Sports and data worlds combining for community Hackathon

Students from the winning team during the 2106 Hackathon event celebrate their accomplishment. (Purdue University photo) Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Sports team – real or fantasy – could be affected by the outcome of what teams of students, faculty and community members develop during an E-sports hackathon on Nov. 9 and 10.

The E-sports Data Hackathon is organized in partnership among Krannert School of Management’s Business Information and Analytics Center, Discovery Park, Integrated Data Science Initiative (IDSI), and SportsUNITED. The 24-hour event is a way for people to collaboratively work together using software programs and analytics to solve problems facing businesses and industries.

Participants can use cutting-edge technology and tools – including machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), among others – to develop innovative data solutions that solve problems for data visualizations and predictive analytics to support fan experience, e-athlete training and performance.

While this is not the first hackathon at Purdue, this is the first time sports has been the event’s main theme. This event is open to students from any major on campus. It is also open to corporate teams that include a minimum of three Purdue students.

“This event is being organized to celebrate the 150-year anniversary. One of the university’s objective is to become recognized as a leader in analytics,” said Karthik N. Kannan, the Thomas Howatt Chaired Professor in Management and director of Krannert’s Business Information and Analytics Center. “Many of our students are competent with data. As research scholars, we are making an impact on real-world problems using analytics. The connection to companies often times positions us uniquely when we teach our students. Events such as this hackathon truly showcase the student side.”

The first-place team will receive a cash prize of $4,000, as well as an off-season behind-the-scenes tour of the Indianapolis Colts’ headquarters and a meeting with their data analysts. A prize of $1,500 will be awarded to the second-place team. One student will receive $500 as the Executive Presence Award recipient.

The meet and greet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. and the event starts at 7 p.m. on Nov. 9 and runs through 7 p.m. on Nov. 10. For more details or to register, please visit https://krannert.purdue.edu/centers/business-information-and-analytics-center/activities.php.

This is one of many events celebrating Purdue’s Sesquicentennial, 150 Years of Giant Leaps. This yearlong celebration is highlighting Purdue’s remarkable history of giant leaps, while focusing on what giant leaps Purdue can take to address the world’s problems. 

Writer: Matthew Oates, 765-496-2571, oatesw@purdue.edu 

Source: Karthik N. Kannan, 765-494-3414, kkarthik@purdue.edu  

Three Twitter options: 

Sports- and data-loving people rejoice! Find out more details about @LifeAtPurdue E-sports Hackathon sponsored by @PurdueKrannert @DiscoveryParkPU. #Purdue150 

E-sports Hackathon @LifeAtPurdue sponsored @PurdueKrannert & @DiscoveryParkPU coming in November. #Purdue150 

Solve big sports problems with @LifeAtPurdue E-sports Hackathon sponsored by @PurdueKrannert @DiscoveryParkPU. #Purdue150