Students gear up for data competition

Michael McShane
Staff Writer

Minnesota State University will be hosting the eighth annual Midwest Undergraduate Data Analytics Competition (MUDAC) this Saturday and Sunday.

The two-day competition is designed to test undergraduate students who are looking to enter the data science and analysis business. There will be 60 teams overall in the competition composed of students from Midwest universities. This will be the first year the competition will be hosted by MNSU. 

The participating groups will have 24 hours to compete in a hackathon in which groups must solve a complex challenge by using data analysis techniques. Afterwards, teams will be judged by representatives from top data companies.

The prizes for the competition will include gift cards and possibly cash prize as well.

Potential cash and gift cards will not be the only thing participating students will be getting out of this event. Students taking part in the event will also be introduced to networking opportunities with industry professionals as well as learn hands-on data analytic skills.

A job fair will take place on the second day of the competition where participants can meet with at least ten companies including Mayo Clinic, the Taylor Corporation and IBM.

To promote the event, Anahita Bahrami, secretary to MNSU’s Data Resources for Eager and Analytical Minds (DREAM), spoke to The Reporter about what students can expect to get out of this competition.

 “In this hackathon, students have the opportunity to basically see where their standing in terms of their skill set that is required to solve a problem, especially in the data science field and also they get a chance to develop their resume,” Bahrami said.

The two-day event is expecting close to 250 students to participate in the competition. When including guests there is an estimated 400 people that will be coming to this years MUDAC. 

Because of the large amount of participating students and guests, the event will not be available to individuals not actively involved in the competition. The 2019 MUDAC is sponsored by the Water Resource Center. 

For anyone wishing to learn more about the event and wish to register, visit www.mudac.org for more information.