USC finishes among the top 5 in the Pittsburgh Data Jam 
A team of Upper St. Clair High School students recently finished among the top five in the Pittsburgh Data Jam. Team members included Aditi Chattopadhyaya, Kevin Chen, Mary Lucas, Yash Lohoti, Pramod Narayanan, Mahima Reddy and Kriti Shah.
The Pittsburgh Data Jam introduces Pittsburgh area high school students to big data and data analytics. The event offered students the opportunity to participate in a data analysis competition, data analysis exercises, data visualization tools, field visits to big data companies in Pittsburgh and seminars with data scientists.
The Upper St. Clair team collected and analyzed data to answer the question, “Does Natural Gas Production Correlate with Drinking Water Contamination Levels?” Students processed water quality data from Pittsburgh, Washington, and Butler from a 20-year period and found slight increases in some contaminates, yet none were above the legal limits. Students presented their findings to a panel of Pittsburgh Data Jam judges on April 22, 2016, in the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.
As part of the Data Jam program, Aditi, Mary and Mahima visited IBM Watson in Squirrel Hill, UPMC Enterprises in Bakery Square, and Management Science Associates in East Liberty. Students were accompanied by Ms. Lynn Kistler, high school science teacher and science department curriculum leader.
“Students are anxious for the 2016-17 competition and are already researching topics for the event,” Ms. Kistler said.
The 2016 Pittsburgh Data Jam featured teams from the following 17 high schools from throughout the Pittsburgh area: Avonworth, Bethel Park, Brashear, Central Catholic, Cornell High School, Holy Family Institute, North Allegheny, North Hills, Oakland Catholic High School, Andrew Street High School, Sewickley Academy, The Ellis School, South Fayette, Fox Chapel, Winchester Thurston School, Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School and Upper St. Clair.
