19  YiXin Hong

This is my second year in data solution, where I continued to develop my skills in data science. Throughout the year, I worked with real datasets, learned and used statistical methods to create projects.

Projects

Data Dictionaries

I created data dictionaries for multiple datasets to make the data easier to understand and use for others on the team. The dictionaries explained what each variable meant and the type of data it stored. This helped ensure that everyone working with the data could quickly understand it.

Wharton High School Data Science Competition

I participated in the Wharton High School Data Science Competition, where my team worked together to analyze hockey game data and identify patterns in team performance. We started by organizing and cleaning the data, then built a system to compare teams and predict game outcomes. We focused on factors like scoring efficiency and differences between player lines. In the end, we created team rankings, game predictions, and visual graphs that showed key trends. You can view my project here

Reflections

I am really happy with what I was introduced to over the past year, and I learned a significant amount of new material. I was especially proud of how much I gained just from participating in the Wharton Data Science Competition. I started with little to no knowledge in statistics, but by the end, I was able to build a model that generated meaningful results for each problem in the competition. Although our team did not place in the top 20, it was still a valuable experience. Moving forward, I would like to improve my efficiency and productivity. While I was busy with school, I could have complete more tasks and work more consistently. In addition, I hope complete more projects similar to the Wharton competition, as hands-on experiences like that significantly helped me in improving my skills. For next year, I plan to take on more responsibility by contributing to a greater number of tasks and also developing my own independent project. Especially, I am interested in creating a project that analyzes a specific aspect of either tennis or volleyball. Additionally, if possible, I would like to present at the 2026 Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Conference to share my project with more people.