May 19, 2014 •Kelley MacEwen
It’s been about two weeks since Summiteers Christine and Bethany returned from DataFest 2014, hosted by the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The yearly competition sets teams of undergraduate students studying economics and statistics against each other for 48 hours as they work diligently to find new and exciting insights into a single dataset.
Bethany and Christine started their trip by arriving at the host auditorium, which was “busting at the seams” with more participants than in previous years. The group anxiously awaited the release of the proprietary dataset on energy usage data. Over 170 students registered for DataFest this year, with 150 of them arriving the first night. Once the data was released, the students formed teams ranging in size from 2-5 people.
The teams encountered some typical problems in data analysis: brainstorming on an approach, missing data values, and computational errors because of sheer volume. Bethany and Christine provided the teams with an outside perspective and conceptual review of their initial ideas, as well as R and SAS code review.
Once the students’ 48 hours were up, they were asked to present their results in five minutes using only two PowerPoint slides. The winners were chosen from a panel of judges composed of UCLA professors. In the end, three groups were awarded top prizes for best data visualization, best use of outside data, and best insight. To see the winners’ presentations, visit the DataFest website.
Our Summit representatives came back to D.C. very impressed with the caliber and commitment of the participating students. We hope to see some excellent presentations in 2015 as well!
To read more about how the UCLA DataFest and other related competitions are helping undergrads gain data analysis experience, check out the article "The Students Most Likely to Take Our Jobs," from Nate Silver's Five ThirtyEight.