On December 3, 2021 CBE’s Business Analytics and Technology Management (BATM) department hosted the final round of the second campus-wide Data Analytics Competition sponsored by Perdue Farms. Nearly 60 students, representing five colleges (CBE, COFAC, CLA, CSM, and CHP) across campus participated in the competition. CBE and graphic design majors tend to have higher participation rates than other programs thanks in part to faculty like Kimberly Hopkins, Ph.D., assistant professor of graphic design (COFAC), who encourage students to step out of their comfort zones.
Chaodong Han, Ph.D., chair of BATM explains, “Data visualization and analytics is a cross-functional and cross-disciplinary undertaking. This year, many teams are in fact composed of students from different majors across campus, including CIS and graphic design, etc.”
The first round of the competition kicked off on October 5 when Perdue executives presented the case to students. Their challenge was to help Perdue Farms understand which customers would benefit most from the different logistic options offered by the company, utilizing existing delivery and transportation data.
Participants were given until October 31 to analyze the data, answer the company’s questions, and visualize their findings. Nine finalist teams were then selected and advanced to the next round where they had 5 minutes to present their findings and data visualizations to Perdue executives. The judges evaluated each presentation on the depth and accuracy of their analysis, as well as the clarity, creativity, and utility of their visualization.
Ultimately, three winning teams were selected.
- Thea Nolan (COFAC: Graphic Design), Ju Un Park (CBE: BSAP), and Connie Yee (COFAC: Graphic Design) – $2,500.00
- Deaira Carrington (FCSM: CIS) – $1,500.00
- Haja Sannoh (CBE and Honors College: Economics and Political Science) and Leah Sine (CBE: Economics) – $1,000.00
TU Vice President of the Division of Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research (SPAR), Darius Irani, PhD., shares, “The winning teams were able to take the massive trove of data and convey visually the underlying story and supporting elements to a lay audience, a crucial skill in a 21st century economy.”
As the title sponsor for the 2nd Annual Data Analytics Competition, Perdue Farms provided $5,000 in scholarships for the winning teams and an additional $5,000 to support experiential learning in data analytics.
“Working with Perdue Farms this year was amazing. The judges were excited to help students in the competition as well as network with the students to talk about internships”, says Stella Tomasi, PhD., professor and organizer of the competition. “Every year, we have teams with graphic designers win one of the prizes. It seems that winning teams are able to tell a story through data analysis.”
Kyle Benning, director of data strategy, adds, “As Perdue continues to grow our analytic capabilities it is essential to recruit new associates and ideas. Analytics is a team sport; this case competition gives us visibility to a diverse cross section of Towson’s talent and creates a way for us to see them in action.”