The 2024 edition of DataFest will take place March 29-31st at the eScience Institute! Click here for more details on this year's edition including how to participate.
The American Statistical Association (ASA) DataFest is a celebration of data in which teams of undergraduates work together in a two-day sprint to answer real-world questions with complex, rich data. The dataset and scientific questions are kept secret until the beginning of the DataFest, but typically the data comes from a collaboration with a corporation or local agency. Past DataFests have included data from Expedia.com, Ticketmaster, Kiva.com, and the city of Los Angeles.
A key feature of DataFest is that it brings together the data science community. Undergraduate students do the work, collaborating under pressure with classmates and colleagues, but they are also assisted by roving consultants who are graduate students, faculty, and industry professionals, who find it to be a great recruiting opportunity. Thus, along with being a fun opportunity to practice your data wrangling and analysis skills, DataFest is also an opportunity to interact with potential employers and other members of the local statistics/data science community.
At the end of the DataFest, each team will present their work to a group of judges made up of experts from UW, local businesses, and insurance companies. Judges will give awards, that can be listed on the students’ cv, to the best works presented in several categories.
The Department of Statistics at UW hosts DataFest each Spring. The event is free, and food is offered throughout the two-day sprint! Since DataFest is a capacity-constraint event, students interested in participating in the event should submit an application, which be reviewed by the UW organizing committee