The ASA DataFest was founded at the University of California Los Angeles in 2011 to provide students an opportunity to wrangle, analyze, and scientifically make sense of real-world data during a 48-hour friendly competition.
In 2021 the Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Statistics (RSFAS) held their first DataFest with 5 teams and 27 participants. Since then ANU students have had the opportunity to take part in this international event run locally through their home institution.
The DataFest at ANU is open to all undergraduate and honours students from any discipline from across campus. The event is held during the teaching break of the first semester (typically the first weekend of the break). Teams consist of 2-5 participants, and we are able to help individuals find a team. If you are interested in participating, please contact Dr. Anton Westveld.
2021 Competition Winners
Participants analysed data on drug misuse across four different countries to aid physicians predict future drug misuse.
- Best Insight: Team Death by Excel: Jenney-Yuhui Chen, Benedict Chin, Xinyi Li, Isha Singhal, and Kehan Zhao
- Best Visualization: Team FSG: Muyao Chen, Xinxin Li, Jinghong Pan, Zixuan Tan, and Chenxin Zhang
- Best Use of Outside Data: Team LF Analytics: Matthew Fisher and Sung Lee
2022 Competition Winners
Participants analysed gaming data from an educational game to determine if the game lowers risky behaviour among adolescents.
- Best Insight: Team Dakmel: Melissa Renard and Dakota Sutherland
- Best Visualization: Team SpongeBob: Jenney-Yuhui Chen, Junwei Xiong, Tanyue Yao, and Kehan Zhao
- Best Use of Statistical Analysis: Team Super Data Raccoons: Ryan Li and Yuanchu Liu
2023 Competition Winners
Participants analysed data from the American Bar Association online pro bono legal services. The data contained conversations between clients and lawyers (redacted to maintain confidentiality) and basic demographic information about the clients, which were used to discern any patterns or trends that would help the ABA advise its state partners, create resources to respond to identified patterns, and devise outreach strategies to better reach potential user populations and volunteers.
- Best Insight: Team Club Penguin: Anis Hannani, Jiamei Shen, Wei Lerr Wong, and Alyssa Yuan
- Best Visualization: Team Metamates: Joshua Redolfi, Anthony Siharath, Isha Singhal, and Kehan Zhao