Pitt Integration Bee rewards speed, mathematical prowess

The scene at the Masonic Temple Friday night was not for the mathematically faint of… The scene at the Masonic Temple Friday night was not for the mathematically faint of heart – Pitt undergrads showcased their integration skills with a chance to take home prizes as well as bragging rights.

The Third Annual Pitt Integration Bee, sponsored by the Honors College and the Pitt math department, featured three rounds of integral solving.

A contestant had two minutes to solve the integral in question, which they worked out on an overhead projector. Should the student get the correct answer, he or she would advance to the next round. If they missed the question, the integral passed on the next person, who then had one minute. Another miss meant the following person had 30 seconds.

Students had the opportunity to call on a “lifeline” once in the competition. Anyone in the room, including some professors, was fair game. The lifelines then had twenty seconds to help the troubled contestant.

The contestants approached the integrals with their game faces on. The sizable crowd in the third floor room fell silent as the timer began the contestants got to work. The only sounds in the room were the muted scratches of pencil on paper as most in attendance worked on the integrals too.

Contestant Danelle Gunter made it out of the first round on a question her predecessor missed.

“I figured out the answer when I was at my seat, but I was still a little unsure of myself,” Gunter, an engineering major, said.

She said her approach to integrals consisted of memorizing the formulas.

Several students used their lifeline to call on Pitt math professor Bard Ermentrout. He said integrals are a basic concept in calculus, the same way spelling is a basic concept in English.

“There are little tricks or patterns to figuring them out,” he said during a break between rounds.

After two rounds of the same format, the Bee entered the climactic lightning round. In the lightning round, the remaining contestants worked out an interval at the same time. Quickness and accuracy determined the winners.

When the dust settled, Pedram Roushan emerged from the contest as the winner. Pedram attributed his victory to studying and practice.

“I practiced a little during the break,” he said after the competition. “You need to practice, you can’t just come in here.”

Dorian Croitoru, who placed second, said this year’s competition was a different fro last year.

“It was definitely challenging at times,” he said. “I would say it was easier than last year. I had a lot of fun.”

The top four winners split a $200 gift certificate to the bookstore and the champion received a homemade tie-dye T-shirt.