Sinclair College’s Centerville Campus will be taking part in the American Statistical Association’s Datafest from March 24-25. During the course of Datafest, Computer Science majors will be presented with a mystery set of data and will have 48 hours to analyze and present the data in a way that makes sense.
The event first started out in 2011 at UCLA, and only had 30 registered participants. Students were given access to the Los Angeles Police Department’s arrest records and had 48 hours to work with a team and draw reasonable conclusions from the information that was given to them.
After 48 hours and 10 million geo-tagged arrest records, the participating teams presented their insights and suggested policy changes that could benefit public safety. Thirteen years later, almost 2000 student take part in Datafest annually.
Sinclair’s Datafest will reward contestants with prizes in three separate categories: Best in Show, Overall Presentation, and Best Use of External Data. Aside from prizes, students will have the opportunity to flex their data analysis muscles and network with people currently working in the industry.
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A common concern that a new Computer Science student may have is that they won’t know where to start. Rest assured; all teams will be assisted with a consultant who is personally assigned to their team to guide them in the right direction.
Students competing will be expected to bring their own laptop, and ensure that the software they will be using is properly installed and updated to the latest version. Snacks will be provided during the day and students will not have to worry about food during this time. Any competing students will need to bring their student ID for access to the building.
Chris Scharf
Reporter