Carolina Analytics and Data Science (CADS) was originally founded in the Fall of 2016 by Lily Zhang, Elaine Kearney, and Nikhil Prasad. Since CADS was founded, it has formally remained an organization underneath the UNC Department of Computer Science, however students from various schools and departments across UNC’s campus have become a member and attend our events. CADS’s current faculty advisor is Computer Science Professor Jack Snoeyink.

CADS also has great relationships with other schools and departments within UNC, including the Department of Statistics and Operations Research, the School of Information and Library Science, and the newly-formed School of Data Science and Society. CADS has also partnered with NC State’s Institute of Advanced Analytics numerous years, as well as many external companies, to host engaging events.

Over the years, CADS has hosted many events, including workshops, career panels, events, data projects, and competitions. Our largest annual event, the Carolina Data Challenge (CDC), is our weekend-long data science hackathon hosted in partnership with the UNC Department of Computer Science. The first CDC Event was hosted in 2017. In the years following our first event, CDC regularly brings over 250 participants from across campus and beyond, numerous corporate sponsors, dozens of final projects, and hundreds of dollars of prizes.

CADS also overcame unique challenges during the coronavirus pandemic that spanned throughout the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years. The Carolina Data Challenge, as well as numerous other events, were held remotely. Despite these challenges, CADS still accomplished its mission of sharing data science to the greater UNC community.

CADS events transitioned back in person for the 2022-2023 school year, including for CDC 2022 – the first in-person CDC in over two years. Over the last few years, the growth of Data Science across campus, catalyzed by rapid advances and investment in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies and research across campus, the creation of the interdisciplinary Data Science minor, and the formation of the UNC School of Data Science and Society, has dramatically increased the interest amongst UNC undergraduates to dabble in the world of data science.

CADS continues to strive to provide students interested in data science to grow – personally, intellectually, professionally, and socially amongst a support network of students, professors, and professionals. We hope to accomplish our mission through hosting our events, and we hope you join us as we try to make data science more accessible to all!