Inaugural Data Science Summer School 2019 Held at AUA
2 min readYEREVAN, Armenia – On July 14, 2019, the awards ceremony recognizing the winning group projects marked the culmination of the inaugural Data Science Summer School organized by the American University of Armenia (AUA) Akian College of Science and Engineering (CSE).
Data Science Summer School 2019 was the first attempt to enable professionals from diverse fields to get acquainted with the fundamentals of information science, basic tools and technologies, and to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills in real-world projects.
From July 1 to 14, more than 70 participants, including students, specialists, and professionals making a career change, took an exciting journey through the world of data science where they had the opportunity to discover new paths.
“This educational opportunity has justified itself in all aspects, including the high quality of instruction, the choice of topics and professionals, organization of classes and complementary events that made this two-week program very exciting. I believe that the skills and knowledge I’ve gained can be successfully applied in my future professional activities,” affirmed Lilit Poghosyan, one of the participants in the summer school.
As a part of the summer program, the participants were divided into teams to work on projects supervised by experts and specialists. On the last day of the summer school the projects were presented to the jury and three groups were announced winners.
The groups worked on projects in various fields, including automatic recognition of banknotes, forecasting employee churn rate, analysis of art samples, analysis of drug name search patterns, optimal cancer treatment approaches, large-scale analysis of tourist establishments, among others. The participants of the summer school designed solutions using large databases and algorithmic techniques of modern machine learning.
The three winning projects, Clustering and Sentiment Analysis of Tripadvisor Reviews About Armenian Touristic Places, Employee Churn Prediction, and Recommender System with Light FM, received monetary prizes established by the main sponsors of the Data Science Summer School – Beeline and Webb Fontaine.
“This is a very important initiative for Armenia and the field. Currently data scientists are among the most demanded specialists in the world, and the growth of this demand is inevitable. Promoting the development of the sector is an important step by AUA,” noted Harutyun Shahumyan, a scholar at the University College of Dublin and one of the summer school lecturers.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.
Media Coverage:
[Armenia TV] Առաջին անգամ անցկացվել է տվայալագիտության ամառային դպրոց
[H2] Տվյալագիտության ամառային դպրոցի դասերն ավարտված են
[Yerkir Media TV] ՀԱՀ-ում ամփոփվել են «Տվյալագիտության ամառային դպրոցի» արդյունքները
[Kentron TV] ՀԱՀ-ում Բիլայնի աջակցությամբ կազմակերպված «Տվյալագիտության ամառային դպրոց» ծրագիրն ավարտվել է
[Itel.am] Data Science Summer School sums up with support of sponsor Beeline
[B24] Beeline. ՀԱՀ-ում ամփոփվեցին «Տվյալագիտության ամառային դպրոցի» արդյունքները
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMgtunkG0G0&feature=youtu.be&t=1393
