Open lab and workshops

The Data Science Lab welcomes students, staff and faculty of all disciplines and levels to collaborate on common projects. We host regular workshops and open lab sessions to provide mentorship, hands on exercises and networking opportunities to help you learn and use data science as a way to solve real-world problems.


Lab and workshop sessions

Our open labs provide an opportunity to understand concepts and develop skills in data science. 

If you are not on our mailing list, please email [email protected] to request to be added to receive information on upcoming events and the links to the sessions. 

SpaceHACK for Sustainability

Save the date! 
Coming March 27-28, 2026

We are gearing up for another exciting global hackathon! 

Check back regularly for updates on partners and registration details. 

Curious about what to expect? Hear from students to see the impact from around the world! 

2025 SpacHACK recap video

Participants will choose from three challenge tracks, each focused on a critical sustainability issue:

From Port to Planet: Tracking the Net-Zero Supply Chain 
Decarbonizing global trade takes more than cleaner ships. This track explores how satellite data and integrated dashboards can connect maritime, ports, trucking, and aviation to make green corridors measurable, credible, and scalable.

Nature’s Flood Wall: Mangroves and the City
Mangroves can buffer tides, rainfall, and runoff, yet their role in urban flood management is often overlooked. This track uses satellite data to map, monitor, and strengthen mangrove-based protection around Greater Guayaquil.

Truth from Orbit: Climate Change and the Alpine Information Battle
From retreating glaciers to changing snow cover, the Alps offer visible proof of climate change. This track explores how satellite data can be used by journalists to verify claims, counter misinformation, and inform public debate about the region’s future.

 

Whether you are interested in sustainability, climate science, social impact, logistics, or data storytelling, SpaceHACK offers a collaborative space to learn, contribute, and make a difference.

Spring 2026 virtual labs 

The series will be a set of virtual instructional and participatory events to inform on various and necessary key skills in data science.

Open labs meet on the following Wednesdays at 10 a.m. 

Jan 21 - Data Science and Analytics spring kickoff 
Registeration closed

Feb 4 - AI literacy in practice: Understanding systems, assumptions and impact
Register to attend

Feb 11 - AI engineering: Building applications with foundation 
models 
Register to attend

Feb 18 - Don't break the timeline: An intro to time series forecasting
Register to attend

Feb 25 - Integrating AI into academic research responsibility
Register to attend

March 11 - Telling your data's story: Data visualization 101 with Python
Register to attend

March 18 - Working with satellite data: An intro to Google Earth Engine
Register to attend

April 1 - Querying databases: An intro to SQL Part 1
Register to attend

April 8 - Querying databases: An intro to SQL Part 2
Register to attend 

Self-paced volunteer projects

Chest x-ray image classifier - Classify chest x-ray images into those with pneumonia and those without pneumonia
Keywords: Image processing, neural networks, Tensorflow

Mortality prediction in medical data - Attempt to outperform us at predicting mortality in medical data
Keywords: Medical data, machine learning, performance evaluation

Homelessness clustering - Execute various clustering algorithms on service activity of homeless people in Maricopa County, AZ
Keywords: Unsupervised learning, clustering algorithms, real-world data

Email [email protected] to request the resources and recordings for one or more of the volunteer projects.  


Recorded workshops

Programming mini workshops

Learn some of the basics of data science in our virtual mini workshops. We will show you how to import data, build models and interpret results using multiple techniques in the R and Python programming language.

R basics: Intro to programming in the R coding language
Python basics: Intro to programming in the Python coding language

Email [email protected] to request the recording(s). 


Data Visualization Tableau workshop

The summer 2022 virtual workshop, we completed hands-on training in the basics of visualizing data with Tableau, from making charts to composing dashboards. No previous experience required, but you need your own laptop. 

Email [email protected] to request the recording.


Faculty, staff and students interested in an ongoing project, new collaboration or learning more may contact [email protected].