Following on from last year’s mathematical modelling project Tim Burke and Daniel Kilmartin (Poetry) decided to enter the BT Young Scientist Competition with a mathematical modelling solution to the problem of optimising airline-overbooking strategies.
Tim and Daniel have produced a very elegant solution to this problem, which establishes precisely the percentage of seats by which an airline should overbook in order to maximise profits. This is a highly complex conundrum involving many variables but one which is very real and which every airline considers carefully.
The boys have put months of work, careful research and testing into developing their model of this system. This is one of 550 projects accepted into this year’s competition from over 2100 entries.
We wish them every success exhibiting in the competition over the coming days in the RDS. If anyone were free to drop in and give some support to the boys they would be delighted to see them and have the opportunity to discuss the model in detail.
The project on mathematical modelling was undertaken in conjunction with the Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI) department of the University of Limerick (UL). Clongowes was the first school in Ireland to undertake such a project when it ran for the first time ever in 2011-12. For more on this project, visit here and here.
Mr Stephen O’Hara
