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June 2025

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How I use BirdNET-PI and SAS to track my feathered neighbors
Chris Hemedinger has been tuning in to birdsongs using SAS and his BirdNET‑PI setup. The heatmap above gives a peek at the variety of songs heard in his area over time. Peep his latest article to learn more and see the full heatmap.

Dear Reader,

The 2025 SAS Hackathon officially kicked off on June 11! This annual global coding competition brings together SAS users to tackle real-world challenges using SAS technology. Teams will have access to SAS tools, mentorship, and the chance to win exciting prizes. It’s a great opportunity to sharpen your skills, connect with peers, and showcase your creativity.

The Hackathon runs from September 15 through October 10, and registration is open now until August 31. Don’t wait to secure your spot!

To get a head start, join the Hacker’s Hub community for more resources including an FAQ. I’m excited to see what you all come up with!

Hack on!

Thiago De Souza

Editor, SAS Tech Report 

Someone forwarded you this edition of Tech Report? Subscribe to receive your own copy each month! Back issues “live” on the SAS Support Community.

Tech tips with Chris

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They say that when you turn 50, you either get really into World War II documentaries, grilling thermometers, or birds. I chose birds. (Okay, and maybe a little grilling.)

Using SAS and an open source project named BirdNET-PI, I was able to turn my curiosity about our local birds into data driven insights! Over the past 6 months, I've used this hobby project to collect data about over 140,000 birdsongs. After analyzing the data with SAS code and SAS Visual Analytics, I can see the patterns of behavior from over 100 species of birds that visited my backyard. You can read about my findings and how I built the project in my latest blog post.

I'm often asked, "what's the best way to learn SAS?" My answer is always to start with formal training (or a good book!), but if you want the skills to stick you have to apply what you learn in a real project. If you don't have a work project at hand, pick some data that you care about and see what you can do!  I definitely learned some things by working with these bird detections. What's your favorite data to use for learning? Let me know!

P.S. Interested in exploring birdsong data yourself? You can access my detection data on GitHub and use my sample SAS program to get started.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Tips & tricks

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SAS Tutorial | Creating a Custom Step, Part 3: Coding Your Step
Join Senior Analytic Training Consultant Danny Modlin in part three of this four-part SAS Studio tutorial, where he shows you how to modify code for use in a custom step and how to connect it to the step’s GUI.

SAS Notebooks in VS Code: A developer’s guide
David Weik explains how SAS Notebooks in SAS Viya Workbench seamlessly integrate with VS Code, making it easy for developers to combine SAS code, SQL, and Markdown for more efficient, well-documented workflows.

Getting Started with R in SAS Viya Workbench
Shelby Taylor introduces users to the integration of R within the SAS Viya Workbench environment, providing a flexible, cloud-based platform for developing, visualizing, and sharing R code, thereby enhancing the analytical capabilities of data scientists and statisticians.

Boost ML accuracy with hyperparameter tuning (with a fun twist)
Stu Sztukowski shows how hyperparameter autotuning in SAS Viya helps boost machine learning model accuracy without the hassle of manual tuning.

Generate a check digit and validate a Universal Loan Identifier in SAS
In finance and other fields, accounts are represented by a long string of digits. To guard against mistyping, some digits are “check digits,” which are obtained by using a mathematical computation. Rick Wicklin cautions against trying to convert these account numbers to numeric values. Instead, he shows that you can compute the check digits directly from the character string.

SAS Enhanced Support: More than support — a true technological partnership
Margherita Albrizio explains how SAS Enhanced Support offers proactive, personalized help through dedicated account managers, custom dashboards, and strategic planning to keep systems running smoothly.

Automatic Linting of SAS Code with SASjs
McGwire Jones shows how using SASjs linting with GitHub Actions helps enforce consistent SAS code standards like styling, security, and file naming across your project automatically.

Optimize spare parts inventory under uncertainty with SAS: A simulation-based approach
Bahar Biller, Jagdishwar Mankala, and Jinxin Yi demonstrate how a simulation-based approach in SAS enables optimization of spare parts inventory under uncertainty to balance cost and service levels based on real-world asset failure modeling.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Use case

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Accelerating drug discovery with AI innovation
Shionogi & Co., Ltd. is using SAS® Viya® to accelerate drug discovery and deliver life-changing treatments faster, showing how data and innovation can drive a healthier, more hopeful future.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​For developers

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On-demand recordings from SAS Innovate
Check out the 100+ recordings of breakout sessions and Super Demos all captured at SAS Innovate 2025. Use the Label categories to navigate the topics or use the Search bar to find sessions related to the topics and products you care about. All sessions are also available at youtube.com/sassoftware.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​User group news

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Educators: Join us this summer for a week of virtual learning
From July 21-24, learn from SAS experts and educator peers about the latest in AI and analytics education. SAS Educate is free for faculty.

Western Users of SAS Software: Sept. 3-5 in Universal City, CA
The Call for Papers is open! WUSS is looking for SAS users to come share their knowledge at WUSS 2025.  To learn more about presenting at WUSS and to submit your ideas for consideration, visit the WUSS 2025 Call for Papers. Proposals are being accepted through July 14.

Southeast SAS Users Group: Sept. 22-24 in Cary, NC
SESUG will be held on the beautiful SAS campus this year! You’re in luck because the Call for Abstracts has been extended to July 11. Plus, early registration is open until Aug. 11. We hope to see you there.

Midwest SAS Users Group: Oct. 5-7 in Cincinnati, OH
MWSUG 2025 will be held at the Marriott Cincinnati Airport, just across the Ohio River in charming Hebron, Kentucky. We anticipate a full schedule of presentations from SAS users, training courses from industry experts, excellent networking opportunities, and plenty of fun! Call for Presentations is now open. Get your proposals ready and submit by July 15.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Upcoming learning events

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(Each is one hour and complimentary unless stated otherwise.)

Ask the Expert: Data Integration in SAS® Viya®
Join SAS' Lou Galway at 11:00 a.m. ET on Thurs., July 10 to explore the benefits of transitioning to SAS Viya, as our experts help you make an informed decision. You will learn about:

  • What’s in the SAS Data Engineering offering.
  • Data jobs compared to SAS Studio flows and how to migrate jobs in flows.
  • Benefits you’ll see in SAS Data Engineering.

Ask the Expert: Marketing AI With SAS Customer Intelligence 360 and SAS® Viya®
Join SAS' Suneel Grover at 9:00 a.m. ET on Tues., July 15 to refine your skills, optimize workflows and maximize the value of SAS solutions within your marketing strategies. You will learn:

  • To observe SAS viewpoints on 2025 innovation themes within Martech use cases.
  • Data science and analytics can bring incremental value to marketing opportunities.
  • To accelerate the delivery of AI solutions to marketers. 

Ask the Expert: What Makes the New SAS Studio a Game-Changer?
Join SAS' Alexey Vodilin at 11:00 a.m. ET on Thurs., July 24 to learn how to spend less time worrying and more time doing in the new SAS Studio. You will learn how:

  • The new interface speeds up everyday tasks.
  • The enhancements to file imports, data viewing, and connections make it easier to work with data.
  • Key productivity features accelerate your work.

Free Workshop: Moving from SAS Office Analytics to SAS Viya
Join this 3-hour workshop at 8:00 a.m. ET on Thurs., July 31 to discover how SAS Viya enhances collaboration, streamlines workflows, and provides advanced analytics in an open, scalable environment. We’ll explore the strategic and technical aspects of transitioning from SAS Office Analytics to SAS Viya and highlight the key differences between the platforms, focusing on demonstrating the user experience.

Ask the Expert: Why Should I Move From SAS Analytics Pro to SAS® Viya®?
Join SAS' Henrique Danc, Joseph Henry and Brian Kinnebrew at 11:00 a.m. ET on Thurs., July 31 to learn about the benefits of transitioning to SAS Viya, as our experts help you make an informed decision. You will:

  • Understand the benefits of moving from SAS Analytics Pro on SAS®9 to SAS Viya.
  • Learn how to choose between SAS Viya Workbench and SAS Viya Programming.
  • See live demonstrations of both products with their latest features.

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The 2025 SAS Hackathon Kicks Off on June 11!

Watch the live Hackathon Kickoff to get all the essential information about the SAS Hackathon—including how to join, how to participate, and expert tips for success.

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