Course$-$based Undergraduate Research Experiences $($CURE$)$ have been shown to be very beneficial for

student success. They allowed students to apply the concepts learned in a course to solve a problem that does

not have a known answer and produce results that are important outside of just completing a requirement

for a course. In the past, work started as a project such as this one has been presented at conferences and$/$or

published in a scholarly journal. There have been instances where students came up with approaches that

have not previously considered, so it is always great to see different approaches to a problem and collectively

a very good approach can be determined. However, because this is a research experience where there is not

one, and only one right answer, you cannot be told if you are doing it $$the right way$$ because there is not

one $$right way$.$ One thing you will learn with research is that it is common to try one way, find it does not

work, and then have to try another way. Your grade on the project will not be based solely on the quality

of your results; it will be primarily based on your thought process and your appropriate use of techniques

learned in this course. In other words, if you try something that seems like a reasonable and sound idea, it

does not work, you continue to iterate your approach based on what you observe in your attempts, you will

score very well on the project even if the results are not the greatest.

One of my research interests is sports analytics. The Winter Olympic Games were held in $2022$ and one

of the sports at the games was the bobsleigh with four competitions $($the women$$s monobob, the two$-$men,

the two$-$women, and the four$-$men$).$ The research for this project will use data from the competition and a

simple dynamics model to estimate some unknown parameters. The dynamics of a runner are known to be:

d$2$x

dt$2=$ K$1$

dx

dt $+$ K$2$

which is appropriate for considering the initial part of the competition where the athletes are not in the

bobsled, but are pushing it$.$ For each heat and each bobsled, the values of K$1$ and K$2$ will be different. For

this project, you need to determine the values of K$1$ and K$2$ for each bobsled for each competition heat.

Your results should include a histogram and box plot for each of the two constants with identification of any

outlier points. Your results must also include a time series plot of the velocity for a team and heat of your

choice.

Everyone will have an opportunity to select their own group, but anyone not in a group prior to the first

assigned project deliverable will be placed into a group. Each group will be provided with available data

from one of the four competitions.

While this is a team project, it is not a multi$-$team project. If there is any indication that multiple

teams worked together on the project, grades will be lowered $($potentially to $0)$ to reflect the fact that the

multi$-$team project was at an advantage to the rest of the class.

There will be multiple deliverables for this project. Once groups are finalized, there will be a weekly

group progress report that is due summarizing what was done in a given week and what the plans are for

the upcoming week. It is understood that less progress will be made during weeks of exams $($both for this

course and others$),$ but continual progress should be made during the semester and everyone in the group

should be contributing equally. A final report will be submitted by each group. Each individual will also

submit an evaluation of all members of the group.