My Experience in HIMCM: Advocating for the Transition to Electric Buses

In the fall of 2023, I participated in a competition known as the HiMCM (The High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling). The topic my team chose was the transition from the use of diesel and natural gas buses to electric buses in order to protect the environment https://www.contest.comap.com/highschool/contests/himcm/2023_Problems/2023_HiMCM_Problem_B.pdf. Electric buses produce significantly fewer emissions than diesel and natural gas buses. Replacing all the diesel buses in the U.S. with electric buses would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2 million tons. Furthermore, E-Buses have the potential to be powered by electricity from renewable sources, further reducing emissions. Why is this important? Well, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases cause global warming, while other emissions from nonelectric buses may cause air pollution. These can lead to a variety of negative effects like severe respiratory diseases which are responsible for 6.7 million deaths worldwide. And global warming is probably the issue of most concern in recent years.

I learned a lot from this experience, in addition to an increased understanding of environmental issues. The course I took in MATLAB was very helpful in teaching me an essential skill for data analysis. I also found out I need to learn more about optimization theories to find optimal solutions. At last, I am very thankful for my team and our advisor, who supported me throughout this endeavor.