The 2017 China College SAS Data Analysis Competition, hosted by global data analytics leader SAS, held its award ceremony on November 20 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Five teams sent by our School of Statistics and Management and School of Finance overcame numerous challenges and achieved excellent results, with the team composed of Luo Jingsheng, Cheng Dan, and Liu Zhenlin winning fourth place nationwide. The other three teams secured ninth place, made it to the top 30, and the top 40, respectively. Vice Dean Wu Chunjie from the School of Statistics and Management and Professor Lu Rong from the School of Finance received the Excellent Organization Award for this competition.
At the beginning of the year, Wu Chunjie, the deputy dean of the School of Statistics and Management, took the lead in establishing a preparation team for the SAS Data Analysis Competition. The school provided a large amount of professional materials to participating students free of charge and assigned professional teachers to offer regular guidance and occasional Q&A, giving the students the utmost support and assistance.
A total of 1,036 teams participated in the preliminary round of this competition, with over 3,000 students taking part. Traditional strong teams such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, Renmin University of China, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Fudan University, Tongji University, Sun Yat-sen University, and Xiamen University all sent teams to compete, with the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics' School of Statistics and Management hosting the Shanghai regional preliminaries. Most of the participants this year are from this year’s graduating class, and their SAS application skills represent the highest level among domestic graduates. Our school sent five teams that, with their solid SAS software foundation and practical skills, successfully advanced to the Beijing finals along with over a hundred other teams.
Figure: The awards ceremony of the competition was held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.
After a day of data processing, modeling analysis, and paper writing, the team composed of Luo Jingsheng, Cheng Dan, and Liu Zhenlin stood on the awards podium at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the finals, achieving a commendable fourth place nationally. The scale of the SAS Data Analysis Competition for Chinese universities has grown exponentially year by year. Amidst increasingly fierce competition, all three teams from our School of Statistics and Management made it into the top thirty, and both teams from the School of Finance entered the national top fifty.
Image: Awards Ceremony for the Top Four Group, Luo Jingsheng
Photo: Group photo of the participating students and teachers from our school.
Photo: Group photo of the three participating teams from the School of Statistics and Management
The 2017 SAS Data Analysis Competition for Chinese Universities was hosted by SAS China. The competition aims to provide a platform for data analysis talents in Chinese universities to showcase their professional abilities, encouraging them to continue exploring the field of data analysis with passion, and preparing them to become future data scientists. It is an opportunity to motivate students to explore cutting-edge technologies and practical business scenarios in the global data analysis field, leading Chinese young data talents to become world-class analytical leaders.
Vice Dean Wu Chunjie received the Excellent University Organization Award at this competition. During the award presentation, he spoke again as a representative of the faculty. Since 2013, the School of Statistics and Management at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics has collaborated with SAS China to host the SAS Data Analysis Competition for Chinese universities, and in 2015 to 2016, they signed a comprehensive and in-depth cooperation agreement on talent cultivation and other aspects. Now, after five years of development, the SAS Data Analysis Competition for Chinese universities, as a public welfare competition, has seen a substantial increase in both the number of participants and regions involved. Wu Chunjie expressed his hope that the SAS Data Analysis Competition for Chinese universities will continue to improve and thanked the organizers for their significant contribution to the promotion of data analysis.
Image: Vice Dean Wu Chunjie speaking as a representative of university faculty at the final award ceremony.
Image: Our school's School of Statistics and Management, School of Finance awarded Excellent Organization Award.
In October 2015, led by the School of Statistics and Management, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement with SAS China. Both parties engaged in comprehensive and multi-faceted strategic collaboration, including establishing a student practice base, founding the "Shanghai University of Finance and Economics - SAS Training and Development Center," conducting the "SAS Data Analysis Competition," engaging in research cooperation, and talent cultivation. Over the past five editions of the competition, our School of Statistics and Management has achieved remarkable results, winning two championships, one third place, and one national fourth place, adding to the grandeur of the centennial celebration.
The SAS competition has received significant attention from the school’s administration and the leaders of the School of Statistics and Management, from the initial selection, team training, to winning awards. It has also received strong support from the school's professional education and teaching reform project, "Comprehensive Reform Pilot Project for the Statistics Major - Bingwen Program," and the 2016 university-level teaching reform project, "Collaborative Education Between Schools and Enterprises for Cultivating Innovative Talents in Statistics through a Diversified Model." In recent years, the college has strengthened its talent cultivation cooperation with several well-known enterprises (HSBC, Nielsen, Tongdun Technology, etc.), engaging in various activities such as competitions, statistical modeling contests, internship and practice base construction, and practical case course development. This is a prominent example of the college's innovative practice in reforming the statistical talent cultivation model and the comprehensive reform of the statistics major, as well as a strong exploration of enhancing school-enterprise cooperation and expanding the talent cultivation construction platform.
At the end of the award ceremony, Mr. Wu Fushi, President of SAS Greater China, Mr. Liu Zheng, General Manager of SAS China R&D Center, Ms. Catherine Truxillo, Director of SAS Advanced Analytics Product Training, and Mr. Bhuvan Nijhawan, Regional Director of Education and Training for SAS Asia Pacific, launched the 2018 China University Data Analysis Competition and the inaugural Corporate Data Analysis Competition, opening a new chapter in the field of data analysis across industry, academia, and research.
