From May 2–4, the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science hosted the 2025 American Statistical Association (ASA) DataFest: an international data analysis challenge where teams of undergraduates work intensively to “find and share meaning in a large, rich, and complex data set.” This year, 130 students across 30 teams started the competition, with only 17 teams able to complete DataFest’s rigorous 48-hour challenge.
Over the course of two days, teams analyzed the dataset, developed insights, and designed presentations. Each team was given a few minutes and two slides to share their findings with a panel of judges. Prizes were awarded in three categories: Best Insight, Best Visualization, and Best Use of External Data.
The winning teams were:
Best Insight: Huatieloo Data Masters
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Team members: Linda Wang, Jonathan Leung, Fred Fan, Xi Xu, Joey Zhang
Best Use of External Data: BBGS
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Team members:Joanna Moon, Nico Peng, & Meilin Cai
Best Visualization: Team B
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Team members: Antonio Melacini, Paige Stone, Chaozhong Wang, & Junyan Ye
ASA DataFest, founded in 2011 at UCLA, now draws over 2,000 students each year at institutions across North America. The University of ݮƵ has been a participating site since 2017 (with the exception of 2020). Learn more about the .