Insights into the Future: Students Explore Data Science during Project Week

29.10.2025

Teams Use Datasets to Approach Case Studies and Develop Business Solutions

To equip students with the skills to shape industries through data-driven decision-making, Wittenborg conducted a Business Data Science Hackathon as part of its September Block Project Week, held in Apeldoorn from 15 to 19 September. The hackathon challenged students to apply data cleaning, exploratory data analysis (EDA), machine learning (ML/DL) and visual storytelling to derive actionable business recommendations.

Approximately 150 bachelor’s students from Phase 1 and Phase 2 took part, divided into teams of five. The event comprised four workshops led by lecturers Mercedes Bertotto and Robert Muster.

In her sessions, Bertotto covered Introduction to Data & Data Cleaning and Unsupervised Machine Learning & Feature Preparation. Students explored what data are and how they are structured, the fundamentals of multivariate analysis, principles of data splitting and the concept of cross-validation for model robustness.

Muster’s workshops, meanwhile, focused on Supervised Machine Learning and Visualisation & Storytelling. These sessions delved into supervised learning techniques for classification, regression and forecasting, as well as the effective communication of results through clear visualisations, dashboards and concise narratives.

Student teams analysed assigned Kaggle datasets, framed a business problem and delivered a comprehensive data science project. Each group tackled a challenge that included customer segmentation for targeted marketing, fraud prediction, customer churn prediction, retail product demand forecasting or predicting Netflix’s next successful movie. In addition to writing a detailed group report, the students provided datasets, code and notes used to prepare their reports and also submitted individual self-assessments.

For Wittenborg lecturer Robert Muster, it was inspiring to watch Wittenborg students speaking the language of the future. “They tackled real-world business challenges, cleaned and combined data, built predictive models and translated insights into sharp recommendations. This Project Week wasn’t just about learning tools; it was about developing the mindset and confidence to work with data, solve problems and collaborate effectively. The future is data-driven, and our students are ready for it.”

HBA student Ranen Thomas, specialising in Sport Business Management, highlighted that by participating in this Project Week he had the opportunity to expand his knowledge beyond the content of his regular courses. “What I enjoyed the most was being given the chance to be a mentor. This wasn’t a new role for me, but each time brings new and different challenges. I learned to adapt to new situations and further developed my leadership and people skills, so I could lead and manage the group while also giving my teammates room to improve and grow. Furthermore, I was also able to practise becoming more agile in the work environment.”

According to Thomas, activities like Project Weeks are highly beneficial for students. “They allow students to familiarise themselves with professional work-like activities and projects, where they can understand how things are done in practice while also gaining insights they can later use in their professional careers. Project Weeks also enable students to explore other paths and collaborate with different people, expanding their networks,” he concluded.