Two Lincoln seniors 'Modeling the Future' of the NFL

Source: WPRI.com
Author: Paige Messier

LINCOLN, R.I. (WPRI) -- Two Lincoln students were named national semifinalists out of 268 teams for a challenge in actuarial research.

Seniors, Austin Noel and Joseph Conti, wanted to toss their hats in the ring for the Modeling the Future Challenge, after their calculus teacher, Paul Ruhle, thought it would be a good fit.

"He set this up for us, taught us and he's been guiding us through this. So he's been a big help," Conti said.

According to the Actuarial Foundation, this project involves "junior and senior high school students that are challenged to develop and present their own mathematical models of how a new technology or industry might change the future."

Not only does winning this challenge get you bragging rights, but also $60,000 worth of scholarship prizes.

After passing Phase One of the project, which measures the duo's expertise, Noel and Conti had to choose a problem to research for Phase Two.

With both students having passion in athletics, they decided they wanted to study turf versus grass fields, and what the NFL should do to reduce injuries' while also maintaining profit and viewership.

Noel thought that this would be a great opportunity to combine his interest, with what he learned throughout his time at Lincoln high school.

"The things that we do with calculus and stats, you really wouldn't think you'd be using these complex equations anywhere. But being able to do a challenge like this and actually apply the things that we learned in the class to something that could help someone or help the NFL in our situation. It's pretty interesting," Noel said.

Not only did this project allow the students to apply their coursework to real world situations, but it also inspired Conti to look into a future of actuarial studies.

"I didn't realize this was going to be a field of interest until I started this challenge. So now that I've done it, and realized this is all the math concepts that I like to do, it's made me want to pursue actuarial studies, mathematics, or accounting," Conti said.

The finalist of the challenge will be announced March 20, and the winner will be determined in early May.