| May 4, 2022
Chico State Data Fest 2022 Recap
On April 1-3rd, Chico State University hosted the ASA DataFest 2022. DataFest is an event hosted by the Chico State Data Initiative (DSI), organized by the Mathematics & Statistics department and Project DA-FANH’s project director Robin Donatello. Students were presented with undisclosed data on Friday and then worked through the weekend to gain the best insights into the confidential, real-world data sets. After long nights and early mornings, teams presented their findings to the experienced panel of judges for a chance at prizes and certificates. The event is part of the university’s efforts to provide training, expand collaboration and encourage new research in the field of Data Science and Data Analytics.
Event website: https://chicodatafest.netlify.app/
Kick-off began at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, April 1st, when teams from both Sacramento State and Chico State arrived to unravel their first data sets. 29 students made up the six different teams, with majors from all across the board. This year we had representation from Engineering (6.8%), Statistics (17%), Mathematics (13.7%), Computer Science (51.7%), Natural Sciences (Biology) (3.4%), Social Sciences (3.4%) and Business Information Systems (3.4%). The contestants’ experience in programming varied greatly, with some who were very well-versed and others who were just beginners.
By Sunday, the teams began wrapping up their findings and preparing for presentations, which were limited to five minutes each. Our panel of judges included: Stewart He, Data Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab; Monica So, Assistant Professor at Chico State University; Kevin Buffardi, Faculty; and Christine Leistner, Faculty.
Each team displayed great teamwork and demonstrated how working together can help you in the long run. With that said, the hardwork and dedication each team showed us reflected very heavily on this year’s winners. The winning teams of this year’s DataFest were:
- Best Analysis: K-Wildcat
- Best Discovery: K-Wildcat
- Best Visualization: Team Money
- Judge’s Choice: Lambda
Acknowledgements
In addition to all the data exploration that took place throughout the weekend, we would like to give a special thank you to our sponsors: Chico State Data Science Initiative, American Statistical Association, ChicostArt, Center for Entrepreneurship at Chico State University, CSU Chico College of Business, Payless Building Supply, Math Club, and Stoble Coffee Roasters. Without the help of these amazing businesses and organizations, none of this would be possible.
Lastly, we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge everyone who took the time to help build DataFest from the ground up. Support for the Data Science Initiative at Chico State by departments, organizations, and businesses like these are what make events for students possible.
Following this year’s DataFest, the DSI is already looking to plan next year’s DataFest and looks forward to exposing more students to real world data issues. If you would like to be directly involved in next year’s festivities, please contact Robin Donatello at rdonatello@csuchico.edu.
This contributed blog post was written by Emma Mitchell from the Tehama Group Communications.