We sat down with a first-of-its-kind club at the University of Illinois, the Illinois Data Science Club. The organization tackles the fast-growing field with data competitions and learning experiences for everyone.
From 2016 to 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected a 27.9% increase in data science-related occupations, and the University of Illinois didn’t hesitate to introduce its X + DS pathway in 2022. Since then, data science has exploded on campus, and at the frontier is the Illinois Data Science Club or iDSC.
The fully student-run organization is the first of its kind at the university— and with 125+ members, it’s showing that it might be time for more.
Entering its third year, the club acts as an educational space for those interested in data science, then hosts the Data Dive competition for members to practice those new skills in any regard they please. Whether it be F1 racing, library book circulation or medicine, the club showcases that data is connected to everything.
The requirements to join: none.
“It opens the door for a lot of people to come in who have no experience in data science or coding because the lessons are very beginner-friendly,” said Secretary of iDSC and Senior in Accounting + Data Science Rohit Shah. ”You don’t have to be a CS major or a data science major to join.”
Shah explains that these lessons are made possible through their educational team led by Education Director and Senior in Information Science + Data Science, Lara Terpetschnig.
Terpetschnig explains that this year, the club is trying something new by dedicating the first half of the semester solely to education, packing seven workshops with lessons on GitHub, visualization, modeling, optimization and more.
Data Dive
“With the Data Dive, none of the data is clean. It forces you to take the role of someone in a company.”
– iDSC Educational Director Lara Terpetschnig
The second half of the semester consists of the Data Dive: an opportunity for members to develop a project and present findings in a showcase with 5-6 others and an executive board member.
“Everyone who is in the club will be hands-on when it comes to the Data Dive,” Shah said. “They will type code and learn data science throughout the semester because of how we structure the teams.”
The project gives students a rare experience to tackle difficult data that they wouldn’t normally be handed in a data science course— an effort to better simulate a job post-graduation.
“In classes, normally, you’re given a dataset that’s already cleaned and you’re told exactly what to do with it, and the assignment is due a week later,” Terpetschnig said. “But with the Data Dive, you’re not told what to do. It’s completely open-ended. None of the data is clean. It forces you to take the role of someone in a company.”
It also helps create a more personal connection and foster an enjoyment with data, says the two.
Both Shah and Terpetschnig have run the gauntlet of The Dive and have produced programs that handle topics they care about.
“I did Formula 1 racing, and I just tried to figure out, hey, teams that are consistently finishing in the top five, when are they pitting? When are they changing their tires?” Shah said. “I personally enjoyed it, but the person next to me on another team might watch football, they might watch basketball, or they might be interested in medicine.”
“I did a project about library circulation, and we actually took the data from the library that I work at, so that was a really personal project, and I liked that,” Terpetschnig added.
Running the Club
“It is a volunteer job, so if you really want to do it, you’re going to do it.”
– Terpetschnig
Operating a club of over 125 members isn’t easy—but the 16-person executive board, headed by President Sam Barbeau, makes it work.
“It’s very spread out, and it’s very team-oriented on the board,” Shah said. “So it makes it a lot easier to put stuff together.”
While being in a data science club creates a lot of opportunities to learn, graduating to a managerial position offers something beyond technical skills.
“Being on the executive board definitely gives you a different perspective on how a club or organization is run,” he added. “It’s because of the ownership that the executive board has taken that this has all been possible.”
For many members, that shift from learner to leader also builds a deeper respect for the teaching process itself.
“It’s given me a serious appreciation for my professors,” Terpetschnig said. “Now that I’m trying to teach other people things, I realize how much work goes into the notebooks that they create and the data that they cleaned and found when I’m trying to find examples myself.”
But the reality of running a club this large is that it takes more than just motivated individuals; it takes legitimate funding.
“I think right now we’re really trying to strengthen our budget and secure more sponsorships so we can do more cool stuff,” Terpetschnig said.
This might include hackathons, company partnerships, and collaborative projects, but even with these goals, Terpetschnig said what keeps the club going is more the people than any amount of money.
“When you’re on the executive board of any kind of club, what really matters is self-motivation, because at the end of the day, it is a volunteer job,” Terpetschnig said. “So if you really want to do it, you’re going to do it.”
Looking Ahead
“I think everyone should get involved in data science…even stuff that’s not meant to be data science has become data science just because of the way jobs are moving.”
– iDSC Secretary Rohit Shah
As for the future of iDSC, both leaders say the goal is to keep growing the club and everyone’s appreciation and confidence in data science.
“I think everyone should get involved in data science,” Shah said. “Even stuff that’s not meant to be data science has become data science just because of the way jobs are moving. Even if you’re not a data science major, just go online and learn data science skills, soft skills, technical skills. It’s a great thing to learn.”
And while the Data Dive remains a signature internal project, conversations have started about what comes next.
“I know there’s been some talk of having the Data Dive projects potentially partnering with companies or with other organizations that have data and would like people to work on it,” Terpetschnig said. “They’re definitely more recreational right now, but I think that’s where we’re headed—bringing our members even closer to real-world experience.”
Learn More and Get Involved with iDSC
Contact the Office of Data Science Research if you’re aware of other people or resources we could profile here. ODSR is a campuswide convening organization that facilitates collaborations, resource sharing, and public engagement focused on data science research activities at the University of Illinois.