How a Business Analyst can help Spider-Man

You might think that Spider-Man is a fictitional superhero living only in coming books or on the big screen.  You might be right!  But what if?

What if Spider-Man is out there trying to decided where to move next, where to take his crime-fighting super skills?

Well, Sean Smith, a business analyst, wondered just that.  He questioned whether the town he worked in was well equipped to support Spider-Man;  would it meet Spider-man's requirements:

• Are there enough tall buildings?

• Are the building close enough to each other?

• Is there a  reputable newspaper where we  might work?

• Is there enough crime to keep him busy?

Michael Lisa, a physicist at Ohio State University used his analytical and problem solving skills to help our our superhero. 

"Lisa worked to find a reasonable technique that broadly describes the kind of motion we’re looking to understand. After setting up some rules – such as having Spidey launch himself horizontally off the side of buildings and shooting each new web with complete precision to the top of the next building – Lisa determined that under ideal conditions, the physics of Spider-Man could yield a nice web-swinging journey.

On a street perfectly lined with 10-storey buildings, Lisa's model shows Spider-Man traveling 1,000 feet with 12 swings in about 20 seconds."

Could Spider-Man live in your city? 

Use your business analysis skills to find out OR read more at more at WOSU.org.