Austin Community College District (ACC) recently hosted the American Statistical Association (ASA) DataFest, joining an elite group of institutions to host an in-person iteration of this prestigious competition.
The competition, which began at UCLA in 2011 and has since expanded to dozens of universities globally, provides students with an opportunity to tackle real-world problems with data over an intensive 48-hour period.
Held at the Highland Campus from Friday, April 17, to Sunday, April 19, 2026, the event brought together 18 participants, including a visiting student from Texas State University.
Students worked in collaborative teams of 3–5 to analyze a massive healthcare dataset provided by Stormont Vail Health (SVH), a nonprofit health system with over 130 years of service in Kansas. Their challenge was to explore and identify insights within patient journeys to help SVH better understand how its system can be adjusted to meet patients’ needs.
The competition concluded with a series of presentations judged by a panel of experts, including:
- Dr. Susan Burkhauser – ACC Office of Institutional Research and Analytics
- Gustavo Cepparo – ACC Mathematics professor
- Jayaprakash Jayakumar – Amazon Data Engineer
These judges provided valuable feedback, helping students bridge the gap between academic learning and industry application.
After an intense weekend, several teams were recognized for their outstanding work:
- Best in Show: Team Standard Deviations
- Best Use of External Data: Team Archimedes
- Best Visualization: Team Team SEA
This year’s DataFest not only showcased the incredible talent of our students but also reinforced ACC’s commitment to providing unique, hands-on opportunities for students.
Learn more about the ASA DataFest here.