Freed-Hardeman University

Freed-Hardeman University hosted the inaugural Tennessee DataFest April 24-26, bringing the international analytics competition to the state for the first time and capturing two of the three top awards. Teams representing Freed-Hardeman and Rhodes College had less than 48 hours to dig into a 7-million-row real-world dataset and present conclusions to a panel of judges from industry and academia. The Best Use of Outside Data Award was given to the FHU group of Tristin Smith, a computer science major from Henderson, Tennessee; Kali Bonner, a management major from Edgewater, Florida; Dev Prakash, a business analytics major from Hodal, India; and Caleb Todd, a computer science and cybersecurity major from Dyer, Tennessee. The prize for Best Insight went to an FHU team of Maddox Andrews, an accounting major from Louisville, Kentucky; Carson Ladd, a business analytics and sport administration major from Nolensville, Tennessee; Logan Chambers, an accounting major from Benton, Kentucky; and Brady Webb, an accounting major from Jackson, Tennessee.

Freed-Hardeman University students and faculty put their puzzle-solving skills to the test racing to complete a 300-piece jigsaw puzzle during the inaugural Speed Puzzle Showdown held this month in the Hope Barber Shull Academic Resource Center. The top two teams earned a $50 prize, a custom T-shirt and Girl Scout Cookies. Every team that participated received the puzzle they completed. Eleven teams of two participated, five for each round, competing in two separate rounds. Some teams arrived with creative names like "Razzle Dazzle," "We Thought This Was Trivia Night," "Blessed Are the Piecemakers," "Rat," "Piece of Cake," "Sub 40" and "Puzzling Vectors." Others simply entered under their own names, including "Anica Riley & Helen Kennedy" and "Mallory Morris & Tristan Mashburn." The Henderson Campus Ministry from Henderson Church of Christ also fielded a team, even wearing custom headbands with their logos.