Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics Department celebrates Pi Day
March 14th is Pi Day and the MCSS department (and over 100 students) celebrated with a pi-athlon and with the eating of pi(e)s.
On Tuesday, March 14, 2023, the department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics (MCSS) held their 11th Pi-athlon in celebration of Pi Day. Pi Day is March 14th due to Pi (rounded to two decimals) being 3.14. It is not uncommon for mathematics departments to celebrate Pi Day, but SLU’s MCSS is the only university in the world to host a pi-athlon.
Started in 2010 by Professor Daniel M. Look, the pi-athlon is a celebration based on the notion of bi-and triathlons. In a biathlon contestants compete in 2 events; in a triathlon contestants compete in 3 events. Naturally, in a pi-athlon contestants compete in pi events. This means that completing a pi-athlon is similar to completing in 3 events and roughly 14% of a fourth (similar to walking off the track a little over 14 meters into the 100-meter dash).
For the pi-athlon students can choose from various events including Sudoku, mathematically themed video games, puzzle making, etc. The challenge is to figure out how to hit 3.14 complete events, at which time students have successfully completed the pi-athlon. Along with the pi-athlon, the celebration also included a circle drawing contest (judged by faculty “experts” on both accuracy of the circle and a flair/performance aspect) and a pi-recitation contest. The circle drawing contest was won by Nathan Tejeda, who received an autographed copy of mathematician Jeff Weeks’ book The Shape of Space: How to Visualize Surfaces and Three-dimensional Manifolds. Evelin Palacios won the pi-recitation contest, accurately recalling 279 digits of pi.
And, naturally, there are plenty of pies at the event! Professors Angstadt, Dorfsman-Hopkins, Frazer Lock, and Lock also helped to organize the 2023 pi-athlon. And SLU President Morris stopped by to witness the circle drawing contest.
