Christian Huber is studying Computer Science at Johannes Kepler University Linz and has already worked as an intern at RISC Software GmbH, where he developed a web application for the exhibit as part of the SafeSign project. In his bachelor’s thesis, he was supervised by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Carsten Schneider (Head of the RISC Institute) and Dr. Karoly Bosa from RISC Software GmbH, and he dealt with Highway Node Routing.

What is the bachelor’s thesis about?

Christian: RISC Software GmbH operates a routing server, which also has the task of calculating the optimal route between two points in a traffic network. This calculation currently takes a lot of time, resulting in long waiting times when multiple requests arrive in a short period. The thesis aims to accelerate the route calculation to minimize waiting times. We achieved this goal using the Highway Node Routing algorithm. This algorithm extracts the important roads step by step and precomputes a hierarchy. This hierarchy significantly speeds up the calculation without affecting its correctness.

Where are the specific challenges in real-world applications / What were the challenges of the topic?

Christian: The topic was chosen so that the new implementation can be used on the current server, making the work very practical. It also has a motivating factor when you know exactly what you’re doing the work for. The challenge was to apply the textual description of the algorithm to the current architecture since the two graph structures from the literature and practice differ significantly.

Karoly, what skills did Christian demonstrate during the master’s thesis, and what was particularly well solved?

Karoly: We supported Christian Huber from providing the software package needed to read and process the graph of the Austrian road network to a list of literature. In regular meetings, we monitored the progress of his work and discussed his emerging questions. The first thing I want to highlight about him is his ability to work independently and alone. He managed to familiarize himself with the given software framework, showed a good understanding of the relevant state-of-the-art research, and successfully applied the theory into practice with our guidance.

Christian was very motivated and enthusiastic about the chosen topic during our joint work, which also played a crucial role in the successful completion of his bachelor’s thesis.

How did you come to write the thesis at RISC Software GmbH, and how was the supervision and process?

Christian: It all started with my cousin, who is employed at RISC Software GmbH. He gave me the idea to do an internship at RISC Software GmbH, which I did. At the end of the internship, I inquired if it was possible to write a thesis here. Since everything at the university is very theoretical, I wanted to establish a practical connection to gain a better insight into the corporate world. To my satisfaction, this was quickly granted. The supervision was excellent. Since we already knew each other from the internship, it made the whole process even more pleasant.

In which fields would you like to work in the future? What are your plans for the future?

Christian: I am currently in the middle of my master’s degree with a major in Data Science and a minor in Software Engineering. I want to stay in this field because I find the combination of the two very exciting. After my master’s degree, I will enter the professional world, where I want to expand and apply my knowledge.

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