Nine University of Notre Dame graduate students will compete for $4,500 in prize money during the annual Shaheen Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition Thursday (March 5) at the Mendoza College of Business.
The competition, which is sponsored by the Graduate School, the Graduate Student Union and the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development, is at 5 p.m. in the Jordan Auditorium. A reception will follow.
3MT is an academic competition that challenges graduate students to explain their research to a broad audience in three minutes or less, offering alumni, industry partners, various on-campus departments/institutes and the broader community the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research at Notre Dame.
“The research that each graduate student is engaged in at Notre Dame has the potential to make a significant impact — both in their particular field of study and more broadly — as a force for good in the world. Through the platform provided by the Sheehan Three Minute Thesis competition, each student has three minutes and one slide to effectively communicate their research question and to inspire the audience to learn more,” said Laura Carlson, vice president, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School. “Our message to students who enter the competition as part of their professional development is, ‘Your research matters to you, it matters to us, and it matters to the world. Share it.’”
This year’s finalists are: Gozde Basara (engineering); Jordan Cockfield (science); Matthew Dahl (Arts and Letters); James Hentig (science); Brandon Hollihan (Arts and Letters); Jeya Pradha Jeyaraj (engineering); Sam Potier (science); Leanne Tang (ESTEEM); and Julaine Zenk (Arts and letters).
Judges are: Laura Carlson, professor, vice president and associate provost and dean of the Graduate School; Tom Burish, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost at Notre Dame; Ann Amico Moran, director of human resources at Lippert Components; and Lionel Pittman, Notre Dame alumnus and subsystem engineer with the Light Attack Aircraft Systems Program Office of the U.S. Air Force.
Ryan Willerton, associate vice president for career and professional development in the Graduate School, will serve as emcee.
For more information, visit 3mt.nd.edu.
Contact: Erin Blasko, assistant director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu