SAS and VESIM Collaborate To Leverage Data Analytics for Solving Mental Health Challenges

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | 14^th January 2020: SAS and VESIM hosted the second edition of “Data Quezt”, a specially curated hackathon that leveraged data analytics to solve a very pertinent problem prevalent amongst many students across India today. The second edition of Data Quezt focused on potential of depression and suicide especially amongst the university students in India and how analytics could help to detect patterns of depression and suicide amongst students, and prevention measures for stakeholders using SAS tools.
 
Data Quezt witnessed record participation, an increase of 180% over last year. After two rounds of eliminations, 80 students were selected to be a part of a 24-hour hackathon held at the VESIM campus. The championship kicked off with a keynote address by Dr. Satish Modh, Director, VESIM who spoke on the importance of data-based decision making. “As data turns into a commodity it is crucial for students to learn how data can be an important tool for decision making and how data should be interpreted. The way to approach this would be through developing skills like analytics, judgmental diversity management and understanding & responding to diversity. These skills should be incorporated in management school curriculum, and hackathons offer that additional avenue for students to implement their theoretical knowledge and solve real-world challenges.”
 
At the end of the 24 hours challenge, the participants submitted their analysis reports to the jury and 10 groups were shortlisted to present their findings. The participants were given an interesting problem statement on a humanitarian issue pertaining to depression levels and suicides. They were allocated two datasets: one on the number of suicides for various age, profession groups for men and women across the states over 14 years. The second data set was on depression levels in students and their demographical and behavioral patterns collected through a survey of around 14,000 students. All teams managed to do a very in-depth analysis, however; there were top three teams that stood out with well thought analytical models and approach to problem solving. The winners of Data Quezt were: Group 1: Palak Davda, Mohit Badve and Vinal Bagaria; Group 2: Parth Jardosh and Shloka Shah and Group 3: Ronak Jain, Shubham Dalvi and Shubham Mawande.
 
Bhuvan Nijhawan, Director Education – Asia Pacific, SAS Institute India Private Limited said, “Data in right hands has the capabilities to inform and inspire those in a position to make a difference. The hackathon’s mission is to provide opportunities to young minds to use data for good of the society and harness its power to formulate potential solutions.”