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Engine Works

Under the hood of Alteryx: tips, tricks and how-tos.
DylanB
Alteryx Alumni (Retired)

I am excited to announce that October 13th will mark the kickoff of the second

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with the University of Connecticut's Masters of Science in Business Analytics and Project Management (MSBAPM).... The Data Challenge in the spring was a huge success with over 100 students and alumni registering as teams of 1-4 and going from no Alteryx experience to building exciting and cool workflows, apps, and macros in less than 2 weeks. Though we suggest several options for datasets to explore, students are encouraged to delve into any datasets they find interesting and try to glean insights from them.

 

I'm an alumnus of the MSBAPM program, and my success in the Spring Data Challenge led to my employment here with Alteryx. Thus, I can attest to the opportunities that the Challenge provides to the students at UCONN. Though most of the submissions (homework, exams) in the program are software agnostic, SAS is best-known by instructors and hence is best supported throughout the curriculum. I've watched fellow students experience pain and anxiety using combinations of Excel, SQL, JMP, and SAS EM alongside others and seen that be amplified by steep learning curves. Personally, until the Data Challenge, I'd turned to Python in an attempt to enjoy analytics. I've also gotten to see (and feel) firsthand the difference between someone being relieved that they finally got another combination of tools to accomplish the task that they wanted and someone being excited that they were able to quickly and effectively manipulate data to gain insights.

This challenge, highlighted by its opportunity to learn Alteryx, can transform the student who is intimidated by complex problems to one that is excited about the many possibilities in which to approach it.

 

 

I believe that the Challenge also provides Alteryx and the Alteryx Commnity with special opportunities. There's no doubt that Alteryx wouldn't be where it is without its exceptionally bright and passionate community of users, and this is an opportunity for it to absorb some of the bright young talent that the MSBAPM program attracts from around the globe. As these students grow to learn Alteryx, it is also a fantastic opportunity to extend Alteryx further into the insurance and healthcare industries, as the program has especially high placement statistics for insurance companies in and around Hartford.

 

We will be onsite to provide training on the 13th, but as I'm sure you realize, the learning of Alteryx tools and techniques is very much an ongoing process. Because of the impressive helpfulness and patience displayed throughout the community, we've decided that there is no place better to direct Challengers to for help and questions than to the Alteryx Community site.

 

Challengers will be able to be easily identified by their rank and rank badge:

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After October, they will be incorporated into the community rank structure.

 

Please be patient and helpful as we welcome these UCONN Data Challengers to the Alteryx Community.

 

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