We would like to gratefully thank our 2023 DataFest Sponsors:

Who may participate?

ASA DataFest™ at Robert Morris University is open to all Undergraduate and Master’s Degree students at Robert Morris University, as well as students from surrounding colleges and universities.

There is no fee to participate.

Students compete in teams of 2 to 5. You may form your own team prior to the event, or you may ask to be placed on a team. We encourage you to form teams of individuals from different disciplines because you will benefit from having team members of diverse backgrounds and skills. 

Registration

Each individual participating in ASA DataFest™ must submit a registration. If you form your own team, each member of your team must register separately and include the team name on the form. If you have not formed a team, you will have the chance on the registration form to request placement onto a team. Registration is limited to the first 75 people to register!

Registration will be open March 1 through March 22.

Register Now

During the event

All teams are required to attend the kick-off event on Friday at 5pm (in-person or virtually) and the presentations on Sunday at 3pm (in-person or virtually). Otherwise, you do NOT need to be available the entire weekend to participate; you may come and go as you please.

Refreshments will be provided during the kick-off event. Following the presentations on Sunday, there will be a catered dinner and awards ceremony. There will be an optional trivia game and lunch provided midday on Saturday.

Classrooms have been reserved in the John Jay academic building at Robert Morris University for your team’s use throughout the weekend. While your team can decide whether they would like to work on-ground or virtually, we do highly encourage all teams to present their findings in-person Sunday afternoon if they are able.

Mentors will be available throughout the weekend to help you as you work through the data.

Rules

• You must agree to the Non-Disclosure Agreement in the registration form regarding the data you will be provided. At the end of DataFest, delete all data from thumb drives, hard drives, etc. The data are sensitive.
• Should members of your team drop out at the last minute, you may be merged with another team who is also missing members.
• Throughout the majority of the weekend, there will be mentors available to assist you. Feel free to ask anything. This is not an exam, but a collaborative competition. Do not expect the mentors to write code for you, or do data management, etc. They are there to help point you in the right direction, but you’re responsible for getting there on your own. 

Judging and prizes

Each team must share a short presentation summarizing their findings on Sunday afternoon. A panel of judges composed of faculty and professionals from a variety of fields will judge your submission based on creativity, insight, visualization, and communication. There will be an upper level and a lower level competition to allow teams of varying academic backgrounds to compete fairly among each other. Winning teams will each be awarded a $100 cash prize, DataFest medals, and ASA Student Memberships.

Sponsorship

Your sponsorship makes ASA DataFest at RMU possible. DataFest brings the data science community together as student teams search for meaning in a large, rich, and complex data set.
These students will compete in teams, where they will get to test and hone their skills in analyzing a complex data set to gain specific insights.
Your financial donations will be used to provide food, prizes, and supplies for our participants.

Level 1 Sponsor: $300

• Large logo placed on event t-shirt
• Logo on RMU’s DataFest website
• Company link on RMU’s DataFest Website

Level 2 Sponsor: $200

• Medium logo placed on event t-shirt
• Logo on RMU’s DataFest website

Level 3 Sponsor: $100

• Small logo placed on event t-shirt

Or any other amount will be greatly appreciated. 
ALL sponsors will receive a FREE RMU DataFest event t-shirt!

*Note:  All donations are tax deductible, and non-refundable. 

Volunteering

Mentoring

We are looking for professionals in the field to participate as Mentors.

Responsibilities:

• Spend 3-4 hours over the weekend of April 12 - April 14 working with teams of students as they try to work through their problem
• Offer advice and guidance.
• Attend a virtual informational session via Google Meet on an evening within 2 weeks of the event. This session will provide an overview of the weekend itself and information pertaining to the data.

Judging

At the end of the DataFest competition on Sunday, Apr. 14th, each team will give a presentation of their work throughout the weekend.  We are looking for professionals to serve as judges of the teams’ presentations and designate the awards.

Responsibilities: 

• Be available on Sunday afternoon April 14th from 3pm-7pm.
• Attend a virtual informational session via Google Meet on an evening within 2 weeks of the event. This session will provide an overview of the weekend itself and information pertaining to the data.
• Presentations will be held at RMU in the John Jay building in room 280
• (Optional) Awards ceremony and dinner to follow the presentations
  • ….held in-person but virtual option available

Past Events

Past DataFests at Robert Morris University

• DataFest 2023 - Data Source: American Bar Association
  • Goal: To analyze submitted questions from a pro bono legal advice site and provide insight to ensure that the best legal experts are available to provide answers
• DataFest 2022 - Data Source: Elm City Stories, an educational video game
  • Goal: To discover if their game might be useful in understanding real-life behavior
• DataFest 2021 - Data Source: Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety
  • Goal: To discover and identify patterns of drug use, with particular attention paid to identifying misuse, and predict future drug misuse cases.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to:

• Dr. Adam Combs, combs@rmu.edu
• Kristen Yunk, kcyst993@mail.rmu.edu