In April, School of Engineering research postgraduate students entered into a concise war of words as finalists in the 2015 SENG Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition battled to best present their ideas and research discoveries in just 180 seconds.
The exciting contest challenged contestants to explain their research projects to other students and a judging panel comprising SENG faculty and communication professionals, enabling participants to practice communicating the significance of their work in a succinct but compelling way to non-specialists as well as specialists.
The skill is seen as highly beneficial to researchers who will later need to apply for funding or participate in public forums and speak convincingly in a short time span about the importance of their work to non-experts in their field. More than 200 universities from 19 countries and regions around the world have held 3MT® competitions since it was originated by the University of Queensland, including the University of Cambridge, University of Massachusetts and University of British Columbia.
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering PhD student Ping Geng won both the overall championship and the People’s Choice award, an honor voted on by the student audience. Second and third places went to PhD students Miao Yu, Bioengineering Graduate Program, and Belsy Yuen, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
During the event, the finalists, judging panel, and audience also shared their experience of giving presentations and exchanged ideas on how to improve research presentation skills.
