2024-2025
High School Big Data Challenge ™
Conferences
Project:
Harnessing AI and Open Data Analytics to Combat Social Inequities Among Adolescents
CANADA EAST CONFERENCE
February 7, 2025
Date
Toronto, Ontario
Location
Microsoft Canada Headquarters
Place
Winners
We are still gathering the photos :)
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
Finalists’ Research
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
Judges
Shreya Patel
Cloud Solution Architect, Microsoft
LinkedIn Icon
west
Vivek Saahil
Manager – Strategic Business Analysis, Planning & Support, Pratt & Whitney Canada
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west
Stephanie Bach
President & Founder Bach it Up Agri-Consulting Ltd; Board Member, STEM Fellowship
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west
Aditya Nittala
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary
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west
Wally Eng
Senior Solution Consultant at UKG
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west
Claire Ephestion
Business Development Manager Networking Academy Canada
LinkedIn Icon
east
Dr. Ashkan Ebadi
Senior Research Officer @National Research Council of Canada (NRC) | Adj. Prof. @UWaterloo | Aff. Prof. @Concordia | PhD, SMIEEE, FIAP | Data-Driven Solutions Consultant
LinkedIn Icon
east
Andrea Yzeiri
MMA, Chief Data & Analytics Officer and Lead AI Engineer, Picsume
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east
Vivek Saahil
Strategy & Analytics at Pratt & Whitney Canada | McGill MMA
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east
Noor Lalani
MBA, Customer Success Account Manager, Microsoft
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east
Guests/Dignitaries
Edith Dumont
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
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east
Salma Lakhani
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
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west
Dr. Joel Martin
NRC’s Chief Digital Research Officer and Chief Science Officer
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west
Joanne Pitman
Chief Superintendent, The Calgary Board of Education
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west
David Lapides
Vice President, Programs, Let’s Talk Science
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west
Dr. Bonnie Schmidt
CM, FRSC, Founding President, Let’s Talk Science
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east
Nathalie Rudner
OCT, Executive Director, Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario
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east
Dr. Daniel Gruner
CTO, SciNet, UofT
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east
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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east
Sonia Sennik
MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Creative Destruction Lab
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east
CANADA WEST CONFERENCE
January 31, 2025
Date
Calgary, Alberta
Location
University of Calgary Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking
Place
Winners
No items found.
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
Finalists’ Research
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
Judges
Shreya Patel
Cloud Solution Architect, Microsoft
LinkedIn Icon
west
Vivek Saahil
Manager – Strategic Business Analysis, Planning & Support, Pratt & Whitney Canada
LinkedIn Icon
west
Stephanie Bach
President & Founder Bach it Up Agri-Consulting Ltd; Board Member, STEM Fellowship
LinkedIn Icon
west
Aditya Nittala
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary
LinkedIn Icon
west
Wally Eng
Senior Solution Consultant at UKG
LinkedIn Icon
west
Claire Ephestion
Business Development Manager Networking Academy Canada
LinkedIn Icon
east
Dr. Ashkan Ebadi
Senior Research Officer @National Research Council of Canada (NRC) | Adj. Prof. @UWaterloo | Aff. Prof. @Concordia | PhD, SMIEEE, FIAP | Data-Driven Solutions Consultant
LinkedIn Icon
east
Andrea Yzeiri
MMA, Chief Data & Analytics Officer and Lead AI Engineer, Picsume
LinkedIn Icon
east
Vivek Saahil
Strategy & Analytics at Pratt & Whitney Canada | McGill MMA
LinkedIn Icon
east
Noor Lalani
MBA, Customer Success Account Manager, Microsoft
LinkedIn Icon
east
Guests
Edith Dumont
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
LinkedIn Icon
east
Salma Lakhani
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
LinkedIn Icon
west
Dr. Joel Martin
NRC’s Chief Digital Research Officer and Chief Science Officer
LinkedIn Icon
west
Joanne Pitman
Chief Superintendent, The Calgary Board of Education
LinkedIn Icon
west
David Lapides
Vice President, Programs, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
west
Dr. Bonnie Schmidt
CM, FRSC, Founding President, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
east
Nathalie Rudner
OCT, Executive Director, Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario
LinkedIn Icon
east
Dr. Daniel Gruner
CTO, SciNet, UofT
LinkedIn Icon
east
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
east
Sonia Sennik
MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Creative Destruction Lab
LinkedIn Icon
east
Photos
PREVIOUS Projects
2025-2026
Leveraging Big Data and AI to Strengthen Food Security and Promote Sustainable Agriculture
View Project
2024-2025
Harnessing AI and Open Data Analytics to Combat Social Inequities Among Adolescents
View Project
2023-2024
Leveraging Generative AI and Data Cybersecurity to Conserve and Foster Local Biodiversity
View Project
2022-2023
Fair Housing: a Blueprint for Equity in Life, Work and Play
View Project
2021-2022
Cleaner Energy at the Individual and Community Levels
View Project
2020-2021
Using the Power of Open Data to Learn: Paving the Path to True Equality and Equal Access in Education
View Project
2019-2020
New Climate and Information Realities: From Oceans to Glass of Water
View Project
2018-2019
Sustainability: Think Global and Act Local with Big Data
View Project
Sponsors & Stakeholders
The 2026–2027 HSBDC sponsor and stakeholder network includes financial, educational, academic, and industry organizations generously supporting, contributing expertise, learning resources, conference venues and student awards.
Let's Talk Science LogoLet's Talk Science LogoCisco LogoCanada Science Publishing logoUniversity of Calgary logoNRC Canada logoRBC logoUniversity of TorontoNRC Canada logo
HSBDC STEM Fellowship owl with medal
Ready to Lead Your Own Research Project?
Work with real-world data, build AI and research skills, and present your project to a panel of university and industry judges