NEWS RELEASE OCTOBER 14, 2026
College Students Analyze Data to Battle Food Insecurity at MinneMUDAC 2026 Student Data Challenge on Oct 17
St. PAUL, MN — October 14, 2026 — More than 200 undergraduate and graduate students from colleges across the country are descending on the Twin Cities this month to battle food insecurity using data science. The MinneMUDAC 2026 Student Data Challenge tasks student teams with analyzing complex data sets to provide actionable insights for this year’s industry partner, local hunger-relief nonprofit The Food Group. The event is presented by MinneAnalytics in partnership with the Midwest Undergraduate Data Analytics Competition (MUDAC).
Following weeks of preparation, the competition will culminate in a fast-paced, live judging event on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. Teams will present their findings to teams of judges made up of professionals from the community.
“Participants in MinneMUDAC learn first-hand how to solve problems that do not have tidy answers,” said Chris Malone, co-founder of MUDAC.“ The analytics problem posed by The Food Group is difficult and does not have a particular solution that is known.”
Student participants have the potential to create real impact in the community. The Food Group tracked 9 million visits to food shelves by food-insecure Minnesotans in 2025, an all-time high.
“As hunger rises and more families struggle to keep food on the table, The Food Group is grateful to be a part of the MinneMUDAC 2026 Data Challenge,” said Sophia Lenarz-Coy, executive director of The Food Group. “Thoughtful analysis of food shelf visits will help us map the need statewide, champion policies and programs that fight hunger, and get food where it’s most needed.”
The challenge itself is designed to give students real-world experience in solving complex problems with imperfect, and often messy, data. This experience is invaluable as they continue their education and enter the workforce.
“There are no perfect answers here, only shades of good, better, and best,” said John Hogue, MinneAnalytics board member. “It is the same work data professionals do in their day jobs. The real world is messy, and the job is to make sense of it anyway.”
For more information contact Dan Atkins at dan@minneanalytics.org.
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Media Contact:
Dan Atkins
Cofounder, MinneAnalytics
Dan@minneanalytics.org