The University of Naples Federico II and KNIME, the open-source company specializing in Data Science, are pleased to announce the launch of the ‘Biomass Analysis & Predictive Modeling in Bioenergy Sector’ in the 2023/2024 academic year. The initiative will involve the students of the Machine Learning course, lectured by Prof. Carlo Sansone, as part of the Master’s Degree Course in Computer Engineering at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (DIETI).
This course has extensive experience in using a challenge-based framework to support students in putting the theory studied into practice. In fact, since the beginning of its delivery, the Machine Learning course (and previously the Data Mining one) has always included at least one contest, on real data from industry or external research partners, on which students had to compete as part of their examination.
In line with the above-mentioned goals, the collaboration is part of KNIME’s Programme for the Gamification of Learning, coordinated by the KNIME Educators Alliance, which aims to promote and implement playful initiatives, such as competitions, learnathons and hackathons, in order to support data culture and data literacy in higher and University education. KNIME’s free and open-source no-code/low-code analytics platform, together with its vibrant community, enables data professionals to easily access simple and advanced data science techniques and enables educators and researchers to teach them to the next generation of professionals.
The student competition follows the example of past student competitions held for example at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome (Italy), with Prof. Francisco Villarroel, Technische Hochschule in Cologne (Germany) with Prof. Tobias Schlüter, ETH with Prof. Ulrick Brandes in Zurich (CH), VCU (with Prof. Dayanjan (Shanaka) Wijesinghe) in Richmond (VA, USA), and Bicocca University by Prof. Fabio Stella in Milan (Italy).
As in previous editions, the University of Naples Federico II is defining the theme and goals of the competition, as well as providing the data. KNIME, for its part, is offering training, practical professional skills, prizes and certifications for the five finalist teams. The jury members will jointly assess the projects and decide on the winning team based on the accuracy, complexity, clarity, usability, and completeness of their documentation.
KNIME connects the worlds of dashboards and advanced analysis through an intuitive interface suitable for anyone working with data. It enables an increasing number of executives and business experts to be self-sufficient and data professionals to equip the company with cutting-edge technologies for modern data science, integrating the latest artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. KNIME is distinguished by its open-source philosophy that ensures easy adoption, access, and integration of all new technologies.