What is a Modelling Week?

For those who have never participated in one or never heard about one, here is a short description of what it is all about:
The students who join the modelling week form international teams of 5 students each. If possible, the teams are oriented towards one of the two branches of ECMI: Technomathematics and Economathematics.
Representatives from industry or commerce (or supervisors from universities replacing the industrial representatives and acting as NON-mathematicians) present real-world problems to the teams. The teams are not asked to solve certain equations. A question might be, "Why is it possible to produce a tone of low frequency with a cubical organ pipe?" or "How can you cool glass in a way that will avoid putting too much stress on the material?" or "How does one check the reliability and efficiency of a porfolio?"
Each problem is assigned to a team of students (the students indicate their areas of interest beforehand and the assignment is done according to this information and the availability of problems). Then the team starts to work. They must first understand the problem. During this time period, the instructor will answer questions asked by the team. Then, mathematical descriptions (mathematical models of the given problem) have to be written down and evaluated. In most cases computer programmes are developed using MATLAB, C, C++ or other languages or packages. The results of these computer simulations are then checked. So, the team has to ask themselves if the results provide the answer to the original, NON-mathematical real-world problem. If not or if not well enough, the model has to be changed or refined and an iteration process starts until the results satisfy the team and the instructor.
Later the team prepares the final presentation of the results. Here each team has 20 minutes to present their results and convince the participants of industry and commerce of the validity and usefulness of their solutions. Be aware: the industry representatives might not be mathematicians and may not be interested in complicated formulas. Therefore, the students must think carefully to discover ways to 'sell' their results to them.
Finally, each team produces a report including all mathematical details. These reports are printed in the 'Proceedings of the 16^th Modelling Week' which each participant receives.
In addition to the programme, excursions and a final party are organised. Contributions from the research teams and from the participants representing several different countries come together to make this final party a remarkable event for all to remember.