On Saturday, Oct. 17, students gathered at St. Catherine University for the MinneMUDAC 2026 Student Data Challenge. Each team shared their insights after weeks of analyzing data for the 2026 industry partner, local hunger-relief nonprofit The Food Group. We are proud to present the top teams from each division. This year’s challenge also included awards for best prediction and serendipitous discovery.
1st Place – Graduate Division
Minnesota State University, Mankato – Computer Information Sciences
Team: Maverick Intelligence (G08)
Students: Biruk Anley, Roshit Niraula, Daniela Ortega, Sauharda Shrestha, Jacob Tang
Advisor: Mansi Bhavsar
1st Place – Undergraduate Division
Carleton College – Mathematics & Statistics
Team: Epoch-alypse (U11)
Students: Jackson Rankin, Gencer Sarp Mert, Jonah Jaechan Yoon, William Zhong
Advisor: Amanda Luby
1st Place – Novice Division
St. Catherine University – Political Science / Economics
Team: St. Kate’s 5 (N06)
Students: Amie Tran, Fern Zegarra, Zoe Mayes, Raya Cassidy, Ella Brefo
Advisor: Karine Belarmino
2nd Place – Graduate Division
Minnesota State University, Mankato – Mathematics & Statistics
Team: The Predictors (G10)
Students: Hajar Ahmed, Augustine Antwi, Nafissatou Bahadio, Ewuradwoa Odum, Paige Swanson
Advisor:Md Monzur Murshed
2nd Place – Undergraduate Division
University of Wisconsin-Madison – College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence (CAI)
Team: MySA Badgers (U20)
Students: Eirfann Danish bin Farul Muzri, Ariff Dziqri bin Ismadi, Mukhriz Hazli bin Mohamad, Muhammad Dinsabqi bin Nor Azmi
Advisor: Kris Sankaran
2nd Place – Novice Division
The College of St. Scholastica – Computer Science
Team: The Insight Squad (N08)
Students: Alaina Blomberg, Caleb Bole, Kobe Casey, Sydney Schaefer
Advisor: Brandon Olson
3rd Place – Undergraduate Division
University of Arkansas – Data Science / Information Systems
Team: The Outliers (U27)
Students: Brady Brown, Conrad Haslauer, Nadine Moustafa
Advisor: Justin Shipp
Best Prediction – Graduate Division
Minnesota State University, Mankato – Computer Information Science
Team: Bad Data (G01)
Students: Sadman Sakib Abdullah, Mashfika Jahan, Davis Reinhard, Marten Weijer, Yisihaq Yemiru
Advisor: Mansi Bhavsar
Best Prediction – Undergraduate Division
Augsburg University – Mathematics, Computer Science, and Data Science
Team: Data Levi’s (U07)
Students: Brandon Kemboi, Zane Mehmeti, Aamal Mohammad, Aemun Munawar, Samuel Schmoll
Advisor: John Zobitz
Serendipitous Discovery – Graduate Division
University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management
Team: Data Detectors (G02)
Students: Uddam Chea, Dhyan Desai, Valentino Longo
Advisor: Mochen Yang
Serendipitous Discovery – Undergraduate Division
St. Catherine University – Statistics
Team: R Square (U24)
Students: Nesteho Abdi, Betlehem Gebrewolde, Melanie Gravdahl, Emma Holden, Katie M Rivas Sanchez
Advisor: Ibrahim Soumare
Congratulations!
MinneMUDAC is presented by MinneAnalytics in partnership with the Midwest Undergraduate Data Analytics Competition (MUDAC). Thank you to our 2026 industry partner The Food Group and event host St. Catherine University. View more event photos here.
