News 2024: Winners of 2024 Three Minute Thesis announced

The competition presented by the Office of Undergraduate Research showcased in exemplary student scholarship

After the judges tallied up their scores, the winners for the Office of Undergraduate Research’s Three Minute Thesis competition were announced on April 4, 2024.

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition was developed by The University of Queensland, Australia, as an academic communication competition that challenges students at the undergraduate and graduate levels to effectively explain their research to a non-expert audience in just three minutes. Competitors are allowed a single, static PowerPoint slide as a visual aid; no other electronic media or props are permitted. Presentations exceeding three minutes are automatically disqualified.  

The undergraduate and graduate student contests examined issues like the biochemistry of cancer, using artificial intelligence to detect fish species, improving the strength of materials based on their chemical composition and how different natural substances affect the human body.

2024 3MT Winners

Undergraduate

First Place Winner and winner of the People’s Choice Award: Andrew Medeiros (Bioengineering) for “Beyond Biomarkers: Exosomal Insights into Cancer Diagnosis”.

Second Place Winner: Joshua Bernadin (Chemistry) for “The Inhibition Effects of Blueberries on α-Glucosidase”.

Third Place Winner: Maggie McCafferty (Bioengineering) for “Impact of Vitamin C on Human Cortical Bone Mechanical Properties”.

Graduate

First Place Winner: Nandini Lokesh Reddy (Computer Science) for “Chute-AI: Fish Length & Species Detection”.

Second Place Winner: Gabriella Thomas (Marine Biology) for “Testing Electronic Microprocessor-Based Bycatch Reduction Devices to Reduce Shark Catch”.

Third Place Winner: Jillian Wilson (Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology) for “Electroporation as a Tool for the Genetic Manipulation of Cellulophaga lytica (C. lytica)”.

People’s Choice Award Winner: Mehran Rakhshan (Engineering & Applied Science) for “3D Printed Metallic Structural Elements with Architected Micro-Structure”.

The organizing committee for Three Minute Thesis would like to thank all of the students who competed, as well as all the students, faculty and staff members who came to support and cheer on the contestants.