The Center for Applied Business Analytics at the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business hosted its inaugural Master Modeler Competition in March. The competition was intended to provide an experiential learning opportunity for undergraduate students as well as a way to give back to the community while helping bring an end to child trafficking through a collaboration with Erase Child Trafficking.
Sponsored by Boeing, the competition was hosted by the University of South Carolina,
Emory University and the Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative, which
includes Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College and Morehouse College. Open to
current undergraduate students at the hosting institutions, the winners of the 2021
Master Modeler Competition included:
From Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative:
- First Place: Clarkites team, awarded $2,000
- Second Place: Newbies Data team, awarded $500
From Emory University:
- First Place and Overall Winner: Born2Model team, awarded $2,000
- Second Place: Eagles Who Code team, awarded $500.
Additionally, a $1,500 prize was awarded to the Born2Model team from Emory University for being the overall winner of this year’s competition. For the 2021 event, USC did not have any teams enter.
This year’s panel of judges was comprised of leading practitioners and respected academics with expertise in human trafficking and/or business analytics. The judges went through a rigorous selection process to determine this year’s winners. The judges assessed the participants based on a variety of factors, including responses during a Q&A, whether the models followed data science best practices, if their presentations were easy to understand, if they showed innovative analytics and a data science approach. They also considered the implementation capabilities and whether the solution was scalable and applicable to other subjects.
“All winning teams are invited to Emory University’s virtual event on April 29, as well as the Technology Association of Georgia, TAG Data Science & Analytics Society event on Aug. 8,” said Beverly Wright, executive director of the Center for Applied Business Analytics at the University of South Carolina. “The universities would once again like to thank all participants, Boeing and ERASE Child Trafficking for their participation in the event and look forward to another successful competition next April.”