High School Students Shine at Mohawk’s Sigma Competition
Last week, Mohawk College hosted its annual Sigma Competition, welcoming Grade 10–12 students from the college/applied stream across the Hamilton, Halton, and Grand Erie regions for a full day of hands-on math and stats challenges designed to spark creativity and problem-solving skills.
Formerly known as the Mohawk Math and Engineering Competition (m2Ec), Sigma has grown into something more—an event that highlights how mathematics and statistics connects to a wide range of fields, from health and business to technology and the skilled trades.
Students worked in teams to take on challenges rooted in real-world scenarios. Whether analyzing data, tackling construction-based problems, or applying logic and reasoning to everyday situations, the competition encouraged students to think critically, work collaboratively, and see math and stats in a whole new light. The day was full of energy and enthusiasm, and it was great to see so many students exploring the campus, meeting Mohawk faculty and students, and getting a glimpse of college life.
This event wouldn’t have been possible without the energy, creativity, and support of our incredible Mathematics & Statistics faculty team. A huge thank-you to Kathryn Vrhovnik, Lindsay Richardson, Melisa Fox, Laura Fenwick -Sehl, Hamoon Zamani Moghadam, Jemisa Sadiku, Cameron Redsell-Montgomerie, Tracy Kadish and Frosina Stojanovska-Pocuca for helping make the day such a success. From designing challenges and leading sessions to supporting participants and evaluating solutions - their contributions truly made the event a success.
While students were deep in problem-solving mode, many of their teachers visited lectures given by Kathryn Vrhovnik and Laura Fenwick-Sehl. Their engaging college lectures offered fresh ideas for bringing real-world math into the classroom and sparked some great conversations among educators.
"The Sigma Competition is more than just a competition," said Frosina Stojanovska-Pocuca, Program Manager for Mathematics and Statistics at Mohawk College "It’s an opportunity for students to see how mathematics and statistics connect to the real world and to discover the many college opportunities available to them after high school."
A big Thank You to our sponsors for helping make this event such a success! E.S. FOX LIMITED, McMaster University Engineering, Meridian Credit Union, Canadian Mathematical Society, Sobotec Ltd., IDEAWORKS at Mohawk College, Harris Learning Solutions, DigitalEd and Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT).
We look forward to welcoming even more students and educators next year for another exciting edition of Sigma.
See photos of all the winners and learn more about the competition at mohawkcollege.ca/sigma.