UMD and American University Students Drive Transportation Innovation at 7th Annual Smith Analytics Consortium Datathon

Students from across the University of Maryland and American University (AU) communities, including many from the Robert H. Smith and Kogod Schools of Business, rose to the occasion in serving the transportation needs of Marylanders during the 7th Annual Smith Analytics Consortium Datathon Finale on Friday, April 10, 2026.

This year’s iteration of the datathon was sponsored by the Maryland Department of Information Technology (DoIT), marking the state's first sponsorship of the competition, and was hosted in collaboration with AU and Deloitte.

Open to all UMD and AU students, the 15-day-long competition saw 21 teams, comprising 143 graduate and undergraduate students, use datasets from the state’s open data portal and compete for their share of a total of $7,500 in cash prizes. Ultimately, they provided the Department of Transportation, Department of Commerce and DoIT with recommendations for pinpointing specific locations, roadway corridors or railway station areas where the creation of mixed-use communities could best connect Marylanders to more jobs and prosperity.

Taking home first place honors this year and earning a $3,000 prize was Team Syntax Errors, featuring UMD’s Archit Tiwari, MBA ’27; Aditya Agarwal, MSBA&AI ’26; Anaushka Taneja, MSBA&AI ’26; Rushil Joshi, MS in Data Science ’27; Gregory Butler ’27; Blake Simonds SPP ’27; and AU MSSM graduate student Hettie Bawden. 

Their solution focused on first- and last-mile improvements for commuters in Baltimore City and Montgomery, Prince George’s, Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties, through micro-transit feeders and at-home shuttle collection services to larger transit stations. It also marked the first time a cross-university team won the competition, with four of the final six teams falling into that category.

Delivering remarks before the start of Friday’s presentations, DoIT Secretary Katie Savage highlighted the competition's unique nature, which used real data to drive tangible impact in the region. She challenged students to continue applying the skills learned from these opportunities to enact positive change wherever they go. 

“One of the best things about being young is that you haven’t yet learned to stop asking questions. To accept the status quo,” said Savage during the event. “It’s very important that wherever you go, whether you choose to join us in the public sector, whether you go into the private sector, or maybe you start something of your own, that you do everything you can to always keep that spirit of innovation alive.”

Also, before the student presentations, Smith School Dean Prabhudev Konana addressed how the event embodies critical pillars of the Smith School’s strategic plan, including experiential learning, interdisciplinary education, the principle that “business is everyone’s business,” and serving local communities and the state of Maryland more broadly. 

“I think today’s generation of students has an incredible amount of ideas and skills to solve real problems. These datathons and similar competitions bring out the best in our students,” said Konana. “Thank you to the students for spending their time and hard work on these projects and thank you to our partners from MD DoIT, American University and Deloitte for their support of one of the best competitions on campus.”

Friday’s finale saw the top six teams present their findings to a panel of judges that included Savage, as well as Julia Fischer, Deputy State Chief Data Officer, MD DoIT; Jim Palma, Research Director, MD Dept. of Commerce; Rashmi Mathur, Managing Director, Deloitte; and Elizabeth Muse, Senior Manager, Deloitte. 

Mathur, who also serves on Smith’s Master of Science in Information Systems & AI advisory council, acknowledged the competition’s importance in bringing together public and private stakeholders across the region to pursue new solutions to pressing issues. 

“Being in connection with students is important, given it’s the pipeline of our future. Being able to interact with and help them develop important skills, that’s exactly the kind of thing Deloitte likes to do,” said Mathur. “Seeing new points of view and how students bring fresh perspectives to tough problems is always invigorating on a personal level.” 

Sahej Singh, Class of ’29, a UMD computer engineering major and competition participant, appreciated that this year’s challenge enabled teams to present to Deloitte representatives and state officials and deliver solutions with the potential to impact the state. 

“Living in Montgomery County and being a student from Maryland, it’s cool to have real findings and possibly develop an impact in the state where you and the partners you’re serving are from,” Singh said. “This event is another example of how many opportunities there are to get involved at UMD. We have learned so much over the span of these two weeks.”

AU Business Analytics & AI graduate student Matthew Park enjoyed the opportunity to expand his professional network and apply what he’s learned in the classroom in a real-world setting. 

“I helped with our team’s data visualization, and it was pretty gratifying to implement skills like using Tableau or even just using problem-solving skills outside of the classroom,” Park said. “I didn’t expect to be a finalist, but it was a wonderful experience, and I met so many new people.”

Shawn Janzen, Professorial Lecturer and Director of the MS Business Analytics and AI program at AU’s Kogod School of Business, recognized how the event brings together people from a range of colleges, schools and disciplines across both campuses. He said that the combination of backgrounds “offers a richer experience” for those involved and encourages all students to participate in future competitions.

Janzen feels many students hear the word ‘data’ and think they can’t do it. “One of the students from my campus on the winning team is part of a master's program in sustainability management. That was not necessarily the focus of this competition, but she saw herself as part of it, and the team made it part of their solution.” 

Smith Analytics Consortium Director John Bono, clinical professor of information systems and the Associate Department Chair of Decision, Operations & Information Technologies at the Smith School, said these types of events offer students invaluable experiences “to tell a story” in future job interviews, in which they can share their thought processes from a major challenge and translate them into potential impact for their career. 

Bono also shared that the Maryland DoIT has already expressed interest in extending its partnership for next year’s competition. 

“It’s validating to know that the students are doing these projects with real data and coming up with insights that the state of Maryland will consider,” said Bono. “They came to us asking for out-of-the-box projects and ideas, and my hope is that we delivered on that front.”