2024 Datathon Competition

On April 20, 2024, seven teams of CMU graduate and undergraduate students gathered at both MSCF Pittsburgh and New York City locations to compete in an immersive datathon competition. The challenge was to develop an alpha-generating trading model using institutional financial data, powered by the Code Willing platform. Guided by industry mentors from Quantbot, a global quantitative investment advisor, each team was given 3 hours to run backtests, generate alpha, and develop an out-of-sample strategy.

Participants not only gained hands-on experience working with real-world financial data but also had the unique opportunity to collaborate with seasoned professionals, enhancing their understanding of complex financial modeling.

Robert Martinez of Code Willing noted that "participants quickly mastered Code Willing's technology platform which is licensed and used today by several quantitative hedge funds.  Teams used the platform to develop multi-factor models and test trading strategies using real-world financial data achieving great results in simulated trading returns."

Robert Simon, Executive Director of the MSCF Program, remarked, "This competition was a fantastic opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience with real-world financial data and to collaborate with industry professionals to tackle a complex challenge."

Datathon Highlights