Harnessing AI and Open Data Analytics to Combat Social Inequities Among Adolescents
The outcomes of the National High School Big Data Challenge Program — a program that strengthens students’ problem-solving and computational thinking abilities in the real world.
2024
High School Big Data Challenge™
HSBDC offers an extracurricular, interdisciplinary, experiential learning program that strengthens students’ problem-solving and computational thinking abilities and introduces them to open science.
HSBDC™
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Program Statistics
Participants Grade
HSBDC
48.7%
participants are in grade 10 or less. Grades: 9 - 1.5%, 10 - 12.3%, 11 - 50.8%, 12 - 34.9%
90.38%
checkpoint 1 submission
86.54%
checkpoint 2 submission
Locations
HSBDC
9/10
schools are from Canada. 56% - Eastern Canada, 43% - Western Canada, 1% - Flekke, Norway
Culminating Events
Western Canada Finals
Calgary, AB, January 31, 2025
University of Calgary Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking
Identifying Factors Influencing Youth Substance Abuse in Canada: Insights from Machine Learning Models
Sean Choi, Jerry Hu, Brian Chen, Yihan Wang, Simba Yang
A Multivariate Analysis Using Machine Learning on the Impact of Education-Based Factors on Employment Income for Youth
Jessica Bai, Aiden Chen, Julie Chen, and Alexander Li
Unveiling Social Inequities in Adolescent Suicide: Harnessing AI and Open Data Analytics for Targeted Interventions
Andrew Xiang, Bill Gu, Sofiya Zuykova, Jingtian Fu, and Shayaan Shobid
Examining the Impact of Digital Access Disparities on Educational Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Analysis
Shazain Wasif, Taysir Bhura, Mofe Omolade, and Farhan Chowdhury
Using AI to Mitigate Bias Between Student Demographics and Extracurricular Courses: An Analysis on the Accessibility of Extracurricular Activities and Social Inequities Among Adolescents
Jasper Knoll, Vibhu Vemana, Piaoyi Wu, Elias Yajure, and Ronald Li
Investigating the Influence of Poverty on High School Graduation Rates: An Analysis of the Impact of Socioeconomic Inequities on Adolescents
Arnav Sinha, Harper Yang, Justin Nguyen, Lucien Lin, and Richard Gao
Defining the Effects of Legislation and Political Attitudes on K-12 School Shootings: 2010-2022
Robert Lin, James Mar, Vanessa Wang, Elaine Wang, and Jordan Chen
Predicting Opioid Use Disorders in the U.S. Using Machine Learning Among Adolescents Receiving Mental Health Services
Cathy Rong, Jessie Song, Afnan Rajab, Iris Li, Chase Pelechytik
Impact of Health Inequality on Adolescent Fertility Rate and Abortion Rate
Riley Jin, Ella Zhang, and Sophia Na
Winners
Winners of Canada’s National Big Data and AI Challenge
A Multivariate Analysis Using Machine Learning on the Impact of Education-Based Factors on Employment Income for Youth
Jessica Bai, Aiden Chen, Julie Chen, and Alexander Li
Examining the Impact of Digital Access Disparities on Educational Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Analysis
Shazain Wasif, Taysir Bhura, Mofe Omolade, and Farhan Chowdhury
Investigating the Influence of Poverty on High School Graduation Rates: An Analysis of the Impact of Socioeconomic Inequities on Adolescents
Arnav Sinha, Harper Yang, Justin Nguyen, Lucien Lin, and Richard Gao
Defining the Effects of Legislation and Political Attitudes on K-12 School Shootings: 2010-2022
Robert Lin, James Mar, Vanessa Wang, Elaine Wang, and Jordan Chen
Shreya Patel
Cloud Solution Architect, Microsoft
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Vivek Saahil
Manager – Strategic Business Analysis, Planning & Support, Pratt & Whitney Canada
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Stephanie Bach
President & Founder Bach it Up Agri-Consulting Ltd; Board Member, STEM Fellowship
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Aditya Nittala
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary
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Wally Eng
Senior Solution Consultant at UKG
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Claire Ephestion
Business Development Manager Networking Academy Canada
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Dr. Ashkan Ebadi
Ph.D., SMIEEE, Senior Research Officer, Digital Technologies Research Centre, National Research Council Canada
LinkedIn Icon
Andrea Yzeiri
MMA, Chief Data & Analytics Officer and Lead AI Engineer, Picsume
LinkedIn Icon
Vivek Saahil
Manager – Strategic Business Analysis, Planning & Support, Pratt & Whitney Canada
LinkedIn Icon
Noor Lalani
MBA, Customer Success Account Manager, Microsoft
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Special Guests
Provides expertise and fosters connections with government academia, and industry to guide initiatives.
Edith Dumont
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
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Salma Lakhani
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
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Dr. Joel Martin
NRC’s Chief Digital Research Officer and Chief Science Officer
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Joanne Pitman
Chief Superintendent, The Calgary Board of Education
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David Lapides
Vice President, Programs, Let’s Talk Science
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Dr. Bonnie Schmidt
CM, FRSC, Founding President, Let’s Talk Science
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Nathalie Rudner
OCT, Executive Director, Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario
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Dr. Daniel Gruner
CTO, SciNet, UofT
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Lachmi Singh
PhD, MEd, LL.B, BA, Director, Academic Programs, Planning & Quality Assurance, Office of the Vice-Provost, Academic Programs, University of Toronto
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Sonia Sennik
MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Creative Destruction Lab
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eastern Canada Finals
Toronto, ON, February 7, 2025
Microsoft Canada Headquarters
Literacy Rates Factor Analysis
Cathy Zhang, Elliot Fang, Jamie Seoh, and Aarnav Thite
Leveraging Childcare and Early Learning Data to Understand the Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Accessing Resources that Promote Academic Readiness
Khushman Buttar, Jaideep Delow, Riyaz Kaur, Avnoor Dhaliwal, and Girish Nischal
AI in Food Inequality: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Predict Food Waste in Agriculture and Post-Harvesting
Swanish Baweja, Akshit Erukulla, Amol Sriprasadh, Arkajit Paul, and Aaron Sethi
Investigating the Impact of Internet-related Inequalities on Youth’s Education using Artificial Intelligence
Abhinav Bathala, Eric Du, Saara Sherazi, Taha Sultan, and Adam Zheng
Using AI to Analyze Youth Perspectives on Access to Opportunity and Reducing Inequity in Canada
Tommy Xu, Haolin Gao, and John Lu
Investigating Youth Primary and Secondary Education Inequalities in Ontario
Ayesha Siddique and Zainab Siddique
Defining the Significance of Childhood Family Income on Future Living Conditions
Konark Gupta
A Geospatial Approach to Identifying Optimal Adolescent Mental Health Service Locations in Toronto
Danny Zhang, Jed Lin, Hudson Haas, and Darius Aul
Optimizing Budget Allocations in Ontario School Boards for Efficient, Equitable, and Inclusive Education
Ibrahim Ansari, Ibrahim Khawar, Amelia Kiung, Michael Xiao, and Zachary Yu
Predicting Socioeconomic Disparities Among Adolescents: A Spatial and Computational Analysis of Urban Design Factors
Roshan Iruku, Gurshaan Dhillon, Gurnoor Kaur, Kavangun Kalra, and Rohith Iruku
Winners
Winners of Canada’s National Big Data and AI Challenge
Leveraging Childcare and Early Learning Data to Understand the Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Accessing Resources that Promote Academic Readiness
Khushman Buttar, Jaideep Delow, Riyaz Kaur, Avnoor Dhaliwal, and Girish Nischal
AI in Food Inequality: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Predict Food Waste in Agriculture and Post-Harvesting
Swanish Baweja, Akshit Erukulla, Amol Sriprasadh, Arkajit Paul, and Aaron Sethi
Investigating Youth Primary and Secondary Education Inequalities in Ontario
Ayesha Siddique and Zainab Siddique
Defining the Significance of Childhood Family Income on Future Living Conditions
Konark Gupta
A Geospatial Approach to Identifying Optimal Adolescent Mental Health Service Locations in Toronto
Danny Zhang, Jed Lin, Hudson Haas, and Darius Aul
Predicting Socioeconomic Disparities Among Adolescents: A Spatial and Computational Analysis of Urban Design Factors
Roshan Iruku, Gurshaan Dhillon, Gurnoor Kaur, Kavangun Kalra, and Rohith Iruku
Shreya Patel
Cloud Solution Architect, Microsoft
LinkedIn Icon
Vivek Saahil
Manager – Strategic Business Analysis, Planning & Support, Pratt & Whitney Canada
LinkedIn Icon
Stephanie Bach
President & Founder Bach it Up Agri-Consulting Ltd; Board Member, STEM Fellowship
LinkedIn Icon
Aditya Nittala
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary
LinkedIn Icon
Wally Eng
Senior Solution Consultant at UKG
LinkedIn Icon
Claire Ephestion
Business Development Manager Networking Academy Canada
LinkedIn Icon
Dr. Ashkan Ebadi
Ph.D., SMIEEE, Senior Research Officer, Digital Technologies Research Centre, National Research Council Canada
LinkedIn Icon
Andrea Yzeiri
MMA, Chief Data & Analytics Officer and Lead AI Engineer, Picsume
LinkedIn Icon
Vivek Saahil
Manager – Strategic Business Analysis, Planning & Support, Pratt & Whitney Canada
LinkedIn Icon
Noor Lalani
MBA, Customer Success Account Manager, Microsoft
LinkedIn Icon
Special Guests
Provides expertise and fosters connections with government academia, and industry to guide initiatives.
Edith Dumont
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
LinkedIn Icon
Salma Lakhani
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
LinkedIn Icon
Dr. Joel Martin
NRC’s Chief Digital Research Officer and Chief Science Officer
LinkedIn Icon
Joanne Pitman
Chief Superintendent, The Calgary Board of Education
LinkedIn Icon
David Lapides
Vice President, Programs, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
Dr. Bonnie Schmidt
CM, FRSC, Founding President, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
Nathalie Rudner
OCT, Executive Director, Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario
LinkedIn Icon
Dr. Daniel Gruner
CTO, SciNet, UofT
LinkedIn Icon
Lachmi Singh
PhD, MEd, LL.B, BA, Director, Academic Programs, Planning & Quality Assurance, Office of the Vice-Provost, Academic Programs, University of Toronto
LinkedIn Icon
Sonia Sennik
MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Creative Destruction Lab
LinkedIn Icon
Highlights
Photo & video feedback of the participants
CTVNews | Calgary high school students compete in finals of national AI challenge
Ten teams from across the country competed at the University of Calgary Friday for the 2025 National High School Big Data and AI Challenge Finals, with projects aimed at tackling serious problems including youth suicides, teen drug use, and school shootings.
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Fair Housing: a Blueprint for Equity in Life, Work and Play
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Cleaner Energy at the Individual and Community Levels
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Using the Power of Open Data to Learn: Paving the Path to True Equality and Equal Access in Education
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New Climate and Information Realities: From Oceans to Glass of Water
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