Skip to content
<\/i>","library":"fa-solid"}}" data-widget_type="nav-menu.default">
  • Home
  • Maties Connect
  • Donate
    • Ways to Give
    • #Move4food
  • Contact
  • Convocation
  • Afrikaans
  • Home
  • Maties Connect
  • Donate
    • Ways to Give
    • #Move4food
  • Contact
  • Convocation
  • Afrikaans

Menu

  • English
  • Afrikaans

Winning team combines computer science and data science skills in Data School Hackathon

A team consisting of two fourth year Computer Science students and one third year BDat Science student won first place in the annual Data School Hackathon, which took place in collaboration with Standard Bank Lab and Mobylaz in August this year.

Wicus van der Linden and Daniel van Zyl, both BSc Honours students in computer science, teamed up with Christiaan Hildebrand, a third year student in BDatScience, after they had first met each other as undergraduates in Majuba’s Men’s Residence in 2021.

Wicus says they were interested in taking part in a hackathon challenge oriented around data science, as they have not had as much exposure to machine learning and data science during their undergraduate studies.

“We knew each other well from time spent together in residence, and we were excited for the chance to prove ourselves in a more real-world orientated challenge,” Wicus says.

This year the challenge posed to students was to investigate and analyse a set of telemetry data of various taxi vehicles insured by Mobalyz, aiming to gain insight into various characteristics such as driver behaviour, risk, or performance. The data included more than three million events, from ten different vehicles, with observations including g-forces, speed, and location, Wicus explains.

Teams were given ten days to submit their findings. From the more than 40 submissions from 25 teams, six teams were selected for a final round of presentations. Monetary prizes were available for each of the top three teams, as well as a bonus prize for the best performing women’s team.

The winning team produced a decision-tree-based risk assessment model, classifying taxi driving behaviour based on similarity to known insurance claim information: “We made use of external datasets for features such as weather conditions and traffic information from Uber. We also analysed driver routes and parking behaviour to identify which vehicles had significant changes in their daily or weekly patterns, possibly indicating driver changes” Wicus explains.

According to Daniel, the hackathon exceeded all their expectations: “To be honest, it was fascinating to have the creative freedom on an open-ended task, and to have data to work with that had real-world implications and stakeholders. I think it really showed us how we as data scientists can get to work with different industries, people and datasets. And that even students can add value to a business market,” he added.

The winning team also thanked the efforts made by the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking, Standard Bank and Mobalyz to put together such an interesting challenge.

On the photo above: The winning team, from the left, Wicus van der Linden, Daniel van Zyl and Christiaan Hildebrand. Photo supplied

More articles

Convocation election: only two days left to vote

‘Go after your dreams and don’t doubt your abilities’

Stellenbosch University remains firmly committed to human rights, dignity, multilingualism and inclusivity

Once a Matie, Always a Matie
  • Homecoming
    • Homecoming 2024
    • Homecoming 2023
    • Homecoming 2022
    • Homecoming 2020
  • Campaigns
    • 2021
      • Law Faculty Dean’s Fund
      • Covid-19 Relief Funds
      • Masked Masterpieces
      • Thank You
    • 2022
      • #Action4inclusion
      • Bridge The Gap Annual Fund
      • EndGBV
      • Train4Fees
      • #SciMathus
      • Move4Food
    • 2023
      • Breast Cancer Awareness
  • Chapters
    • Global Maties Network
  • Alumni Flagship Programmes
    • Pre-Alumni
    • Swan
    • Young Alumni
  • Events
    • Alumni Engagement Calendar
    • Events
  • News
  • Videos
  • Donate
    • Move4Food
    • Donate
    • Impact Reports
  • Get informed
    • Alumni Clubhouse
    • Contact
    • Get Informed
    • Matie Shop
    • Maties Wine Club
  • Volunteering at SU
  • Visit Sun.ac
  • Home
  • Maties Connect
  • Donate
    • Ways to Give
    • #Move4food
  • Contact
  • Convocation
  • Afrikaans

Stellenbosch
Private Bag X1
Matieland
South Africa

+27(0)21 808 9265
alumni@sun.ac.za

Facebook Linkedin Instagram Twitter

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in .

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. View our Privacy Policy

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!