Yash Kishore Wadhawe remembers the first time he saw Formula 1 motorsports on TV. It was 2017, and he was fascinated by the drivers, the cars and the adrenaline of the sport.
“It is more than just cars driving around in circles,” said Wadhawe, a master’s degree student at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. “Tires, aerodynamics, the track temperature, weather, opponents – all of these variables are super unpredictable. Gigabytes of data are coming in every second, and to process that to win a grand prix is so fascinating.”
After Wadhawe graduates with his master’s degree in information systems this spring, he would like to become a data scientist for a motorsports company, especially Formula 1.
“F1 is a race of engineers first, drivers second. To develop the best car before the grand prix starts is equally or sometimes more crucial than driving it on race day,” he said. “The data is in real time, and even milliseconds are crucial. The adrenaline rush is what I strive for.”
Longterm, Wadhawe would like to form a start-up company in his home country in India. He has loved computers and technology since he was a little boy, a trait he inherited from his father. 
“I used to play games and got curious about how everything works,” he said. “Later in my undergraduate degree I was technical head for a council where I realized I am really good with people and managing them, so I started finding out options that align management and technology together, and I found information systems.”
While at the iSchool, he used cloud services to deploy a telemetry system for Formula 1. Telemetry, the real-time transmission of data from the car to the pits, is a cornerstone of Formula 1 strategy. Wadhawe used Azure Databricks and PowerBI to create a meaningful dashboard and did some exploratory data analysis to understand how Formula 1 works.
“The telemetry data is real time and is processed to advise the strategy for the team, as any small mistake can cost huge problems during the race,” he said. “It is crucial for the team to look into their car, as well as other cars, to ensure the strategy is on point.”
When he’s not busy studying motorsports data, Wadhawe enjoys watching his favorite drivers, including Kimi Räikkönen, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen. His favorite team is Redbull and favorite track is Monza in Italy, also called the Italian Grand Prix, one of the oldest tracks of F1.
Besides motorsports, he is also passionate about music and has formed a fusion band, “Sahara,” where he plays piano and raps. His band focuses on Indian classical, pop, hip-hop and other genres in English and Hindi.
If he could give advice to fellow iSchool students, Wadhawe would encourage them to be proactive, ask questions and take care of their mental and physical health.
“Our university has so much to offer, so whenever you have time, get around the campus, talk to people, and make good connections,” he said.