Explore the winning vizzes from Iron Viz: Student Edition 2021

Editor's note: This article originally appeared in Tableau Public.

Iron Viz—the world’s largest data competition—was launched in 2011 in an effort to showcase the incredible talent of the Tableau Community. Since then, hundreds of data enthusiasts from around the world have participated for a chance to be crowned the Iron Viz Champion. And in 2020, for the first time ever, we created a data competition designed specifically for students—Iron Viz: Student Edition. 

Iron Viz: Student Edition gives students the opportunity to develop (and show-off) their data skills, connect with the broader #DataFam, and practice for future Iron Viz competitions. Our hope is that Iron Viz: Student Edition will help cultivate the next generation of data rockstars. Read on to learn about the winners of the inaugural Iron Viz: Student Edition.

For this competition, students were given the same environmental data set that the finalists of the 2020 Iron Viz Championship were required to use.  Participants then had to build a viz in Tableau that would be judged on the following four criteria: Creativity, Analysis, Beauty/Design, and overall Best Practices. 

We’re thrilled to announce that we received entries from students across the globe! It was a difficult task to narrow it down to just three winners, as we were blown away by all of the entries. A huge thank you and congratulations to all of the students who entered the competition—just participating is a huge accomplishment. 
 

Explore the top three student visualizations
Our top three winners will receive Tableau swag, a Tableau certification training package ($500 value), and the opportunity to connect and network with members of the Tableau Community. Congratulations to our three winners! Explore their vizzes below:
 

1. Gasoline Prices and Human Behavior 

Parth Agarwal, University of Arizona, B.S.B.A in Management of Information Systems

The judges appreciated the originality of Parth’s subject choice for this viz. It’s the only viz we saw that focused on the impact of gasoline prices on pollution. In addition, framing the viz as a story and dividing it into chapters gave the viz an organized feel— allowing the viewer to take in one portion at a time. Nice work Parth! Get in touch with Parth on Tableau Public and Linkedin. 
 

2. Every Breath You Take

Nicole Harris, McMaster University, Integrated Business and Humanities

Nicole’s viz told a data story on the importance of clean air and how it affects countries across the world. The judges loved the simplicity of the map, making it easy to digest. The organization and layout of the viz is intuitive with the bordered framing and gray and white color delineating the different sections. The closing statement regarding clean air as a basic human right, is the perfect way to summarize the viz! Keep up with Nicole’s work on Tableau Public and connect with her on Linkedin.
 

3. Mapping Extinction with Climate Change

Abeeshan Selvabaskaran, University of Toronto, Master of Science in Biomedical Communications

Abeeshan’s viz focused on connecting the relationship between human activity and endangered species. The judges felt this was a beautifully designed viz! The dark background in conjunction with the 4 main colors representing the classes of species, combined with the excellent font selection makes for a really outstanding viewing experience. It had a good use of images to create an artistic and modern looking dashboard layout and background. Connect with Absheeshan on Tableau Public and Linkedin.
 

Winner Webinar 

We are hosting a webinar with our 3 incredible winners on Friday, February 12 at 8:30 AM PST. They will share their experience and process of building a winning viz as well as give advice to future contestants. Register now!

Keep in touch for more Iron Viz: Student Edition

Thank you once again to all the students that submitted a viz! If you’re a student, be on the lookout for our 2021 Iron Viz: Student Edition this summer! And don’t forget, you can receive a free Tableau license through our Tableau for Students program.

Are you an instructor? Request new licenses for the upcoming term.