In the 21st century, data shapes many people’s daily lives. From making curated recommendations on streaming platforms to targeted advertisements and weather forecasts, there is a growing demand for data competency.

From April 10 to 14, Elon University’s Data Nexus will host its second Datafest. The four-day event will contain workshops, a “Hack-a-thon,” a creative artificial intelligence contest, a keynote speaker, networking opportunities and the American Statistical Association’s DataFest Data Challenge.

Director of Data Nexus and mathematics professor Crista Arangala said she hopes Datafest encourages students to reflect on the roles data plays in their daily lives. Arangala said this is why the keynote and main workshops center on music. Arangala said the theme being music showcases the interdisciplinary uses of data and makes Datafest more approachable to a wider range of students.

“I think a lot of students might find it fun to think about, say, their Spotify data or something that’s more something they can connect with,” Arangala said.

The keynote presentation, “AI’s Music Problem & Music’s AI Problem,” will be presented by Christopher White, a music theory professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. White will also be leading a two-part workshop on analyzing data to study — and even generate — music.

The workshops, hack-a-thon and other elements of this year’s Datafest are expansions from Elon’s inaugural event last year. At the core of Datafest is the ASA’s annual challenge, which encourages teams of undergraduate students to “work around the clock to find and share meaning in a large, rich and complex data set,” according to the ASA DataFest website.

Elon is one of over 100 colleges and universities across the world participating in ASA’s DataFest this year. While different DataFest events happen throughout the spring, each participating school receives the same prompt and data. In 2024, students were given data from CourseKata — an online, interactive statistics textbook. The students were told to “analyze computer logs that document students’ interactions with online introductory statistics textbooks in order to help researchers improve the CourseKata experience for students.”

The participants will present to a panel of judges, including Elon alumni, who will award categories such as “Best in Show,” “Best Data Visualization” and “Best Use of an External Source.”

Arangala said each team will have two to five students and a mentor, many of whom are alumni — including some who participated in Datafest last year.

Students who want to participate can register as part of a team or as individuals. Those who sign up without a team will be assigned to groups. This year, the competition will have two divisions: novice and upperclass. Arangala said splitting the contest into divisions was based on feedback from last year’s participants.

Bringing Datafest to Elon is part of a wider campus initiative, Data Nexus. Arangala said Data Nexus was created to oversee the implementation of Elon’s fiveyear Quality Enhancement Plan, which is part of the university’s accreditation process.

“One of the goals in that plan is around advanced data competency,” Arangala said. “Data Nexus offers workshops, events like datafests, speakers, to expose faculty to sort of advanced levels of how to use data.”

Advanced data competency demonstrates a wide knowledge and understanding of how to use and interpret data in different fields. Arangala said while data plays an obvious role in some majors, such as business and statistics, she hopes Datafest can encourage students from all fields to think about ways they can use data.

“I want students to feel invited to just try datafest,” Arangala said. “I think it’s an experience that all students get something out of and definitely something that they can put on their resume, they can learn from.”

Students can register for the DataFest Data challenge, Creative AI + Data Image contest, the workshops and keynote speech through the Data Nexus website. Registration for both the AI contest and the data challenge close April 11 or when spots are full.

This year, the data challenge will be capped at 40 students, which is an increase from last year when there were 30 spots.

“I talk a lot with students about how to use their data experiences and uplift them in a way with data portfolios, or different ways to uplift those experiences when looking for internships or jobs,” Arangala said.


Elon Datafest Events

*Registration Required


Thursday April 10 (3:30 to 5 p.m.) and Saturday April 12 (9:30 to 11 a.m.)*

In this interactive two-part workshop, Chris White, professor of music theory at the University of Massachusetts, introduces students — whether musicians, data enthusiasts or those new to computational methods — to the exciting ways that statistics and computational modeling can be used to study and generate music. No prior experience in programming or music theory is required. 

Workshop 1: Understanding Musical Data

Workshop 2: Modeling and Generating Music Building on these concepts

Students who complete both of the workshops in the series will be eligible for the Data and Creative Arts Microcredential.


Friday April 11 – All events in Founder’s Hall Atrium*

4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Keynote: AI’s Music Problem & Music’s AI Problem, Chris White, professor of music theory at the University of Massachusetts

5:30 to 7 p.m. Hack-a-thon, pizza party open to all, and Data Challenge Meet the Mentor and give aways

7 p.m. Data Challenge and Creative AI + Data Image Contest Begin


Saturday April 12

Data Challenge and Creative AI + Data Image Contest participants work on their contest.

Data Challenge team members meet with their assigned mentor(s).


Sunday April 13

Data Challenge and Creative AI + Data Image Contest participants work on their contest. All contest submissions due at 7 p.m.

Data Challenge submissions will be on OneDrive, Creative AI + Data Image submissions will be on Moodle.


Monday April 14

4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Concurrent sessions.

Creative AI + Data Submissions on display for judging in Founders Hall Atrium

Data Challenge team members should plan to be in attendance to present their results for judging.