February 9-13, 2026
Love Data week
Purdue University students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate in the Boiler Up, Hammer Data Challenge. One student winner and one faculty/staff winner will advance to the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Data Viz Championship.
Boiler Up, Hammer Data Challenge
Timeline
Students
Students may compete individually or in teams of two.
Your challenge is to use a Fight Song Data Set (or the updated date set with Big Ten Institutions) to devise a data visualization to address the question(s) of your choice. Your visualization should be publicly available for voting and judging. Identify a research question, have fun, and be creative!
Purdue Data Visualization Excellence Award
Prize Amount: $1,000
The Purdue Data Visualization Excellence Award recognizes the best overall data visualization that embodies a harmonious blend of analytical precision, creative flair, and effective communication. This award celebrates the mastery of chart types and best practices but also showcases the ability to convey complex information in a compelling and accessible manner. The winner of this award will proudly represent Purdue at the larger Big Ten Academic Alliance Data Viz Championship, representing the university’s commitment to advancing the art and science of data visualization.
This award is sponsored by Purdue’s Libraries and School of Information Studies and the Center for Business Communication in the Daniels School of Business
Daniels School of Business Excellence in Business Insights Award
Prize Amount: $500
The Daniels School of Business Excellence in Business Insights Award celebrates outstanding achievements in data visualization that directly address a business case, question, or strategically position the creator as a valuable employee or researcher for Lego. This award recognizes the fusion of analytical acumen and creative storytelling, emphasizing the impact of data visualization on driving informed decision-making in the business context.
This award is sponsored by the Center for Business Communication in the Daniels School of Business
Purdue Libraries Visionary Visualization Award
Prize Amount: $500
The Purdue Libraries Visionary Visualization award celebrates the most unique, creative, or novel data visualization solution that demonstrates an exceptional understanding of chart types for each visualization component. This award highlights the adept use of diverse visualization techniques and the application of best practices in design, ensuring an innovative and effective representation of complex information. The emphasis is on pushing the boundaries of conventional data visualization to unveil new insights.
This award is sponsored by Purdue’s Libraries and School of Information Studies
Submit Your Data Visualization
Students can submit their data visualization via this Microsoft form. The submission form closes at midnight on January 19, 2026. Voting information will be announced closer to the BTAA competition.
Faculty & staff
Submit an existing visualization that is used on your institution to share information. Visualizations can pertain to the institution as a whole or to a specific initiative or population. Submissions should follow institutional data policies (e.g. disable download of identifiable data) and must be made available publicly on the web for the duration of the challenge.
- Bragging rights at Purdue and with your Big 10 Peers
- One visualization will be selected to represent Purdue in the Big Ten Academic Alliance Data Viz Championship
Ways to Get Involved
- Share this opportunity with students.
- Nominate a peer’s work or submit your visualization via this Microsoft form by 11:59 pm on January 19th
FAQs
- Peer Review
- Resources above
You may use any data visualization software tool.
You have several options
- Both Power BI and Tableau can publish content to the web. The URL to this interactive content would be appropriate to share.
- Alternatively, you can create a digital portfolio showcasing your visualization (likely screenshots) and the code or files you’ve generated. This can be done using a tool like github or the personal website Purdue provides. This option works well if you choose to use Python, R, d3.js, or another tool that does not support web hosting, but github can also store Power BI and Tableau file types.
- Students
- Students may work individually.
- Or may work with one partner, in this case both individuals must be credited for the work.
- Faculty/Staff
- One person must submit a visualization, but they must credit all authors who were involved in the development.
- A panel of judges will review the visualizations and select the winners
Institutional entries will be posted, by category, on the BTAA Data Challenge website and members of the BTAA community will be invited to vote for the winner. Voting information will be announced closer to the BTAA competition. The visualization with the most votes for their category will win the Challenge. Login from an account associated with a Big Ten institution will be required to vote, ensuring that individuals can vote only once.
- Any tool may be used (or combination of tools). This is not limited to only Tableau or PowerBI.
- Students
- Students must use the provided data set at minimum. Students may supplement with additional publicly available data should they opt to do so.
- Visualizations must be accessible via a link that requires no login at the time of the Challenge voting.
- Faculty/Staff
- The viz should share information about or relevant the institution or it’s mission – be it the institution as a whole or a specific initiative/population.
- All submissions must follow the schools’ institutional data policies and guidelines.
- Visualizations must be accessible via a link that requires no login at the time of the Challenge voting.
See the Past Boiler Up, Hammer Data Challenge Winners page.