Ready, set, go! 91传媒 grad students test communication skills in 3MT庐 competition
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜n 80,000-word thesis would take nine hours to present. Nearly 60 Mississippi State graduate students had less than three minutes to convey their months or years of complex research during the university鈥檚 recent third annual Three Minute Thesis competition.
Sponsored by the university鈥檚 Office of the Graduate School, the 3MT competition is open to all graduate students in good academic standing. Students may compete in arts and humanities; life and biomedical sciences and engineering; physical, mathematical, computational sciences and engineering; or social and behavioral sciences.
鈥淚 think having 180 seconds to tell people about what you鈥檙e doing in your research is a great concept, and I commend all of you for participating in this competition,鈥 said 91传媒 Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert.
Gilbert also expressed gratitude to Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of 91传媒's Graduate School Lori Bruce for her role in bringing this worldwide competition to 91传媒.
鈥淭here are people all over the world just like you who are participating in this competition, and I think learning how to communicate with people who may not have the same level of knowledge of your particular subject matter or discipline will serve you very well in your future career,鈥 Gilbert said.
Bruce agreed, adding that regardless of where life takes them after graduate school, participants need to be able to effectively convey information.
鈥淲hether you鈥檙e trying to convince your boss why your role in the company and what you鈥檙e doing is important and worth funding, or whether you鈥檙e trying to explain to a grandparent what you do for a living, you need to be able to give that two or three minute 鈥榚levator pitch鈥 that leaves them wanting to know more,鈥 Bruce emphasized.
Piyush Porwal, a master鈥檚 student studying mechanical engineering, was named the Grand Champion. His research talk on the 鈥淭hermal and Fluidic Characterization of Tesla Valve,鈥 earned a $1,000 prize. Also a magna cum laude mechanical engineering bachelor鈥檚 graduate of 91传媒, Porwal will advance to the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS) 3MT庐 Regional Finals held next February in Charlotte, North Carolina.
According to university officials, the quality of the presentations left the judging panel with the difficult task of selecting a single Grand Champion Runner Up. Ultimately, the panel decided to designate two co-recipients of the Grand Champion Runner-Up Award.
Each receiving a $750 award were Abbey E. Wilson, a master鈥檚 student in agricultural and life sciences/animal physiology with a talk titled 鈥淲hat鈥檚 that Perfume? Sniffing out the Science of Pandas鈥擟hemical Communication鈥 and Dafne Alves Oliveira, a molecular biology doctoral student who spoke about 鈥淔ielding a Team to Defeat Aflatoxin in Corn.鈥
Edith L. Martinez Ortiz, a civil engineering doctoral student, gave a three-minute summary of her research on 鈥淧ulse Sonication for Biodiesel Production,鈥 which the audience voted as the People鈥檚 Choice award-winner. Ortiz received a $500 award. She also holds a master鈥檚 in civil engineering from 91传媒.
Finalists received $250 awards. They included:
--Jonathan Belanich, a doctoral student in biological sciences and master鈥檚 student in applied anthropology, for his research talk titled 鈥淭he Analysis of Oral Microbiome Composition.鈥
--Timothy 鈥淭.J.鈥 Bradford, a doctoral student in agricultural science/agricultural and extension education, for his research talk titled 鈥淎ssessing Agricultural Knowledge via Experiential Learning.鈥 He also holds a bachelor鈥檚 in agronomy and master鈥檚 in agriculture from 91传媒.
--Chelsie H. Darnell, a master鈥檚 student in agricultural life sciences/entomology, for her research talk titled 鈥淚nsecticide Resistance of Tobacco Thrips in Cotton.鈥
--Kentse Radebe, a master鈥檚 student in sociology, for her research talk titled 鈥淭he Quiet Revolution: Mobile Banking Regulations in Africa.鈥
Developed by The University of Queensland, Australia, the 3MT competition develops academic, presentation and research communication skills and supports the development of research students鈥 capacity to explain their work effectively in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
聽The 91传媒 communication department partnered with the Office of the Graduate School to offer training programs to help students prepare for the competition, for which they could only use one accompanying static PowerPoint slide.
91传媒鈥檚 Office of the Graduate School seeks to provide students with opportunities to develop methods of independent and systematic investigation. Providing students and faculty with an environment conducive to learning, scholarly activities and professional development also is among its primary missions. For more, visit .
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .