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THE 3MT COMPETITION

Calling all graduate research students. Are you up for the challenge? Compete in the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) academic research communication competition, founded by The University of Queensland, Australia.

• Present your research topic and its significance in three minutes, using just one slide.
• Test your academic, presentation and research communication skills.
• Succinctly communicate your research to a wide variety of audiences, academic and non-academic.

2024 3MT FINALISTS

Haidar Aldaach

Civil Engineering Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Using Statistical and Machine Learning Methods to Address Environmental Challenges

Syeda Nyma Ferdous

Computer Engineering Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Machine Learning for Sustainable Environment

Tanner Hoffman

Plant and Soil Sciences Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design

Legacy Effects of Warming Alter Simple and Complex Soil Organic Matter Decomposition

Brian Leonard

Chemical Engineering Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Sustainable Solutions for Water Treatment

Kushal Naharki

Early Detection of Invasive Spotted Lanternfly in West Virginia

Kinsey Reed

Plant & Soil Science Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design

Plant Diversity for Livestock Sustainability

Environmental Engineering Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

FIRST PLACE WINNER (TIE): Sustainable Nutrient Management Opportunities for Small Communities with Wastewater Lagoons

Kayla Steinberger

Immunology School of Medicine

SECOND PLACE WINNER: Hypoxia Regulates Vessel-modifying Macrophages and Vice Versa in Tumors

Vaishakhi Suresh

Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

THIRD PLACE WINNER: Exploring the Challenges of Handling Mass Fatalities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Paige Zalman

Higher Education College of Applied Human Sciences

FIRST PLACE WINNER (TIE)/PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD RECIPIENT: The Picture of (Mental) Health: A Photovoice, Narrative Inquiry, and Critical Participatory Action Approach to Music Major Mental Wellness

Watch the 2024 3MT Grand Finale

Get out of your comfort zone, rise to the challenge, and gain valuable experience that will help you grow personally and professionally.

Master the skill of concisely pitching your academic research to get a leg up on job interviews, networking, and presenting to venture capitalists or grant funding agencies.

Enhance your online reputation, and CV or resume.

Win prize money!

WHAT TO EXPECT: 3MT TIMELINE

Submit a video of your presentation by Thursday, Feb. 15 by 11:59 p.m. The video should cover:

• What are you researching?
• Why are you researching this topic?
• What are the values or outcomes of your research?

Your video will be reviewed by at least three judges.

The 3MT Committee will select 10 finalists by Wednesday, Feb. 28 to advance to the WVU 3MT Grand Finale competition, which will be held on Wednesday, April 3 from 6 to 8 p.m.

This competition abides by the international 3MT rules and judging criteria, and uses the 3MT Competition Judging Rubric .

2024 STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

• Betty Mei, Program Director for Graduate Student Success
• Jake Follmer, Assistant Professor, Education, College of Applied Human Services
• Courtney Glenn, Graduate Fellow, Chemistry, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
• Trisha Phillips, Associate Professor, Political Science, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
• Jim Simpkins, Professor, Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine
• Michael P. Strager, Professor, Resource Economics and Management, School of Natural Resources, Davis College
• Micalyn Stump, Program Director, Graduate Academic Affairs

GRAND FINALE PRIZES

Prizes are awarded as “cash prizes” and are disbursed in check form without any obligation for future work or service. The IRS may consider these prizes “taxable income.”

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

People’s Choice

All Other Grand Finale Finalists

*Audience members who attend the final competition will be invited to cast a single vote to select the candidate who they believe best communicated their area of research to the audience. If the People’s Choice Award is also a grand finale winner, the cash prize will be added to their corresponding prize.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• You must be enrolled in a doctoral program for a minimum of 1 credit hour and have completed enough dissertation work to present some preliminary results by the submission deadline. By the same deadline, make sure that your adviser has completed the Advisor Agreement Form acknowledging the aforementioned statement and that the presentation consists of original research conducted by the student and not the work of the research team.
• You must be available on the designated competition date to participate in the finale if selected as a finalist. The grand finale will be held on April 3, 2024 from 6 to 8 p.m.
• You must be in good academic standing within your program.
• You must obtain permission from your academic adviser or committee chair to enter the 3MT competition.
• You must obtain permission from any research collaborators if the research you plan to present incorporates the ideas or work of others.
• Your presentation should take into account intellectual property issues. (If research content is embargoed or sensitive, the presentation will need to be structured to avoid compromising any future research or any other sensitive information.)
• All final presentations will be open to the public and published online.
• By entering the contest, you must agree to allow the Office of Graduate Education and Life to use photographs and/or video from the competition in publicity surrounding the contest and/or in other contexts, such as websites, promotional materials, etc.

3MT GRAND FINALE COMPETITION RULES

A single, static PowerPoint slide is permitted. No slide transitions, animations, or 'movements' of any kind are allowed. The slide is to be presented from the beginning of and throughout the presentation.

• No additional electronic media (e.g., sound and video files) are permitted.
• No additional props (e.g., costumes, musical instruments, laboratory equipment) are permitted.
• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes; competitors exceeding 3 minutes are disqualified. 
• Presentations are to be spoken word (e.g., no poems, raps, or songs).
• Presentations will begin when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.

The decision of the judges panel is final.

JUDGING CRITERIA

Judges will rate each presentation in the following categories: 

Comprehension

• Did the presentation provide an understanding of the background to the research question being addressed and its significance?
• Did the presentation clearly describe the key results of the research including conclusions and outcomes (or expected outcomes)?
• Did the presentation follow a clear and logical sequence?
• Did the presentation make the audience want to know more?
• Was the presenter careful not to over-generalize their research?
• Did the presenter convey enthusiasm for their research?
• Did the presenter capture and maintain the audience's attention?

Communication

• Was the research topic, including key results, significance, and outcomes, communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
• Did the speaker avoid scientific jargon, explain terminology, and provide adequate background information to illustrate points?
• Did the speaker have sufficient stage presence, eye contact, and vocal range; maintain a steady pace; and have a confident stance?
• Did the presenter spend adequate time on each element of the presentation - or did they elaborate too long on one aspect or rush the presentation?
• Did the PowerPoint slide enhance the presentation - was it clear, legible, and concise?

2023 3MT Grand Finale

Recap: April 4, 2023

2023 3MT WINNERS

FIRST PLACE

Sindupa De Silva

Forestry and Natural Resources

Second PLACE

Johan Cuervo Correa

Plant and Soil Sciences

Third PLACE

Qazi Arka Rahman

People's Choice

Mohammed Syedul Islam

Resource Economics and Management

• Announcements
• In The News

Friday, March 12, 2021

Three-Minute Thesis Grand Finale finalists announced

The Three-Minute Thesis Grand Finale, hosted by the Office of Graduate Education and Life, will be held as a virtual competition April 15. Judges will score the 10 presentations submitted by the finalists online, and the public will be able to watch the presentations and vote online for their favorite for the People’s Choice Award. 

This 3MT competition challenges doctoral students to present their research topic and its significance in three minutes using just one slide. The 3MT competition develops academic, presentation and research communication skills, as well as supports the development of graduate students' capacity to communicate their research succinctly to a non-specialist audience. 

Congratulations to our finalists: 

Janelle Chuah, biochemistry and molecular biology, School of Medicine

P. Minh N. Do, chemistry, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Jenni Kane, plant and soil science, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Kristen Pechacek, psychology-behavioral neuroscience, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

William Way, sport, exercise, & performance psychology, College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences

Brent Shapiro-Albert, physics and astronomy, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Tasneem Arsiwala, pharmaceutical and pharmacological sciences, School of Pharmacy

Chansotheary Dang, plant and soil science, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design

Frank Izaguirre, English,  Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Shelby D. Bradford, immunology and microbial pathogenesis, School of Medicine

Grand Finale prizes include:

First Place Prize: $1,000

Second Place Prize: $750 

Third Place Prize: $500

People’s Choice Prize: $250

Finalists who do not win a prize will receive $100. 

Find more information on the 3MT competition.  

Contact Micalyn Stump at [email protected] with questions.

Graduate students showcase research at Three-Minute Thesis Competition

Monday, April 09, 2018

Will Armentrout, Mayara Patricia Viana de Matos and Farnoush Reshadi are the winners of the 2018 Three-Minute Thesis Competition at WVU.

Some of West Virginia University’s extraordinary researchers are mapping the universe, using hair follicles to solve crimes and helping consumers understand the risks of off-label prescription drugs. Three of those researchers were celebrated last week at the Office of Graduate Education and Life ’s annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition, in which 12 doctoral students from across the University competed for the top spots, all of which came with cash awards.

First place was awarded to William Armentrout, a doctoral student in the department of Physics and Astronomy , for his presentation “A User’s Guide to Mapping Our Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Armentrout is advised by Loren Anderson , who in 2013 was part of a team that discovered hundreds of previously unknown sites of massive star formation in the Milky Way galaxy. 

Mayara Patricia Viana de Matos, a doctoral student in Biology , was awarded second place for her presentation “Hair Doesn’t Lie,” which examines how human hair follicles can aid crime scene investigators. Viana de Matos is advised by Glen Jackson , the Ming Hsieh Distinguished Professor of Forensic and Investigative Science in the Department of Forensic and Investigative Sciences . Jackson is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Third place was awarded to Farnoush Reshadi, a doctoral student in Marketing , for her presentation “When Trusting Doctors May Be Bad for Well-Being: Consumer Understanding of Off-Label Prescription Risks and Benefits.” Reshadi works under the direction of Paula Fitzgerald , the Nathan Haddad Professor of Business Administration and the 2016 recipient of the inaugural James and Karen Caveney Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award .

As a designated R1 Research Institution and the flagship university of our state, WVU is committed to innovative, life-changing research in all disciplines. 

The 3MT Competition originated at the University of Queensland in Australia. The research communication exercise, now hosted by institutions worldwide, challenges graduate students to present a compelling oration on their thesis topics in just three minutes, using one static slide as a visual aid. 

jm/ac/04/09/18

CONTACT: Constinia Charbonnette Director of Graduate Student Funding and Success 304.293.0173; [email protected]

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter

WVU graduate student researchers shine in Three-Minute Thesis Competition spotlight

The pressure was on for seven doctoral students at the final round of the second annual West Virginia University Three-Minute Thesis competition on Thursday, April 7. Each of the student competitors had to condense the results of years of research into a three-minute presentation aided only by a single slide. The distinguished panel of judges included Provost Joyce McConnell and State Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer.

This year’s winners are:

First Place ($2,000): Laura S. Farwell, Wildlife and Fisheries Second Place ($1,000): Danielle Shepherd, Exercise Physiology Third Place ($500): Chitrak Gupta, Chemistry People’s Choice Award ($250): Ashley Cranney, Sport and Exercise Psychology

“This year’s competition showcased the amazing research spectrum of WVU ’s doctoral students,” said Dr. Constinia Charbonnette of the Office of Graduate Education and Life , who organized the competition. “The students did not make the judges’ job easy!”

The 3MT Competition originated at the University of Queensland in Australia. The goal of the tightly compressed format is to force young scholars and researchers to learn to communicate their research quickly and clearly to a lay audience. More than 60 doctoral students entered the 3MT preliminary competitions at WVU . The specific topics on which the winners presented, as well as the entire list of 2016 3MT finalists, can be viewed here .

cc/ac/4/13/16

CONTACT : Constinia Charbonnette, Program Director, Recruitment and Fellowships & Life� 304.293.7173, [email protected]

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.

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Grad student recognized at 3-Minute Thesis competition

Friday, April 29, 2016

Ashley Cranney, Sport and Exercise Psychology graduate student and doctoral candidate,earned the People’s Choice award in the 3-Minute Thesis competition recently held on campus. Cranney presented her research, titled “How far is too far? Understanding identity and overconformity in collegiate wrestlers,” April 7 at the Mountainlair. 

Cranney was interested in the competition because the focus allowed students to hone their competences. “The competition was more about the student’s communication skills to effectively convey their research to a non-specified audience,” she explained. 

Cranney said that her professors encouraged her to enter the event. Without their support, she would not have the confidence to enter. “Dr. Watson encouraged me to enter. I likely would not have, had he not supported my submission,” she said. 

Throughout the event, Cranney thanked WVU and CPASS for the wealth of knowledge she attained. “I don’t think there’s enough space here to discuss all of the ways WVU has helped me excel in my field. Throughout my time here, I have been given opportunities to expand my knowledge base of sport and exercise psychology, as well as counseling.

“Doing so has allowed me to become a more effective teacher, consultant and researcher. The number of opportunities I have been given to expand myself professionally span beyond what I could have asked for. I’ve been given opportunities to teach and develop undergraduate classes, which has enhanced my passion for teaching and expanded my skill set as a teacher,” Cranney said. 

Cranney appreciates the encouragement. “The support that I’ve received from faculty and students is remarkable. Beyond the networking I’ve benefited from, I cannot imagine a program that more purposefully and passionately prepares its students for life beyond the PhD. I am forever grateful for my experience at WVU, and CPASS, especially,” Cranney concluded.

The WVU-sponsored competition allowed students to discuss their research topics within a three minute time frame. A panel of judges evaluated the presentations and disqualified students who exceeded the time limit.

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Theses and Dissertations

Find a dissertation or thesis.

• Research Repository @ WVU - This collection contains theses, dissertations, problem reports, and project reports (ETDs) from West Virginia University graduate students. The Libraries are currently in the process of adding more documents to this collection.
• Proquest Dissertations and Theses Fulltext - This database is the world’s most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses, spanning from 1861 to the present day and offering full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997. Many WVU theses and dissertations are available in this database. If you can't find what you are looking for, please contact Emily Fidelman at [email protected] . 
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations A comprehensive search of all Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) sites worldwide.

Submit a Dissertation or Thesis

WVU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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The latest COVID-19 news and information is available at  Penn State's Coronavirus Information website . 

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update

On March 11 th  the University announced that beginning March 16 th  instruction for all students will be moving to a remote delivery format. Graduate students enrolled in resident courses should plan on participating remotely, and not coming to campus specifically for face-to-face instruction. Learn more at gradschool.psu.edu/covid19 .

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Three Minute Thesis

•  /  Career and Professional Development
•  /  Three Minute Thesis

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Through the competition, graduate and professional students can hone their academic and research presentation skills and their ability to effectively explain their research to a general audience. Each competitor has three minutes to speak and can use only one presentation slide.

The Graduate School will be hosting the 2024 Three Minute Thesis competition in partnership with the Graduate and Professional Student Association and the Graduate School Alumni Society .

Watch the Final Round

3MT at Penn State in 2024 

Penn State’s first University-wide 3MT Competition will take place over two rounds. To compete, graduate students must upload a video presentation during the submission period (January 8–February 9) and be available for the final, in-person round on Saturday, March 23, on the University Park campus.

Competitor Information

Learn more about eligibility requirements, the upcoming timeline, prize money, and more.

Judge Information

Learn about remote judging for the opening round, who can be a judge, judging criteria, and more.

Prizes 

• First Place: $1,000
• Second Place: $500
• People's Choice: $500

Competition Format

Opening Round — Video Format expand_more

Open call to any Penn State graduate or professional student conducting research to submit three-minute videos. Submissions will be judged by alumni, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, staff, and others. The top 10 students get invited to the final round as well as a free lunch at Penn State’s annual Doctoral Alumni Recognition Luncheon hosted by the Dean of the Graduate School. 

Final Round — In-Person Format expand_more

Saturday, March 23  10:00-11:15 a.m.  Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center 

The final round will be live streamed from the University Park campus and will include a people’s choice prize selected by virtual and in-person audience ballots. Winners will be announced shortly after the competition.

Regional and National Competitions expand_more

The top-scoring Ph.D. student from Penn State’s final round will be invited to the regional 3MT competition hosted by the Northeast Association of Graduate Schools in April 2024 (exact date to be determined). Winners of the regional competition are invited to the national competition hosted by the Council of Graduate Schools. Students in master's and professional degree programs are eligible to participate in Penn State's competition but are not eligible for the regional or national competitions.

Why participate?

Megan Rossi, past 3MT winner at the University of Queensland, discusses how the 3MT competition helped her career.

Contact  

Direct all questions about Three Minute Thesis at Penn State to: [email protected] .  

Three Minute Thesis, Graduate Exhibition, or Both?

In spring 2024, Penn State graduate students can participate in two major research and scholarship communication events, the Three Minute Thesis and the  Graduate Exhibition . Students are welcome to participate in both but should be aware that each event has its own application process and deadlines.

Home > Three Minutes Thesis Competition > 5

Three Minutes Thesis Competition

Wastes Clean Wastes: An Innovative Approach for Wastewater Treatment

Musfique Ahmed , West Virginia University Follow

Statler College of Engineering and Mining Resources

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Lian-Shin Lin

Document Type

Recommended citation.

Ahmed, Musfique, "Wastes Clean Wastes: An Innovative Approach for Wastewater Treatment" (2020). Three Minutes Thesis Competition . 5. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/three-minute-thesis/5

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Graduate Education

Office of graduate and postdoctoral education, three minutes, infinite impact: 2024 3mt winners announced.

Apr 10, 2024

The ninth annual Georgia Tech Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition concluded on Friday, April 5, where 12 scholars shared their groundbreaking research through electrifying and informative three-minute-long presentations. Four graduate students emerged victorious, each winner taking home research travel grants.

Congratulations to the 2024 Three Minute Thesis Winners:

Master's Winner

Karina Bhattacharya, MID, Industrial Design

The master’s category winner won a $1,000 research travel grant.

Overall  Ph.D. Winner

Alexandra Patterson, Ph.D. Bioengineering

First Runner Up

Kantwon Rogers, Ph.D. Computer Science

Second Runner Up

Valeria Juarez, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering

The first-place Ph.D. winner won a $2,000 research travel grant. The Ph.D. first runner-up

Won a $1,500 research travel grant, and the second runner-up won a $1,000 runner-up grant.

First runner-up, Kantwon Rogers also won the coveted People's Choice award,

which earned him an additional $500 research travel grant.

The Office of Graduate Education coordinates tech’s 3MT competition in partnership with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), The Naugle Communications Center, and the Language Institute. For more information about this year’s 3MT Competition, visit grad.gatech.edu/3mt .

Brittani Hill

Marketing Communications Manager

Office of Graduate Education

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Annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition Provides Research Capsule Talks

Creating an elevator pitch from information gleaned through years of specialized research takes clear thinking, precise wording and a flair for presenting to an audience. Just ask the participants of this year’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Ten graduate and doctoral students took part in the contest’s final round last month.  

3MT provides participants with the chance to share details about their research and creative work in a compelling way—within a three-minute time limit. It was first developed by the University of Queensland in Australia and is now held at colleges and universities around the world.   

“3MT forces students to come up with ways to describe their research succinctly to non-specialists in a way that is not just comprehensible, but is also interesting and engaging. That’s a skill set that will pay off on the job market, and even beyond, as far as interacting with the media and others who can help disseminate your work and findings more broadly,” says Glenn Wright, executive director of career and professional development for the Graduate School, who runs the competition.  

Nimisha Thakur

This year’s top winner is Nim isha Thakur , a Ph.D. student in anthropology, whose topic was “ River Song: Riverine Futures Amidst Climate Change on the Brahmaputra Floodplains .” Thakur, a graduate research associate at the South Asia Center in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs , won a 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 and a year membership in the Anthropological Association of America. Thakur also has the chance to represent Syracuse University in the regional 3MT competition hosted by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools.   

Qingyang Liu

Qingyang Liu , a Ph.D. student in human developm ent and family science, was named the “People’s Choice” winner by audience vote. Liu conducts research in the SELF Regulation Laboratory in  the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics . Her topic was “ Material Hardship’s Influence on Self-Regulation Across Childhood: Which Hardship Truly Matters ?” The prize was a set of Bose noise-cancelling headphones.   

Additional finalists were:   

• Caroline Barraco , master’s student in history, “Authenticity, Commodity and Empire in the Early Modern Spanish Relic Trade”  
• Yener Çağla Çimendereli , Ph.D. student in philosophy, “Nonnative Speaking and Linguistic Justice”  
• Nicholas Croce , Ph.D. student in social science, “America’s Forgotten Labor Colony Experiment”  
• Nardini Jhawar , Ph.D. student in clinical psychology, “Racial Reflections: Examining ADHD Help-Seeking Among Asian American College Students”  
• Matthew D. O’Leary , Ph.D. student in anthropology, “Entangled Frontiers: Capitalism and Artifacts of Power at Fort St. Frédéric”  
• Andrew Ridgeway , Ph.D. student in composition and cultural rhetoric, “Evil We Desire: Akrasia and Conspiracy Rhetoric”  
• Paul Sagoe , Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering, “From Joint Pain to Joy Gain: Delivering Drugs for Osteoarthritis Cure”’  
• Julia Zeh , Ph.D. student in biology, “From Baby Babbles to Masterful Melodies: Investigating Vocal Development in Humpback Whales”  

Judges were Sarah Hamersma, associate professor and director of doctoral studies in public administration and international affairs, and Chung-Chin Eugene Liu, assistant professor of economics, both of the Maxwell School; and Corey Williams, a Syracuse City School District employee and a Common Councilor for Syracuse’s Third District.

Diane Stirling

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Graduate students recognized with “three minute thesis” awards for influential research.

KINGSTON, R.I., – April 22, 2024 – Three Ph.D. students at the University of Rhode Island have been recognized for their ability to communicate their research effectively to the public as part of URI’s inaugural Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Each student who entered the competition was challenged to present the content and contributions of their research in a 3-minute “ elevator pitch ” that attempted to  capture the attention of a non-specialist audience in a vivid, cogent, jargon-free style – without reverting to academic language – while relying on only a  single static slide as a visual aid.  

“An 80,000 word Ph.D. thesis would take 9 hours to present.  Your time limit… 3 minutes” according to the University of Queensland , which founded the 3MT competition in 2008.  3MT is now replicated at over 900 universities around the world.  “3MT cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills, . . . and supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in 3 minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience,” according to University of Queensland.

The finals of URI’s 3MT competition took place last month, in Lippitt Hall before an audience of nearly 100 spectators. Winners are: Sarah Davis, who is studying biological and environmental sciences; Md Abdullah Al Rumon, a student in electrical engineering; and Helani Singhapurage, who is studying physics.

“Graduate programs are the secret sauce that makes URI such a great place to study and work, and the Three Minute Thesis competition was an incredible opportunity to showcase the innovative work that our graduate students do every day,” said Professor of Chemistry and Graduate School Dean Brenton DeBoef.

Davis’ first-place presentation, “A Crab’s Eye View of the Plastic Pollution Crisis,” about the New England native Jonah crab, highlighted the urgent threat that pollution poses to ocean life. 

According to Davis, the greatest threat to this species is the level of plastic pollution in the ocean. When the plastic refuse breaks down, becoming microplastics, ingesting these synthetic materials becomes unavoidable for ocean-floor scavengers like crustaceans. 

Second-place winner Al Rumon, wrote his thesis on a device that would more efficiently monitor the vital signs of infants in neonatal intensive care units. His “smart belt” device is a “softer” non-invasive way to gather essential medical information from infants and newborns in delicate conditions. 

Current standard equipment for taking vital signs in infant intensive care units is composed of equipment, including leads for monitors and tubes that are fastened directly to the baby’s skin, which has many drawbacks, says Rumon. Not only can the wires damage or irritate the skin of a newborn, causing bleeding and contact dermatitis, they can prevent the baby from moving freely, making it more difficult for mothers and nurses to hold them. Al Rumon’s belt design is simpler than what exists now for taking vital signs. An article on the $2.6 million grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health to al Rumon and the team developing this device was featured in Rhody Today on Oct. 19, 2023.

Singhapurage, was voted winner of the people’s choice award by the audience, for her research in the field of physics. Singhapurage’s thesis explores light refraction on the microscopic level, and compares the refractions of different kinds of light on different materials by measuring the vibrations emitted. 

Studies of this sort have been conducted before, but Singhapurage’s methods of light and vibration measurement allowed her to discern minute variations in the emitted frequencies that speak to the chemical differences of the material, and perceived differences in its color.

DeBoef, who judged the event, along with Jen Riley, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, professor and associate dean of research in the College of Engineering; and Christopher Lavan, associate vice provost for the advancement of teaching and learning, called the event a resounding success.

You can view the presentations of all the winners and see the list of the 10 finalists HERE

This story was written by Samantha Melia, a senior journalism and political science major at the University of Rhode Island and an intern in the Department of Marketing and Communications.