, but it does require a significant amount of time to learn.

Summary of Common Software1 ProgrammingMATLAB: MATLAB 2020b, cftool Curve Fitting Toolbox, Global Optimization Toolbox, Optimization Toolbox, Deep Learning Toolbox, Data Science and Machine Learning Toolbox, Image Processing Toolbox

Python: Python 3.7, PyCharm, Anaconda, CUDA, VSCode, Jupyter Notebook

C++: MinGW64/VS, VSCode

R: R, RTools, RStudio

Others: Windows Terminal, Git, Mathematica, Notepad++, VMware, SPSS

2 Solver

Gurobi, Lingo, MOSEK, YALMIP, OpenOCL, GPOPS2

3 Plotting and Image Processing

Excel, PPT, Visio (Flowchart), AxGlyph (Schematic), Xmind, EdrawMax, Origin, Inpaint (Watermark Removal)

Getdata, Engauge Digitizer (These two software are used to extract curve data from images)

4 Typesetting, Notes, Documents

Word, WPS, LaTeX, Typora+PicGo, Mubu, Pandoc

5 LaTeX Related

TeXLive, Texstudio, excel2latex Plugin, XL Toolbox

6 Formula Related

AxMath, MathType, Mathpix (Formula Extraction)

7 Reference Management

Zotero+Numerous Plugins (Zotfile, Better BibTeX, Jasminum, Zutilo, Zotero Quicklook), EndNote

8 Translation and Grammar Correction Tools

Youdict, Copytranslater, DeepL Pro, Grammarly, Qtranslate

9 PDF Related

ABBYY (The strongest PDF OCR recognition tool, PDF to Word and Excel), Adobe Acrobat, SumatraPDF, SmallPDF, CAJViewer

10 Word Related

Office Tab, Little Dinosaur Document Formatting Assistant, Office Tool Plus (Office Download and Activation), HEU_KMS_Activator (Office Activation)

11 PPT Related

Islide

12 Excel Related

excel2latex, XL Toolbox, Square Grid

13 Screenshot and Screen Recording

Bandicam, Captura, EVCapture, FastStone Capture, Snipaste, ScreenToGIF

14 Cleaning and Uninstalling

Geek Uninstaller, CCleaner, Iobit Uninstaller, Dism++

15 Download Tools

Internet Download Manager, Motrix, Thunder, uTorrent, ADM

16 Search Tools

Everything, AnyTXT, Utool, Listary

17 Cloud Storage

OneDrive Education Version, Alibaba Cloud Disk, Baidu Cloud Disk, Nutstore

18 Websites

GitHub, Baidu Cloud Disk Search Engine (Dali Disk), LeetCode, StackOverflow, ZLibrary Digital Library, CNKI, Overleaf, Paper with Code, Google Scholar

19 Browser Plugins

Adblock Plus (Ad Blocker), Autopagerize (Auto Pagination), Chrono Download Manager, History Button (History), IDM Integration Module (IDM Download), Last Tab (Prevent Closing the Last Tab), Octotree (GitHub File Tree), SimpleExtManager (Plugin Manager), The Great Suspender Original (Temporarily Suspend Unused Tabs to Save Memory), uBlacklist (Block Junk Websites), uBlock Origin (Ad Blocker), Zotero Connector (Automatically Download Literature with Zotero), Violentmonkey/Tampermonkey (Achieve Cheat Effects with Scripts), Listen1 (Music Aggregation Platform), Online Course Tools (Brush Super Star, University MOOC)

20 Tampermonkey Scripts

Baidu Cloud Disk Download Assistant, AC-Baidu, CSDN Ad Removal Auto Expand, FastGitHub Mirror Access, HTML5 Video Player Enhanced Script, Super PreloaderPlus, Open New Tab, Baidu Cloud Ad Removal & Speed Up, Remove Copy Restrictions on Web Pages, Text Selection Copy, Google Translate Bypass Code Blocks, Auto Expand Full Text, VIP Video Parsing

21 Other Essential Software

Baidu Cloud Disk High-Speed Download Tool, Tianruo OCR (Screenshot OCR Recognition Tool), QTTabBar (Explorer Tab), Everything (File Search Tool), Quicker (Quick Launch Tool), QuickLook (Preview File Tool), MemReduct (Automatic Memory Cleaning Tool), TrafficMonitor (Displays Network Speed in Taskbar), FileMenu Tools (Right-Click Shortcut Tool), Copy++ (Remove Line Breaks When Copying), Feifei Renaming Tool, PowerToys (Screen Color Picker), OpenArk64 (Shortcut Key Occupation Detection), Iris Pro (Eye Protection Tool), AutorunOrganizer (Check and Manage Startup Items), Right Click Enhancer Professional (Right-Click Menu Management), Partition Display Tool SpaceSniffer, Iobit Unlocker (File Occupation Unlock Tool, Force Delete), DefenderControl (One-Click Disable Windows Defender), Hash Calculator (Calculate File Hash), FastCopy (Fast File Copy), ToDesk (Remote Control), Ditto (Clipboard Tool), Sandbox (Sandbox Tool), EarTrumpet (Control Different Software Volumes), DeskPins (Pin Windows to the Top)

Contest Participation Suggestions

1. Ideally, all three team members should be proficient in the same software to facilitate communication and debugging, with one or two members using other software as support.

2. For students with a certain programming foundation, reviewing help documents and classic textbooks, along with practicing a few classic examples, can lead to quick mastery, as programming languages are essentially interconnected.

3. For complete beginners, it is recommended to start with classic textbooks combined with video courses, progressing step by step, then doing some exercises, solving examples, and reading some simple modeling papers. Spend about 20 days from Hello World until you can proficiently use the software for plotting and data processing (Advanced usages like pointers and various trees are generally not needed in modeling competitions and can be skipped for now).

The registration for the 2023 American College Student Mathematical Modeling Contest (MCM/ICM) has begun!

We are committed to assisting domestic students with registration for international competitions

while saving students from most cumbersome processes

andproviding additional problem explanations

We have specifically launchedassistance for MCM registration!

↓↓

The registration for the 2023 American Mathematical Modeling Contest has begun!

Advantages of Assistance Registration

The process is simple through assistance, directlyonline registration and team formation, payment can be made using WeChat/Alipay without the need for VISA or other foreign bank cards, greatly facilitating student registration.

The registration channel is simple and secure, after registering, you will receive a notification of your team number in my messages. On the first day of registration, we have already registered 30 teams at the earliest opportunity.

Additionally, a wealth of materials, videos, courses, software, and problem translations will be provided (you can start learning immediately after registering, and all registered students share the resources).

Registration Benefits

All students participating in the “Assistance Registration and Certificate Printing and Mailing Activity” will enjoy the following services:

1.Mathematical Modeling Material Gift Pack (including past special award papers from MCM, UMAP materials, software packages like MATLAB, SPSS);

2. Free access to aspecial MCM course worth 500 yuan, shared by 3 people (a total of 30 hours, covering nine areas: Introduction to Mathematical Modeling, Mathematical Experiments, Elementary Mathematical Models, Optimization Mathematical Models, Queueing Theory Models, Mathematical Processing Models, Intelligent Optimization Algorithms, Problem Analysis, and Writing and Submitting Academic Papers).

3. Free access tovideo explanations of the actual questions from the 2020-2021 American College Student Mathematical Modeling Contest. (After successful registration, you can also study in the basic course above, which will automatically activate the course);

4. To help students achieve their desired awards in this international competition, we have invited renowned teachers in MCM mathematical modeling education and past O award winners to create a series of open classes on “MCM Preparation Experience Sharing” and “MCM Pre-Competition Simulation Training Camp” courses. You are welcome to join us.

Assistance Registration Method

Scan the QR code below to register

Assistance Registration Fees

Group Registration

Group registration is 780 yuan/team (including certificate). A minimum of 10 teams is required for group registration. The group registration form can be found in the attachment below. Please send the registration form and payment screenshot to the MCM assistance registration email: 1870544744@qq.com

Note: Each participant receives one certificate, and the names of the team members on the certificate are not ranked, and each participant has an equal contribution.

Contact Information

Assistance registration contact QQ: 1870544744

Customer service WeChat ID: saikr-zhang

MCM assistance registration reception group: 1014064840