Research can take years to complete. Explaining it clearly to a broad audience in just three minutes is another challenge altogether.
That challenge will take center stage Friday, April 10, when Michigan State University’s College of Engineering hosts its third annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition from 2 to 4 p.m. in Room 115 of the International Center. The event is open to the public.
The Three Minute Thesis celebrates the exciting research conducted by Ph.D. students and challenges presenters to explain their work in three minutes using just one static slide. Developed by The University of Queensland, the competition is designed to strengthen research communication by asking participants to make complex ideas accessible, engaging and relevant to a broad audience.
This year’s college competition will feature eight graduate student presenters, each of whom already earned top honors in a department-level 3MT competition and advanced to the college stage. Together, they represent a wide range of research areas across the college and will compete for additional recognition.
Graduate student presenters are:
- Autumn McLane-Svoboda, biomedical engineering
- Boyang Deng, biosystems and agricultural engineering
- Faizan Ahmad Lali, civil and environmental engineering
- Priyangika Pitawala, chemical engineering and materials science
- Vicente Amado, computational mathematics, science and engineering
- Tzu-Han Hsu, computer science and engineering
- Evan Boxin Sun, electrical and computer engineering
- Tsz Hung Wong, mechanical engineering
New this year, the event also will include four faculty presenters, who will each share a portion of their research in the same three-minute, one-slide format. Unlike the student finalists, faculty presenters will not be competing against one another, but their participation adds a new dimension to the program and broadens the event’s celebration of research across the college.
Faculty presenters are:
- Sudin Bhattacharya, graduate program director and associate professor, biomedical engineering
- Janet Brelin-Fornari, director, technology engineering
- Borzoo Bonakdarpour, associate professor, computer science and engineering
- Betty H.C. Cheng, professor, computer science and engineering
Beyond the competition itself, the event highlights an important part of graduate education in engineering: learning not only how to conduct meaningful research, but also how to communicate it with clarity, confidence and impact. Attendees also will be able to enjoy pizza and MSU Dairy Store ice cream during the program.
Written by Austin Witt.
MSU College of Engineering Media and Public Relations page