STILLWATER, Okla. - Two student teams from Oklahoma State University earned second and third place honors at the national “data mining” shootout competition, which was part of the 11th annual data mining conference “M2008.” The conference was hosted by SAS and held Oct. 27-28 in Las Vegas.

Data mining is the exploration and analysis of large quantities of data in order to discover meaningful patterns and rules.

“I am extremely proud of the OSU teams who took second and third place in the M2008 data mining shootout,” said Goutam Chakraborty, professor of marketing for the Spears School and founder of the SAS/OSU data mining certificate program. “It is a very prestigious honor to do so well in this national shootout.”

The top three teams gave a 15 minute presentation about their modeling method and results at the conference, which was attended by more than 800 professionals and academics.

The data mining problem given to teams included more than 730,000 records from an anonymous airline that operates out of three hub cities. The airline wanted to find which flights are likely to be canceled due to weather and other issues so they could take appropriate managerial actions to minimize the effects of cancellations to its customers.

This is the second time in two years OSU students won the majority of the awards in the data mining shootout competition held annually by SAS. Universities from across the nation participate in this prestigious tournament, and no other university has received more awards than OSU in the history of this tournament.

The OSU students participating in the competition are enrolled in the SAS/OSU data mining certificate program, which began in 2004 when OSU partnered with SAS, a leading provider of data analysis and data mining software. The SAS/OSU data mining certificate requires students to complete 12 credit hours of courses, including two core courses and two elective courses. The certificate program is a core component of the master of science in management information systems degree.

“It is a great honor for OSU students to receive these awards in front of so many data mining professionals,” Chakraborty said. “It is also a testament of the quality of OSU’s data mining program.”

The top three teams' universities received cash prizes from Dow Chemical. OSU teams won a total of $5,000, which will be used to help promote data mining teaching and to support graduate students in data mining. SAS, the Central Michigan University Research Corporation and Dow Chemical teamed up to sponsor the contest for students in data mining.

Oklahoma State University is a modern land-grant system that cuts across disciplines to better prepare students for a new world. Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, OSU improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach. OSU has more than 32,000 students across its five-campus system and nearly 21,000 on its Stillwater campus; with students from all 50 states and about 110 nations. Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students who have made a lasting impact on Oklahoma and the world. The Spears School of Business is dedicated to the original land-grant vision of research, instruction and extension. For more information, call the Spears School communications specialist at 405-744-2703.