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Clockwise from top right: Student organizer Ayushi Kadakia; DSU's winning presentation; Networking Mixer; Data-Driven Dream Team; Keynote Speaker Professor Julia Powles; ETA Lab convenes in the comfy chairs; breakfast and briefs; group shot with DataX staff.
November 5, 2025, by DataX Staff
Co-Designing Care, UCLA DataX’s inaugural policy hackathon, convened 46 students from 14 majors to explore how technology, policy, and data can be shaped by care, community, and a commitment to the public good. Conceived by third-year student Ayushi Kadakia, the event invited undergraduates across disciplines to apply their data skills to questions of justice, inclusion, and social responsibility.
Professor Julia Powles gives the keynote address on Policy and Technology
Fun on Day 1
Chris Mattman, Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAIO)
Held at DataX and the UCLA University Club, the weekend featured keynote speaker Professor Julia Powles, an evening presentation from Bellingcat’s Kolina Koltai, and Saturday closing awards dinner reception with remarks by DataX Faculty Director Safiya Noble.
Friday night networking mixer
Participants Mila Abadzheva and Rachel Lee
Mixing with speaker Kolina Koltai
A Friday-evening networking mixer brought together students, academic mentors, alumni, and industry professionals—connecting people across disciplines from public policy to computer science and digital media.
Over two immersive days, participants collaborated in teams around three central themes—Discrimination in Automated Systems, Automation in Education, and Agentic AI and Mental Health—developing research-informed policy proposals supported by visual data presentations. A panel of six judges from academia evaluated submissions for their rigor, creativity, and potential for public impact.
Judges - Assistant Professors, Homa Hosseinmardi (Computational Communication) and Noopur Raval (Information Studies)
First-place teams were selected in each of the three thematic categories. Before the awards were announced, Dr. Safiya Noble offered closing remarks, reminding participants that “everyone is a winner for participating.” She reflected on the hackathon’s broader significance for UCLA’s data-centric community:
“What this event shows is that there are many data science, computer science, statistics, economics, math, and digital humanities students who are deeply committed to understanding the social and ethical dimensions of AI.
“We have a duty to prepare them with more courses in critical data science and technology policy so that their education is more complete. I saw a clear mandate for a minor in Data in Society to ensure UCLA students can study data and technology in ways that center people, communities, and society.”
Dr. Noble described the hackathon as “a tremendous opportunity for students to start exploring these issues,” adding that “it will only grow stronger in the years to come.”
Dr. Safiya Noble
Food for thought
Appreciation for team presentations
A weekend well done!
2025 Tech Policy Hackathon First-Place Teams
2025 Tech Policy Hackathon First-Place Teams
Discrimination in Automated Systems
Data-Driven Dream Team
Kaitlyn Cui, Political Science, 4th year
Rhea Parameswaran, Statistics and Data Science, 2nd year
Hannah James, Sociology and Public Affairs, 2nd year
Sean Rosskopf, Political Science, 4th year
Automation in Education
Team ETA Lab
Yue (Elena) Yu, Cognitive Science, 4th year
Chuhan (Ted) Zhang, Stats & Data Science, 1st year
Chongwei (Alan) Dai, Math & Computation, 1st year
Agentic AI and Mental Health
Team DSU
Neha Adapala, Computer Science, 1st year
Aditya Murthy, Computer Science and Engineering, 3rd year
Onyeka Idiaghe, Cognitive Science, 1st year
The event’s success lay not only in what students produced but also in what they cultivated together: a cross-disciplinary community of care committed to designing technologies that serve everyone.
More than a competition, Co-Designing Care marked the emergence of UCLA’s next generation of data thinkers—collaborative, critical, and deeply motivated by purpose. As one student summed up, “I really care about these issues—and I want to win.”
Go Bruins!
Photo Credits: Jacky Duong, Lisa Denenmark
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