Recognized as HEAD Competition Winners…
From left to right: Yairo Germosen, Anja Wallentin, Edwin Santos and Daniel Henao. The recognition was held on The Cellar at Mohawk College on February 2024.
My Experience Winning the Higher Education Analytics Data Competition (HEAD)
One of the most significant achievements in my professional career was winning the Higher Education Analytics Data Competition (HEAD), organized by Mohawk College in Canada. This prestigious annual competition brings together teams of analysts and data professionals to solve critical problems in managing educational institutions, using advanced analytical and modeling tools.
The experience not only marked a milestone in my career but also challenged my skills in leadership, data analysis, and teamwork.
What is the HEAD competition?
The Higher Education Analytics Data (HEAD) Competition, organized by Mohawk College, is an annual event where students from colleges and universities apply analytical techniques to solve real-world challenges. Participants work in teams to analyze datasets, create insightful presentations, and compete for prizes, showcasing their skills in data analysis and problem-solving within a dynamic and collaborative environment.
The Challenge: A Three-Phase Competition
A Two or Three Phase Competition…
Although the official HEAD competition page outlines two phases, I propose dividing it into three distinct stages. The first phase involves drafting the initial proposal, during which participants coordinate with their mentors to develop their poster concepts. The second phase is dedicated to the actual presentation of the poster, while the third and final phase is the culmination of the event, where the presentations are evaluated to select the winner.
The HEAD Competition was structured into three phases:
Phase 1: Involved 80 teams, of which only 24 advanced to the second stage. This phase evaluated the initial proposal and general approach to the problem.
Phase 2: Semifinalist teams presented a poster summarizing their analyses and preliminary findings. This stage was crucial, as only 8 teams advanced to the final.
Phase 3: Finalists delivered a live presentation before a panel of judges, defending their work and demonstrating the impact of their solutions.
Teamwork: The Key to Success
Team responsibilities for success...
Each team member played a critical role in ensuring the success of the project. From economic analysis to data sourcing and strategy design, our collaboration was built on leveraging each member's strengths
The success of this competition was driven by a clear division of responsibilities within the team, ensuring each member contributed their expertise effectively:
Anja: Led the economic analysis and played a crucial role in improving visualizations, ensuring the insights were presented clearly and professionally.
Yairo and Daniel: Focused on sourcing climate data from reliable sources and provided general support on presentations, helping refine the final output.
Edwin (Me): Took charge of data processing, assigning tasks, and designing the overall data strategy, ensuring alignment across all aspects of the project.
This structured approach not only streamlined our workflow but also ensured that the strengths of each team member were maximized. By combining these efforts, we delivered a cohesive and impactful solution to the competition’s challenge.
Integrating Data to Solve a Complex Problem
The 2024 HEAD Competition tasked participants with assessing the impact of climate change and extreme weather on the maintenance and resilience of the City of Hamilton's facilities. Using building condition data, geographic information, and projected climate changes, teams analyzed factors such as building type, use, and vulnerability to weather risks.
The goal was to develop proactive maintenance strategies that ensure facility resiliency, reduce downtime, and integrate climate considerations into long-term investment plans.
The dataset provided included information about buildings in Hamilton, Ontario: their FCI Rating, associated maintenance costs, and the investment needed to restore them.
However, the main challenge was integrating this information with external climate data to analyze how weather conditions affected the deterioration of buildings and their maintenance costs.
Collecting Climate Data: Collecting specific climate data from each area in Hamilton, averaging the most relevant variables to represent weather conditions near each building.
Linking Data to FCI Rating: Linking this data to the FCI Rating, creating a detailed analysis that demonstrated the relationships between climate variables and maintenance costs.
Predicting Climate Data: Projecting future climate scenarios to predict how maintenance needs might evolve under different conditions.
Final Reflection: A Milestone Achievement
Adding value to our proposal...
While we were initially tasked with creating an informative poster for the presentation, we also decided to include an interactive dashboard. This allowed judges and attendees to view, filter, and interact with the final data used in our analysis, setting us apart from other groups. The presentation was conducted on Looker Studio to ensure accessibility for anyone interested in exploring the data.
Winning the HEAD Competition was an immensely enriching experience. I gained valuable lessons in leadership, data strategy, and teamwork. This achievement reinforced my ability to lead challenging projects and my passion for transforming data into practical solutions.
As part of the final presentation, we showcased our project through two key components:
Poster Presentation: Our poster, titled "Assessing Risk of Extreme Weather on Facilities Maintenance," summarized our methodology, analysis, and findings. It included visualizations that demonstrated the relationships between building conditions and climate factors, insights into maintenance needs, and actionable recommendations for the City of Hamilton to enhance resilience against extreme weather.
Interactive Dashboard: We developed a dynamic dashboard that allowed users to explore key metrics interactively. This included data visualizations such as maps showing the vulnerability of city wards, charts displaying the correlation between building age and FCI ratings, and scenarios modeling the impact of different climate risks. The dashboard provided a user-friendly way for decision-makers to analyze and prioritize maintenance investments effectively.
These deliverables were well-received by the judges for their clarity, practicality, and innovative approach, highlighting the real-world applicability of our project.