Boiling down big ideas into small talks
Five students stood out in this year’s Three-Minute Thesis competition, an annual event sponsored by the Graduate School.
Tackling topics from Pippi Longstocking to animal predators, and distilling down years of their research into the briefest of presentations, five students stood out in this year’s Three-Minute Thesis (3MT ®) competition, an annual event sponsored by the Graduate School.
With just one slide and 180 seconds to explain his work of the last four years and nine months, Amey Khanolkar, the all-campus champion, took his final audience—about 75 alumni and donors on the UW Foundation Board—on a journey into quantum mechanics and his doctoral work with the phonon (a quantum of sound or vibratory energy.)
Joining Khanolkar and the other top contenders in the campuswide contest, social work master’s student Benjamin Beach talked about his study of juvenile diversion programs—alternatives to criminal court—and his exploration of how they work and how they are legally authorized. Then Carol Bogezij, a College of the Environment Ph.D. candidate, talked about how wolves and cougars interact with the modern Washington ranch.
Liina-Ly Roos steered the room into Scandinavia with her study of children in Nordic cinema and literature.
“These graduate students are on the forefront of our research and learning ecosystems,” said Kelly Edwards, associate dean in the Graduate School. They help the University attract top faculty and they take on challenges for the world.
While each thesis brought the audience to the edge of their seats, mechanical engineering student Evan Schuster took home the event’s $3,000 prize. The master’s student is developing a walking cane that provides haptic biofeedback.