MIT Integration Bee Hosts 44th Annual Competition
“Integration Bee is a very embedded part of MIT culture…It’s the only place where you hear 3, 2, 1 Integrate.”
Photo Provided by Yuan Yao
On Wednesday, Jan. 22, the 26-100 auditorium buzzed with excitement as MIT undergraduates, student volunteers, and eager spectators gathered for the 44th Annual MIT Integration Bee.
The Integration Bee is an annual competition hosted during MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) since 1981, drawing in thousands of viewers from all around the country, with the goal of spreading the fun of integration. Yannick Yao, a graduate student in the math department and one of the organizers of this event, shared that this competition not only "spreads the fun of integration" but also "shows off [MIT’s] nerdiness." With the MIT Integration Bee holding the name as ‘the longest running integration bee,’ this competition showcases the institution's rich history and culture while also being "a great way to get people excited about solving integrals and beyond."
The Bee is organized by graduate students in the math department who write the problems, gather volunteers, and publicize the event to the MIT community and beyond. Yao stated that it was "lots of work, and I am really glad we were able to pull through."
The competition, sponsored by the math department, is open to all MIT students. It begins with a qualifier test taken the day before, consisting of 20 questions taken during a 20 minute time interval. The top 16 scorers out will advance to the Integration Bee. Contestants use various techniques like trigonometric and algebraic identities, integration by parts, and symmetry to compete for the Bee's coveted prizes, and for the title of the 2025 Grand Integrator. The competitions prizes consisted of $10 gift cards to New City or Toscanini's awarded to the top 8 integrators, Dover math books awards to the top four integrators, and math socks awarded to the top 2 integrators.
The Bee itself is a zero sum game: if all contestants get the question wrong, no one loses any points, and if all contestants get the question right, no one gains any points. It is composed of two sections: "regular season" and playoffs.
The 16 qualifying students are divided into groups of four, and then each compete in one round of the "regular season."
The top 8 scorers then advance to the playoffs, which are a seeded single-elimination bracket, consisting of a quarterfinal, semifinal, and a final. Students compete head-to-head in an intense battle of integration: it only takes one loss for a competitor to be out of the game. As the players advance, they will be faced with progressively more challenging rounds and integrals.
In the Regular Season, players are divided into groups of four, each receiving five out of 20 integrals with a two-minute time limit per integral. After all 20 questions, those with the most points will advance to the playoffs, with tie-breakers determined by the number of correctly solved integrals
In the Quarterfinals, the remaining 8 integrators compete one on one. Each match is a best of three, where competitors will have 3 minutes to solve each integral.
In the Semifinals, the remaining 4 integrators continue to compete one on one. Each match is a best of four, where the competitors will have 4 minutes to solve each integral.
Lastly, the finals is where the remaining 2 integrators compete in 5 rounds of integration, each round lasting 5 minutes. The competitor who answers the most of the 5 correct wins the title of the Grand Integrator!
This year, 53 participants competed in the qualifier test, with an average score of 11.37 out of 20, a qualifying score of 14, and three perfect scores. The following day, 16 competitors filled the front rows of the auditorium, ready to showcase their integration skills. Hailing from across the Boston and Cambridge area, over 100 spectators came, eager to see who would be crowned the title of the Grand Integrator.
One spectator, Elizabeth Zhang, a junior majoring in Course 6-9, shared her excitement: "it's inspiring and really fun to see people who have such a passion for solving complex math problems." Through her 3 years at MIT, she's come to find that the "Integration Bee is a very embedded part of MIT culture,” Zhang stated. “It's the only place where you hear 3, 2, 1 Integrate."
Another spectator, Catherine Tu, a freshman majoring in Course 6, agreed. "I've never seen the integration bee before, but it's very MIT," she shared.
The finals kicked off at 10:00PM. After rounds of elimination, two students remained: Karthik Vedula (a 1st time competitor) and Brian Liu (the 2024 Grand Integrator).
The final round featured five questions, one of which proved so difficult that neither contestant could solve it. After the first four integrals, Vedula was in the lead with two integrals correct. Liu followed close behind with one integral correct. It was up to the fifth and final integral to determine who would be crowned 2025 Grand Integrator.
Both students gripped their chalk in anticipation, waiting eagerly for the next integral to be revealed.
3, 2, 1 … Integrate!
Quickly flipping over the paper, both competitors begin solving away on their chalkboards.
Time.
Both students put down their chalk, boxing the same final answer: 0. Eager competitors and spectators waited in anticipation as the final answer was revealed.
The audience erupted in applause as Vedula sealed his victory as the 2025 Grand Integrator!
"It felt a little surreal," Vedula shared. "It felt really nice for all those years of hard work to finally pay off like that."
Although Vedula, a sophomore majoring in Courses 18 and 6-4, is a first-time MIT Integration Bee competitor, he already has quite a bit of experience. "I've been doing integration bees since I was in high school,” Vedula explained “The Harvard-MIT Math Tournament organized an integration bee for high schoolers, and I competed in that, so I felt like that experience really lends to competing in this competition because it really fueled my passion for integrals."
Aside from his previous experience in integration bees, he also prepared extensively for this competition. "I practiced all the past 10 years of qualifying exams on the website, as well as looked at other integration bees from other colleges like CMU and Caltech, " he said.
But despite his stellar performance and newfound title of Grand Integrator, Vedula still found himself struggling to answer one integration question: what is your favorite integral?
"The answer would definitely vary day to day,” he revealed. "Anything that involves creativity, that's not just straight bashing, I think that that's really going to be my favorite integral."