IBMQ 2018: In This Tournament of Numbers, Which Bloc Will Emerge Victorious?

Last September 2018, Inter-Bloc Mathematics Quiz (IBMQ) finally made its comeback after 3 long years. IBMQ is an annual mathematics quiz contest open to the new freshmen of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. The contest aims to tap students’ mathematical skills and potentials, further exposing them to a healthy and competitive atmosphere while developing interrelationships in the bloc.

Elimination Phase

With 155 teams or an approximate of 465 freshmen participants, the Elimination Phase happened last September 5 at the Math Building rooms 101, 103, 112, 114, and the Lecture Hall. Without the aid of any measuring devices, cellphones, and calculators, the participants took upon a written exam with different levels of difficulty. Among 155 teams, only the Top 15 teams will proceed to the Final Phase and only one freshmen participant will be awarded as the individual top scorer.

Final Phase

After the top 15 teams were announced and informed of their victory, the Final Phase happened last September 12 at the Math Building Lecture Hall. The Final Phase was divided into two rounds, Mental Round and the Pen and Paper Round. Using only their skills in High School Mathematics, the 15 teams battled for the top 5 in front of a panel of Judges – Ms. Destiny Lutero, Mr. Edd Francis Felix, and Mr. Christian Alvin Buhat.

While determining the Top 5 teams that will go to the Jeopardy Round, the UPLB Street Jazz Dance Company entertained the participants and their respective blocs by showcasing an explosive performance. The Top 5 teams then proceeded to the Jeopardy Round. Here, the remaining teams battle head-on to get the title of the best bloc. After this, the winners were announced and awarded.

Team C1 (Carpio, Lim, Tiu from BS Electrical Engineering C1) emerged victorious as they earned the highest points during the Jeopardy Round. It was then followed by X­³ Batallion (Solivio, Tandang, Terrenal from BS Civil Engineering X1) and Syntax Error (Espina from BS Applied Mathematics X1). Aside from medals and gift certificates from the Trampoline Park Philippines, the winning teams received 5000, 3000, and 1000 PhP, respectively.

On the other hand, aside from being a member of one of the teams in the Top 15, Emmanuel David (from BS Applied Mathematics X1), was awarded as the Individual Top Scorer. Aside from the 500 PhP cash prize and medal, he will get a chance to win 7000 PhP at the Freshmen Math Quiz on September 22, at the University of the Philippines Diliman, with all expenses paid.

“The moment I found about the existence of IBMQ, I instantly knew that I wanted to join this contest. This may be because it has been a couple of years since I last joined a contest like it and the huge cash prize was also a great factor. Rafallo (my teammate) and I were very excited to join. In fact, we were the second team to register. I gave the Elimination Phase my all because I really wanted our team to qualify in the Final Round. I had a hard time, but I was very happy when the Top 15 were announced and we got in! During the Final Phase, we were very nervous. Sadly, we were not able to qualify in the Jeopardy Round since only the Top 5 teams were selected. It was very sad since we placed 6th but it was fine for us since out of the 155 teams who participated, we were lucky enough to get in the Finals. I was very shocked during the awarding because I did not expect that I will be the Individual Top Scorer. Overall, I can say that I was excited, thrilled, anxious, overwhelmed, blessed, and somehow frustrated that I joined IBMQ." – Emmanuel David (Individual Top Scorer)

All in all, IBMQ 2018 came back with a blast. This event would not be possible without the support of the following partners and sponsors: UPLB Street Jazz Dance Company, U.P. GURO: Mathematics and Science Teaching Society, Symbiosis: The UPLB Biological Society, ABS-CBN Corporation, PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies, When In Manila - WhenInManila.com, Trampoline Park Philippines, and Parduch Eatery.