Summit Consulting is proud to announce that it is partnering—for a second year—with the University of Maryland (UMD) to host the Washington DC-area ASA DataFest™ on April 8-10, 2016.
Summit’s downtown D.C. headquarters will be the site of the weekend-long competition, which encourages undergraduate students in economics, statistics, mathematics, and related subjects to find new and innovative ways of interpreting and using a single dataset.
“We are thrilled to host the second DC DataFest this spring,” says Summit Chief of Corporate Development Jennifer Folsom. “When we saw the recent Glassdoor report ranking ‘data scientist’ as the #1 Best Job in America for 2016, we were not surprised. Every day we see the public policy impact of innovative technical approaches to big data sets. We are excited to help foster the development of a new generation of data scientists.”
How ASA DataFest Works
At the beginning of the competition, teams are given access to the same data, but encouraged to brainstorm new ways to use it. A past event used information from dating website eHarmony. Nearly 100 students worked around the clock to use the data to answer complex questions on user behavior and success.
At the conclusion of the event, teams are given one minute to present their findings, and judges select finalists to give brief presentations for awards in categories such as best insight, best visual, and best use of external data.
ASA DataFest™ is held on multiple other college campuses throughout the United States, including Purdue, U. Mass, Penn State, Emory, and Duke, and sponsored this year by the American Statistical Association. Other sponsors of the DC-area event include the Washington Statistical Society (WSS), University of Maryland Alumni Association, DC Chapter of American Association for Public Opinion Research (DC-AAPOR), and Pew Research Center.
About Last Year's DC-Area ASA DataFest™(2015)
In 2015, DC DataFest competitors included students from a variety of DC-area universities, including American University, University of the District of Columbia (UDC), Howard University, Georgetown University, University of Maryland, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). The students were also diverse in their studies, representing majors such as international political economy, computer science, economics, applied statistics, history, physics, mathematics, psychology, journalism, American studies, and Asian studies. Read more about DC's 2015 ASA DataFest™ here.
About Summit's Involvement in ASA DataFest™
Summit has a long-standing sponsorship of the yearly competition, organized at its flagship campus, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), by Dr. Robert Gould. Since 2011, Summit staff have volunteered as VIP Consultants for the competing students, providing them with guidance in methodologies and programming, as needed.
When UMD proposed to hold the event locally, Summit was a natural choice. “I have interacted with Summit for years and love how they engage in professional development at all levels,” say Dr. Frauke Kreuter, a Professor in the UMD Joint Program in Survey Methodology (JPSM) who also regularly serves as a Subject Matter Expert in survey methodology for Summit engagements. The company’s multi-faceted relationship with the university also includes a Summit-sponsored fellowship in UMD’s JPSM for staff professional development.
To keep up with DC’s DataFest on Twitter, use #DCDataFest or follow @DCDataFest on Twitter for regular updates.
Students can register for 2016 DC ASA DataFest™ online at the University of Maryland website: http://jointprogram.umd.edu/events/datafest.
