Briarcliff Science Students Advance in National Competition

Briarcliff High School senior Robert Karp’s passion for airplanes and junior Karthik Rao’s knack for computer science have proven to be the perfect match.

The duo’s team science research project, “A Network Flow-Based Approach for Post-Merger Airline Hub Consolidation,” has moved on in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology to the regional finals. Their project is one of just five team projects statewide chosen for presentation to a panel of judges at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh this November for a chance at the national competition.

“We were very shocked,” said Rao of the news.

“It’s very difficult – we are very honored to be part of the competition,” said Karp, who began the project as his science research topic during his sophomore year. “It’s very competitive as they only pick 60 projects in the country.”

Rao offered to take Karp’s project to the next level when he heard him present in class last year, suggesting he incorporate a mathematical model into the analysis.

“I have always been interested in airlines,” said Karp. “I had been working with a mentor [Dr. David Steadman, general pricing strategist] at Delta Airlines. We created a logistic function last year to talk about post-merger hubs. It was good research, but Karthik had a lot of background knowledge in computer science. When he came along, we turned that more into a focus on network optimization.”

For Rao, analyzing airline data came naturally.

“I really like applying computer science and math ideas to real-world situations such as this,” he said.

The two are excited about continuing in the Siemens competition and seeing additional ways to apply their model to real-world scenarios – perhaps, they suggested, in other transportation industries.

Working closely with Delta Airlines, as well as having constant guidance at BHS, has helped Rao and Karp continue the trajectory of their successful project.

“We really appreciate all the help we got,” said Karp.

Photo Caption: Briarcliff High School Junior Karthik Rao and Senior Robert Karp have advanced to the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology regional finals. Photo Courtesy of the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District