Wednesday, October 9, 2024

School of Data Science uses Rowdy Datathon to amplify a student-led tradition

School of Data Science uses Rowdy Datathon to amplify a student-led tradition

Back row: Guy Walsh (NSCC), David Mongeau (SDS), and Tony Thrall (NSA). Front row: Juan Gutiérrez (faculty), Jianwei Niu (faculty), and Zaquariah Holland (student organizer)

OCTOBER 19, 2022 — The UTSA School of Data Science (SDS) recently hosted its first annual Rowdy Datathon at the National Security Collaboration Center’s (NSCC) conference space on the UTSA Main Campus. The event, a partnership between the SDS, NSCC, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) at UTSA and the National Security Agency (NSA), continues UTSA’s tradition of student-led computer science events.

The event brought together students from a variety of disciplines to celebrate data science, said Jenelle Millison, senior computer science major and student organizer.

“It’s students coming together, forming interdisciplinary teams to try to solve a problem they haven’t seen before in kind of a rush but also a fun, really concentrated weekend of events,” she said.  

The NSA reached out to UTSA to host the event since the university is one of the NSA’s core data science partners.


“The Rowdy Datathon was designed with a perspective not found in other similar events.”



“Data science and artificial intelligence are going to be determinants of future success in our current global competition,” said NSA Senior Data Science Authority Tony Thrall. “The intelligence community needs to partner even more than ever with both academia and industry.”

Thrall says he was energized by the event’s participation and spirit.

“The NSA wanted to see if we could organize a data science competition for students,” said Jianwei Niu, UTSA professor of computer science, associate dean of University College and an SDS faculty member. “I leveraged the experience UTSA has had in organizing six or seven hackathons in the past and said, ‘We have a wonderful group of student leaders, so let’s see if they can take on this challenge and organize the first datathon on campus.’”

Students who attended the datathon explored data science questions with their peers and competed to investigate the socioeconomic factors that influence low birthweight and newborn mortality. The challenge was framed as a commission by a fictitious government agency attempting to project these outcomes in Texas in the year 2030.

“The Rowdy Datathon was designed with a perspective not found in other similar events,” said Juan Gutiérrez, professor and chair of the UTSA Department of Mathematics. “One of the main considerations was to expose data hackers, or ‘dackers’ to the real complexity of data analysis.”

Gutiérrez said there is a common misconception—even among students—that data analysis is just coding. However, he explained that students must learn skills such as data management, including how to cope with large amounts of data, or data with errors, as well as ethics within data management.

The competitors’ projects were judged by Gutiérrez and six data analysts with the NSA. The judges evaluated the teams based on a number of factors such as how well they presented the results, the soundness of their methodologies, and the reproducibility of their results.

“In the end, we want students who participate in this challenge to grow,” Gutiérrez said. “The next iteration will refine areas that proved to need more polishing, and, with this solid foundation, we are well on our way to make the Rowdy Datathon an example to follow and a notable event in the nation.”

Although all participants worked with the same data, they were split into three tracks: beginner, intermediate and advanced. This made the datathon accessible to students of any skill level, explained Roni Maddox, a student organizer majoring in environmental science.

“We expect that most of the people who attend these events have either never touched code or they’re freshmen and sophomores and they’ve taken one or two programming classes,” she said. “So even though there is a competitive aspect and we have prizes and awards at the end of the weekend, the emphasis is definitely on learning.”

Although the datathon is designed to be beginner-friendly, more advanced students found plenty to keep them occupied. The event featured workshops and provided students an invaluable opportunity to network and meet other students and professionals in the field.

Niu believes that accepting students regardless of skill level is especially important in STEM fields such as computer or data science, which she said can often seem daunting or unattainable for many.

“Students often become intimidated when thinking about the field of data science, what data science is and if they should go into it or if they’re able to,” she said. “This datathon definitely offers a great opportunity for students to try. This is the best thing we can do to help enrich the curriculum. It’s outside the classroom and it exposes students to real-world challenges.”

Maddox said the planning team is trying to ensure that as much content as possible from the event will be made accessible to the public in the future. This could include recordings of some of the workshops, or even promoting the dataset and challenges.

The team is also planning for future Rowdy Datathons.

“We still want to create as many opportunities for as much of our community as possible,” Maddox said.

The student organizers said the dedication they have to data science students at UTSA reflects the support the organizers have received from their faculty, advisors and mentors at the university and in the community. 

“This isn’t in anybody’s job description,” Millison said, “but it wouldn’t be possible without people who really want to see UTSA data science students succeed and have a big impact.”


EXPLORE FURTHER
Learn more about the ACM at UTSA.
Explore the degree programs at the UTSA School of Data Science.
Learn more about the National Security Collaboration Center

Inaugural Rowdy Datathon winners:

Advanced Track

  • First Place: Sad Pandas
    • Isaac Castro, Sean Roberson, Kathy Karr and Christopher Ayo

  • Second Place: Trajectories of Born Infants in the United States
    • Ethan Chaney, Joshua Lazaro, Alex Martinez and Finn Burmeister-Morton

Intermediate Track

  • First Place: Team Millison
    • Ana Sanchez, Swapomti Surampudi, Clarisse Cabagay and Vamshi Ponnala

  • Second Place: Consistency of Birth Analysis Test
    • Parker Leathers and Laura Barnes

Beginner Track

  • First Place: Brown Family
    • Nathan Zuniga and Dalen Ricks

  • Second Place: Cryptobismal
    • Megan Pedraza, Margaret Heaphy, Aidan Quandt and Arron Delgado

Christopher Reichert



UTSA Today is produced by University Strategic Communications,
the official news source
of The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu.


UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.


Events


Spotlight

Spotlight

spotlight-utsa-uthsa3.png
UTSA & UT Health San Antonio integration

UTSA’s Mission

The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.

UTSA’s Vision

To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.

UTSA’s Core Values

We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.

UTSA’S Destinations

UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .

Our Commitment to Inclusivity

The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.