Analyzing Success on the International Stage Yet Again

Proving their mettle in international arenas  

Manipal ProLearn Data Science students have enhanced their reputation of being elite data wizards on the international stage once again. Ten teams from the PG Diploma in Data Science course took part in the Global Datathon event held by the Data Science Community, Sofia, Bulgaria, and two teams from ProLearn got the 7th and 8th ranks in the leaderboard.

Source: datasciencesociety.net

This continues the trend from last year when two teams from Manipal data science batch made it to the finals on their debut. Continuing the winning streak, the next event, Global Datathon witnessed three Manipal teams making it into the nail-biting final round to better their own previously held record.

This time again, the Manipal data science batch took on an even tougher challenge, which was to compete against not just students. But research scholars and working professionals in the text analytics domain sent ten teams to test their skills.

Source: datasciencesociety.net

The Challenge - Data science for a purpose 

The Datathon theme ‘Hack the News’ required data enthusiasts and experts in the area of text-mining and NLP. They were required to develop a machine learning model for identifying propaganda using their preferred data analytics techniques and tools.

The challenge was divided into three levels of difficulty, which corresponded to the expertise and personal preference of the participants.

Training for real-life situations 

The teams from the Manipal ProLearn data science course had only two weeks to learn and prepare for the event. Performing in tight timelines emulated a real-life scenario for data science students while preparing them for the professional life ahead. Students also gained immense confidence owing to low risk conditions as compared to a real job. 

Manipal ProLearn’s faculty have always encouraged participation in Datathons to help students make a bold transition from academia to the professional side without losing their creative confidence.

This time, it was Manipal faculty Dr. Subhabaha Pal and Mr. Senthil Kumar, who took the onus to prepare students for the challenge. Dr. Pal played an instrumental role in guiding them at each step through the 3 levels of the Datathon. 

An impressive performance 

Two teams from Manipal, Data Titans (Mareedu Hemanth Kumar, Atchuta Pavan Shankar, Vemulapalli Lithin Chowdary, Emani Venkata Sesha Sai Ram, and Boya Manohar) and Data Monks (Steni Sebastian, Sai Aditya Garlapati, Barun Kumar, Prasad Shripathi, and K Sreekar Reddy) secured 7th and 8th positions and re-established Manipal’s dominance in the Data Science Society hosted Datathons.

Team Data Titans

Team Data Monks 

Their approach and solution to the Datathon challenge can be visited on these links 

Data Monks - https://www.datasciencesociety.net/datathon-hacknews-solution-data_monks/

Data Titans - https://www.datasciencesociety.net/hack-the-propaganda/

The top positions were taken by teams from Germany, Bulgaria, and Turkey. 

1st Position - (Propaganda Identification Group) – Research scholars from Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany.

2nd Position - Astea Wombats – Data Science professionals from Analytics firm Astea Solutions AD, Bulgaria

3rd Position - Lama – Team from Turkey

Hackathons are proving grounds for newer ideas

It was no way an easy feat to achieve for either of the Manipal teams given the short time for preparation and the high level of competition. But as the saying goes, “winning has a value for ego and participation has a value for life”, the data science teams learned life lessons collaborating with developers, hackers and academic leaders from other universities.

We congratulate all the participating teams for making the nation proud and wish them a taste of victory in the Global Datathon next year.