Annual DataJam Builds for the Future

  • A group photo with all the teams that presented in Data Jam.

    The teams: The Aquaticians, The Outliers, Abnormal Distribution, Team Rocket, Data Discoverers and POKEdata focused their presentations toward improving the Los Angeles area. Photo by Patricia Carrillo.

  • A student team posing for a picture.

    Student-led teams explored various topics that were supported with research and data. Photo by Patricia Carrillo.

  • Team photo of Data Discoverers, composed of four team members.

    Data Discoverers, a student-led team, explored the way communities can address the homeless crisis. Photo by Patricia Carrillo.

  • Team photo composed of four members, two men and two women.

    Photo by Patricia Carrillo.

Student-led teams took the stage as volunteer faculty judges listened to their informational presentations at the annual DataJam, Oct. 12 in California State University, Northridge’s Thousand Oaks room at the University Student Union.

For the second straight year, CSUN hosted DataJam, where student teams use data to support their various hypotheses and conjectures. Each team had five minutes to present and then two minutes for questions from the judges.

This year, the theme of DataJam was “Resilient LA,” and team presentations had to focus on improving the Los Angeles area. One team, Data Discoverers, looked to prove that increasing rent prices would increase crime rates. Showing data they have researched, the team came to the conclusion that lower rent prices would result in fewer crimes in inner cities.

“What we hope to predict is a way to help communities become safer and healthier,” said Daniel Larranaga, a sophomore in general experimental psychology, whose team dubbed themselves Abnormal Distributions. “To have a healthy community you must have healthy individuals.”

Larranaga’s team hoped to figure out a way for communities to decrease violence and increase well-being through improving community resources and services for individuals within a given community.

Six teams placed in winning categories for Data Jam. Each team won $1,000, which was split among team members. The winning teams were:

  • Best Data Visualization: The Aquaticians
  • Best Data Science: The Outliers
  • Best Reproducible Research: Abnormal Distributions
  • Best Insights: Team Rocket
  • Best Resilience: Data Discoverers
  • Judges Choice: POKEdata