Windsor Hackforge

Cannalytics: Learn Basic Data Analysis with Public Data
2024-04-25 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Toronto) | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍Hackforge HQ, (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210)👥💻 Hybrid

This month at Border City Data, join Doug Sartori for a look at cannabis retail in Canada. We’ll look at public data sources and generate visualizations about the sector.

Join in to see demonstrations of basic data ingestion, transformation, and visualization with free tools. This is a beginner-friendly event with easy-to-understand data. If you’re curious about data science but don’t know where to start, this event is for you.

📅 Thursday, April 25th

⏲ 6 – 8 pm

📍 Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210), or register online via Zoom to attend virtually.

Border City Data: Hack the Afternoon!
2024-05-11 14:00 - 16:00 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210)👥In-person Only

Bring your data, your computer, and your problem! Border City Data is offering a drop-in Hack the Afternoon event where attendees can receive help with their data issues.

Database query not returning the desired result? Unsure how to visualize a data set? Trouble scraping info from a website? We can help!

We’re not wizards and can’t do your work for you, but if you bring your assets and a willingness to learn, we can assist you in overcoming obstacles.

📢 This event is in-person only and will take place at Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210).

Border City Data: Public Art Data in Windsor & Detroit
2024-07-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍Hackforge HQ, (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210)👥💻 Hybrid

Hackforge has recently partnered with and supported Parallel 42 Systems for the release of MotorCityMurals.Tours. This free-to-use web app provides directions to and information about various street art paintings in the downtowns of both Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.

In this month’s edition of Border City Data, Doug Sartori will be going through the process of how this data was collected, organized, and ultimately made into a digital tour guide.

Tune in to learn about geocoding, OpenStreetMap, Pytheas, and how Motor City Murals respects user data and privacy.

📅 Thursday, July 18th

⌚ 6 – 8 PM

Register to attend In-Person in the RSVP box below

Register to attend Virtually via Zoom.

Intro to Data Analysis: Starting with Excel
2024-10-04 18:00 - 20:00 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍 Windsor Hackforge (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210) and Online 💻👥 Hybrid💲 Free

Border City Data is beginning a new series, and with a new host!

Join Hackforge Board Member Rashmi Krishnamohan for an introductory session to data analysis. In this free, entry-level workshop participants will learn:

Data Cleaning: Techniques to remove duplicates, handle missing values, and correct data inconsistencies

Data Transformation: Using Excel functions and Power Query to reshape and prepare data for analysis

Dashboard Creation: How to build an interactive data visualization

This event will use Microsoft Excel. Both Excel Online and Desktop versions will work. Other spreadsheet software (such as Google Sheets or Open Office Lists) will not behave exactly as described in the lesson, and Rashmi will not be troubleshooting differences during the session.

If you do not have access to Excel, you can sign up for a free one month trial through Microsoft.

In-person and virtual attendance options are available. Register now to reserve your spot!Sign up to attend in-person using the RSVP box below.Sign up to attend virtually via Zoom.

🗓 Friday, October 4th🕡 6 – 8 PM📍Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, unit 210) and online via Zoom

This event will be the first in an ongoing Data Analysis series. Stay tuned for more!

Border City Data: Easy Data Pipelines with Luigi
2024-11-19 18:00 - 19:30 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍 Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210) & Online💻👥 Hybrid💲 Free

This month, Border City Data is focused on a Luigi, a simple Python tool for building data pipelines with directed acyclic graphs (DAGs).

Host Doug Sartori will guide attendees through a hands-on tutorial based on a pre-existing Luigi project. In order to follow along, please make sure you have a computer with Docker Desktop installed and ready to go. If you need help getting Docker set up please refer to the official documentation.

Note that existing knowledge of Python and ETL will be useful but is not required!

📅 Tuesday, November 19th🕚 6 – 7:30 PM📍Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave) and Online via Zoom

Register to attend In-Person in the RSVP box belowRegister to attend Virtually via Zoom.

DIY Retrieval-Augmented Generation
2025-02-18 18:30 - 19:30 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍 Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210) & Online💻👥 Hybrid💲 Free

Unlocking AI’s Potential with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)Are you ready to take your AI expertise to the next level? This event is tailor-made for experienced technologists eager to explore the cutting edge of artificial intelligence.

Join Doug Sartori as he demystifies Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), a game-changing approach to enhancing AI models with your own data. In this insightful session, Doug will showcase the tools and techniques he used to develop an expert chatbot designed to help users navigate the goals, policies, strategies, and structure of Canada’s Ministry of Health bureaucracy.

What You’ll LearnDoug will guide you through key concepts and practical insights, including:🤖 How RAG works and why it’s a breakthrough in AI development🤖 Tools and resources to integrate custom data into AI models🤖 Practical steps for creating your own specialized chatbot

Interactive Q&ABring your questions! After the demonstration, attendees will have the opportunity to engage in an interactive Q&A session to deepen their understanding of RAG and its applications.Don’t miss this chance to expand your skillset, connect with fellow technologists, and explore the frontier of AI innovation.

📆 Tuesday, February 18, 2025🕡 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM📍 Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210) & Online

✔️In-Person RSVP below🖥️ Virtual RSVP via Zoom

SQL Interview Prep
2025-03-31 18:00 - 20:00 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍Zoom💻Virtual Only💲 Free

🔍 SQL Interview Questions – Crack the Code!

🚀 Border City Data presents an exclusive SQL Interview Prep session!Are you a data graduate or aspiring data professional gearing up for SQL interviews? This virtual workshop, presented by Rashmi Krishnamohan (Experienced Data Analyst & UWin Alumni) will help you tackle medium and hard SQL questions, the kind that interviewers love to throw at candidates.

🎓 Prerequisites:

Basic SQL skills & interest in data roles

A working SQL IDE (such as SQL Server Management Studio with the necessary drivers) installed prior to the event

📌 What you’ll learn:✅ Strategies to solve complex SQL problems✅ Common patterns and pitfalls in SQL interviews✅ Tips to think like an interviewer and optimize your queries

📆 Date: Monday, March 31🕦 Time: 6pm-8pm (EST) 📍 Virtual Event via Zoom

Analyzing Canadian Elections - Border City Data
2025-05-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍 Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210) & Online💻👥 Hybrid💲 Free

In this event for experienced data practitioners, Doug Sartori covers the nuts and bolts of Canadian election data, and demonstrates a technique for fine-grained evaluation of election results across elections, accounting for unstable geography and identifiers.

📆 Date: May 20, 2025🕦Time: 6pm-8pm📍Location: Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave., Unit 210) & Online via Zoom✔️In-Person RSVP below🖥️ Virtual RSVP via Zoom

Open Data Pub Night
2025-07-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍 Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210)👥 In Person Only💲 Free

Border City Data Pub Night

Come hang out with Hackforge and the Canadian Open Data Society (CODS) for a relaxed evening of conversation, community, and craft beer!

We’re meeting up at Maiden Lane Wine & Cocktail Bar on July 18 for a fun and friendly chat about all things open data — how it supports Canada’s tech scene, what CODS is all about, and why it matters to our communities.

Whether you’re deep into data or just curious, everyone’s welcome! Expect good vibes, semi-structured convos, and a great chance to connect with fellow tech + data folks.

📆 Friday, July 18, 2025🕦 6-8pm📍 Maiden Lane Wine & Cocktail Bar (494 Pelissier St in Windsor)

Please note that this is an in-person only event!

Data Analysis with SQL: A Resume- worthy Portfolio Project
2025-07-28 18:00 - 19:30 | Fogolar Furlan, 1800 North Service Rd, Windsor, Ontario, N8W 1Y3, Canada
📍Zoom💻Virtual Only💲 Free

In this hands-on, resume-worthy Portfolio project, Rashmi Krishnamohan (Data Analyst; UWin alumni) will help you turn your SQL knowledge into practical, career-building experience. Together, we’ll explore how data analysis works in real-world contexts. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to level up, this session offers valuable tools you can apply right away.

In this workshop, you’ll learn:

1. How to analyze real-world datasets for meaningful insights.2. How to apply their SQL skills to a guided project that can be included in their resume or portfolio3. How to identify and create key performance indicators (KPIs)

⚠️You’ll Need:

Basic SQL skills & Data analysis skills

Computer with SQL Server installed

📆 July 28, 2025🕦 6:00 – 7:30 PM📍 Virtual via Zoom🎟️ Register here

Data Literacy for Admins
2026-06-12 12:00 - 12:45 | Windsor Hackforge, 300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210, Windsor, Ontario, N9A7B4, Canada
📍 Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave, Unit 210) & Online Via Zoom💻👥Hybrid💲 Free

It’s a different type of Border City Data event! Join Doug Sartori (Canadian Open Data Society President, Parallel 42 Systems) & Dr. Jessica Sartori (President & Principal Consultant at West 83 and former public sector CEO), for Data Literacy for Admins. Learn how to turn everyday information into actionable insights, support your team more effectively, and make smarter, data-informed decisions in your role.

When used appropriately, data can be a powerful tool for your organization.

Who should attend?

This session is open to anyone who is interested in increasing their data literacy, but especially those in administrative and not-for-profit roles.

What should you bring?

A laptop to follow along (we’ll have a few available for loaning during the event if needed).

📆 June 12, 2026🕦12-12:45pm📍Hackforge HQ (300 Ouellette Ave., Unit 210) & Online via Zoom🎟️ RSVP for Zoom Here👥 RSVP in Person Below
