Data visualizations and infographics are creative illustrations. They can help tell a story, convey a point—and even land Temple University students up to $2,500 in prize money.

The 2nd Annual Temple Analytics Challenge: Making Sense of Big Data opens Oct. 1. The student competition is geared toward understanding data through visualization, a component that experts have cited as the path to attaining a hot job in big-data analytics.

The competition is open to Temple University students across all schools and disciplines. Working in teams or individually, students are tasked with creating an original visualization that provides clear and meaningful insight into current issues facing industry.

Corporate leaders developed specific problems and data sets that student teams will use to create their visualizations. They are as follows:

• The NBCUniversal Challenge: Where will politicians spend their midterm advertising dollars?
• The Lockheed Martin Challenge: Which employee behaviors predict security threats?
• The Merck Challenge: What is the impact of a new corporate site?

“Last year, the competition was an amazing success, with 183 entries from 400 students across seven schools and colleges,” said challenge organizer David Schuff, associate professor of management information systems at the Fox School of Business. “The competition gives students the opportunity to work on real-world problems and data while developing critical visual communication skills.”

The winning team will earn a $2,500 grand prize. Two second-place prizes ($1,500 each), two third-place prizes ($1,000 each) and five honorable mention prizes ($500) will also be awarded. The prizes are sponsored by the corporate members of the Institute for Business and Information Technology at the Fox School of Business and the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies.

Contest entries are due Oct. 30. Twenty finalists will present their work Nov. 17 before a live judging panel of industry leaders from Merck, Lockheed Martin, Citigroup, RJMetrics, NBCUniversal and the Campbell Soup Co.

Students can use any tools or software of their choosing to create their entries. Workshops and mentoring are available throughout October to further assist students.

Visit Temple Analytics Challenge for details about getting involved.

—Christopher A. Vito