The Data Mine at Purdue University in Indianapolis isn’t just a space where students enhance their data skills. It’s a community where they build lasting friendships, receive mentorship and tackle real-world challenges alongside corporate partners.

Following The Data Mine’s inaugural semester in Indianapolis in fall 2024, key findings from their end-of-year report highlight strong engagement and positive feedback from students and industry partners.

“To prepare students to enter into industry and the workforce, we need to bring industry to the students,” shares Maggie Betz, managing director of The Data Mine in Indianapolis.

Career aspirations

The Data Mine’s hands-on approach is impacting Purdue students like Anuj Shah, a first-year computer science major in Indianapolis. Shah highlights how the program’s structure simulates real-world scenarios where teams solve complex problems under tight deadlines.

"It’s a very realistic approach,” says Shah. “Working with my peers to prepare for our deadlines deepened my actual understanding of the technologies at hand.”

The real-world learning opportunities also earned praise from industry partners. Sam Zukowski, formulation scientist for Corteva Agriscience, shares that The Data Mine has demonstrated excellent organization and project execution.

“The students assigned to each project have learned our business very quickly under the guidance of their respective TAs,” Zukowski says. “They have shown the ability to work efficiently as a team and remain agile as project goals shift.”

Zukowski says Corteva Agriscience highly recommends partnering with The Data Mine, regardless of a company’s industry.

Shah’s project developing a large language model (LLM) for V2X, an aerospace and defense company, exemplifies the value of such collaborations. While working on an LLM for a school project provides a broad understanding, he explains the experience of applying his skills in a real-world company context offers invaluable insights beyond what a classroom setting provides.

“Having something that gives you this much industry experience before you even start your career is crucial,” shares Shah.

Neelay Ranjan, a sophomore studying AI, explains real-world data he encounters through The Data Mine is more complex than anything he's experienced in his classes.

“The data you receive in the real world is going to be so messy that you may feel lost looking at it,” Ranjan shares.

He learned to take a seemingly impossible task — like converting images into text on a large scale — and break it into manageable problems. This problem-solving approach, combined with the opportunity to receive mentorship and valuable career advice, influenced Ranjan’s professional aspirations and helped him land a summer internship.

“The Data Mine’s impact on my future career has been revolutionary,” shares Ranjan.

Skill growth

Students involved in The Data Mine assessed their confidence in various skills through surveys conducted at the beginning and end of the semester. Technical skills like programming improved, but soft skills including time and project management saw more significant growth.

“These results highlight the multifaceted nature of our program,” shares Bryce Castle, corporate partners technical specialist in Indianapolis. “Students are going to get programming experience, but we’re also teaching them how to be better team players and collaborators.”

Eni Owolabi, a senior in mechanical engineering, was involved in the inaugural Boiler Gold Rush in Indianapolis. After working with Orientation Programs as a team leader, she joined The Data Mine as a teaching assistant.

“It’s created a lot of career opportunities for me,” Owolabi says. “It’s great to work in a role where I’m gaining hands-on experience with the team, while also getting school and corporate experience.”

Owolabi’s project involves receiving player data from the Indiana Fever basketball team and organizing it to create an ideal “dream team.” She explains working with student developers and corporate employees — while communicating about a huge amount of data — has helped increase her project management skills.

“I’ve been able to improve my project management skills in the way that I effectively communicate with my team,” shares Owolabi.

Gregory Harner, a first-year student majoring in computer science, is part of Owolabi’s group. He shares that a key component of the project was the development of an archetype system. By categorizing players based on playstyles, students help identify the best combination of talents and skills for a winning team strategy.

Through experience working with Fever basketball data, Harner gained a better understanding of data literacy. He learned focusing on the bigger picture helps to interpret data better and reduces the risk of incorrectly analyzing numbers.

“You have to take a step back first and understand the data you’re working with before you write any programming or do any coding,” Harner shares.

Sense of belonging

Following the launch of Purdue’s Indianapolis expansion in 2024, new students navigated a transition to a different campus environment. The Data Mine community fostered a sense of belonging for students who were new to Purdue.

“It feels like it’s almost one Purdue,” Harner shares.

He connected with many students — both in Indianapolis and in West Lafayette — through The Data Mine.

Betz shares that the location’s proximity to The Data Mine’s corporate partners has accelerated the engagement between students and partners.

“It’s been really great to see the urbanism of Indianapolis and Purdue collide through The Data Mine,” she says.

Another aspect enhancing student experience was the transformation of the former dean’s suite into a dynamic hub for student collaboration.

“We transformed a space for few into a classroom for many,” explains Castle.

Betz’s and Castle’s offices bookend the space, allowing students to approach them whenever needed. Castle shares that this unique accessibility is a distinctive feature of the Indianapolis program.

The program has eight corporate partners and 12 projects. Betz and Castle plan to increase the number of partners to offer more students the opportunity to join The Data Mine.

The 2024 end-of-year report shows that 98% of students in The Data Mine said they would recommend working with corporate partners, who have also expressed satisfaction with the students’ work.

“This program has been a great opportunity to work with Purdue students in Indianapolis, and my experience with them has been just as strong as with those in West Lafayette,” shares Ben Forsythe, sustainability and value creation innovation director for the Indiana Soybean Alliance. “They bring curiosity, a willingness to learn and a commitment to ensuring project outcomes meet the needs of all stakeholders.”

The Data Mine is poised for more success. Following a strong fall 2024 semester, the program is building momentum and currently recruiting data-driven projects to launch in fall 2025. Interested industry partners should contact Maggie Betz.

Faculty, students, corporate partners and community members are encouraged to attend the inaugural poster session and Corporate Partners Symposium at the Student Innovation & Excellence Showcase at Purdue in Indianapolis on Thursday, April 24. The event will feature posters from The Data Mine. Posters will also be on display in West Lafayette on April 30, 2025 from 4-6 p.m. in the CoRec.

Follow The Data Mine’s LinkedIn page to stay updated on the latest highlights. For more information, visit The Data Mine website.