Smith Analytics Consortium Annual Datathon
Smith Analytics Consortium's 6th Annual Datathon First Place Winners
The Smith Analytics Consortium (SAC) hosts its annual Datathon, a multi-day data-focused competition. Within interdisciplinary teams, students apply their problem-solving, analytics, and data visualization skills to a real-world business problem.
Cash prizes are awarded to the top teams.
Teams also have an opportunity to be mentored by Deloitte professionals and participate in the Core Consulting Workshop: A targeted workshop, hosted by Deloitte, to hone the skills needed to succeed in the Datathon and an opportunity to meet team members.
The 7th Annual Datathon will be held in Spring 2026. Check back for details in February 2026.
Past Case Competitions and Datathons
Smith Analytics Consortium 6th Annual Datathon
Intended Participants: All UMD & American University Students
Date: April 11, 2025
The 6th Annual Datathon, hosted by the Smith Analytics Consortium (SAC) in collaboration with Deloitte, brought together students from the University of Maryland (UMD) and American University (AU) for a 15-day data-focused competition. This year’s scenario challenged teams to help Spotify select the most profitable artist lineup for a six-hour concert at Capital One Arena using real-world data, including streaming statistics, concert trends, and ticket pricing. A record number of AU students participated, representing nearly 50 majors and programs across both universities. Of the 41 teams, 14 featured members from both schools, earning bonus points for cross-campus collaboration.
Six finalist teams advanced to present their strategies to a panel of Deloitte leaders, competing for a $7,500 prize pool and one-on-one sessions with Deloitte professionals. UMD’s Macrodata Refiners took first place with a strong, data-driven proposal and standout presentation. Judges commended all teams for their interdisciplinary thinking and real-world application of analytics skills. Students valued the experience as a rare opportunity to collaborate across schools, sharpen technical abilities, and gain career insights from Deloitte experts.
Smith Analytics Consortium 5th Annual Datathon
Intended Participants: All UMD Students & American University Kogod School of Business Students
Date: April 12, 2024
The 5th Annual Datathon hosted by the Smith Analytics Consortium (SAC) in collaboration with Deloitte concluded recently, following a 15-day long data-focused competition. The competition provided a platform for students to demonstrate their problem-solving, analytics, data visualization, and presentation abilities as they vied to propose a city for a new NBA team, complete with a selected sponsor, mascot, and international partnership.
A remarkable turnout of 370 students forming 53 teams participated in the event. Following the initial round, 6 standout teams were selected as finalists to present their comprehensive analyses to a panel of 4 judges from Deloitte. The winning teams not only secured a collective prize pool of $7,500 but also earned the invaluable opportunity for a one-on-one session with the Deloitte leaders and professionals.
Learn more about the event: The Smith Analytics Consortium's Annual Datathon Breaks Another Record
Smith Analytics Consortium 4th Annual Datathon
Intended Participants: All UMD Students
Date: April 28, 2023
The Smith Analytics Consortium (SAC) held its 4th annual Datathon, hosted in collaboration with Deloitte and KPMG. The event was an 11-day-long, data-focused competition. Students had the opportunity to use their problem-solving, analytics, and data visualization skills to pitch a company to investors planning to buy and rent properties in NYC through a popular short-term apartment rental platform.
A total of 243 students across 47 teams participated in the event. After a virtual first round, six finalist teams presented their analysis live to judges from Deloitte and KPMG at the finale. Winning teams earned a total of $7,500 in prize money.
Learn more about the event: Students Across Campus Compete in Smith Analytics Consortium’s Annual Datathon
Smith Analytics Consortium Annual Datathon
Intended Participants: All programs at Smith School
Date: April 29, 2022
The Smith Analytics Consortium (SAC) hosted the 3rd annual Datathon, a 9-day long data-focused competition for all student bodies across campus. Our participants had the opportunity to use their problem-solving, analytics, and data visualization skills to build a company revenue analysis and sales forecasting model for Bandcamp, an indie-style creator platform. They further presented growth strategies backed by their analysis to our judges from Deloitte and competed for a chance at winning the Annual SAC Datathon.
You can learn more about the event here: Smith Students showcase analytical skills
Smith Analytics Consortium Annual Datathon
Intended Participants: All programs at Smith School
Date: April 19, 2021
The Smith Analytics Consortium (SAC) hosted the 2nd Annual Datathon, a 2 week-long data-focused competition to build a market entry business case for a renewable energy (photovoltaic (PV) solar array) company in Maryland. The Datathon culminated in a recommendation for the market entry of a solar (PV) company in MD. The center also conducted a Core Consulting workshop with Deloitte Professionals wherein students were trained on specific consulting skills by industry experts.
Smith Analytics Consortium Annual Datathon
Intended Participants: All programs at Smith School
Date: March 29, 2020
The Smith Analytics Consortium (SAC) hosted the inaugural Annual Datathon and Analytics Conference that involved Thought Leadership panels and presentations highlighting faculty and industry speakers. During the datathon, our students had a chance to use their problem-solving, data analytics, and data visualization skills to analyze the impact of intermediate transportation trends within the DC Metro area as it relates to Capital Bikeshare and DC Taxis and present recommendations for impacted businesses (i.e. taxi companies) to consider in their effort to regain their market share.
Intended Participants: students enrolled in the MBA program at Smith School
Date: September 1, 2020
Students were organized into teams of roughly five members each and given 48 hours to prepare presentations for judging panels composed of KPMG professionals, as well as Maryland Smith faculty and alumni. The top three presentations selected by judges then advanced to a final round.
Adobe Analytics Challenge 2020
Intended Participants: All college students
Date: Application Deadline: September 22, 2020
The Adobe Analytics Challenge is a unique analytics-focused business case competition where university students are given the opportunity to use Adobe’s industry-leading analytics products and access to real-world data from leading organizations such as Major League Baseball, T‑Mobile, Starwood, Lenovo, Condé Nast, Comcast, Overstock.com, Backcountry.com, Sony PlayStation, and MGM Resort International.