What is 3MT簧?
3MT簧 is an academic competition that challenges doctoral and master's students to describe their research within three minutes to a general audience. 3MT簧 celebrates the discoveries made by research students and encourages communication about the importance of their research to the broader community.
3MT簧 Details
The next 3MT簧 at 蹤獲扦will be held on November 3, 2023, in the Rhatigan Student Center. Students will be divided into preliminary heats. Heat winners will move on to the final round of judging later that afternoon.
Any graduate student enrolled in master's, PhD, or doctoral programs may compete. A student's program of study must contain an original research project. The degree program need not normally require a thesis or dissertation, however the presentation topic must cover an original research project. You must be enrolled during the fall semester to participate in the competition! Fall graduates are eligible to participate, but please note that the 蹤獲扦 winner is expected to present at a conference the following Spring.
- A single static PowerPoint slide is permitted. No slide transitions, animations or movement of any description are allowed. The slide is to be presented from the beginning of the oration.
- 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 three minutes maximum. Competitors exceeding three minutes are disqualified.
- Presentations are to be spoke word (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
- Presentations are to commence from the stage.
- Presentations are considered to have commenced when a presenter starts their presentation through either movement or speech.
- The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.
- Academics (both students and professors) typically present at professional conferences to people who are familiar with their disciplines jargon and topics. 3MT簧 is different. In a 3MT簧 competition, youre communicating with a general audience. They need to understand the problem and why finding a solution is important.
- Engage your audience: speak to their minds and their feelings.
- A three-minute speech is more difficult than longer speeches; you must be concise. Think hard to determine what your research is about: try to see where it fits in the larger context and as part of the bigger (sometimes global) problem.
- Both your speech and your slide should be carefully crafted. Think of it as a piece of art!
- Each second of your three-minute speech should be planned, revised, revised again, improved upon, and rehearsed. Practice, practice, practice!
- Your speech needs clear structure:
- An introductionSomething catchy that gets your audiences attention
- The middle part with the detailsWhat are you investigating and what have you found?
- A conclusiona statement, summary, or story for your audience to remember you by.
- Your slide should be an organic part of your speech. There are endless possibilities! Once again, look at your slice as a piece of conceptual art: an image, symbol, or graphicthat illustrates your point.
Lisa Parcell and Sandy Sipes, from the Elliott School of Communication, explain how to synthesize your research, speak persuasively and how to explain the significance of your findings to different audiences.
Look for winning examples. There are plenty on YouTube and Vimeo:
First Place: Mary Peterson
Department: Master's in Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Visvakumar Aravinthan
Title: Equity for Solar Energy Investments
Second Place: Reilly Jensen
Department: Master's in Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Kim Cluff
Title: Beyond CT and MRI: Towards Real-Time Brain Hemorrhage Detection with Radio Frequency Resonators
Third Place: Jenna Ercolani
Department: Master's in Industrial Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Laila Cure
Title: Analysis and Modeling of Workload within Emergency Medical Services
First Place: Jade Driggs
Department: Psychology - Human Factors PhD program
Advisor: Dr. Carryl Baldwin
Title: Judgments of Difficulty While Observing an Automated System Support the Media Equation Hypothesis
Second Place: Sarangan Rajendran
Department: PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD program
Advisor: Visvakumar Aravinthan
Title: Battery Charging Considering Solar-Load Synchrony
Third Place: Anusha Krishna Murthy
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD program
Advisor: John Watkins
Title: From Chaos to Control: Taming Large-Scale Discrete Systems
First Place: Sangar Shanthanam
Department: PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Visvakumar Aravinthan
Title: Low Cost Wave Energy Converter
Runner up : Sarangan Rajendran
Department: PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Visvakumar Aravinthan
Title: Valuing Distributed Energy Resources
First Place: Fariha Tanveer
Department: Master's in Biological Sciences
Advisor: William Hendry
Title: Developing a Human Patient Avatar System Particularly Relevant to Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC).
Runner up :Michael Okwori
Department: PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Advisor: Ali Eslami
Title: Application of Machine Learning Models and Feature Engineering to Predict Genomic Phenomena.
First Place: Morgan Trible
Department: Master's in Biological Sciences
Advisor: Dr.Mary Liz Jameson
Title: Dung Beetles: from Poop to Profits
Runner up :Jonathan Folkerts
Department: PhD in Physics
Advisor: Nickolas Solomey
Title: nuSol: Designing A Solar Neutrino Detector
Runner up :Sai Tarun Prabhu Bandemegala
Department: Master's in Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Jaydip Desai
Title: Comprehending Human Cognitive Performance under Varying Simulated Space Conditions.