stopwatch displaying three minutes

Heats set for Three Minute Thesis competition

Competitors have been assigned to two initial heats for the UWindsor Three Minute Thesis contest in the CAW Student Centre on Monday, March 26.

The competition challenges graduate students to offer a presentation on their dissertation, thesis, or major research paper to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes. At stake are cash prizes of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place, and $250 for a People’s Choice award selected by audience vote.

The event will get underway in the Alumni Auditorium at 2 p.m. with the first heat:

  • Robert Gombar, Chemistry and Biochemistry
    “The future of personalized medicine revealed by our proteins”
  • Dhwani Shah, Civil and Environmental Engineering
    “Driving near trucks: safe or not?”
  • Nic Caruana, Faculty of Human Kinetics
    “The ultimate handgrip showdown”
  • Ingrid Qemo, Biological Sciences
    “Brain stem cells: is too much or too little of a good thing, a bad thing?”
  • Dylan Verburg, Civil and Environmental Engineering
    “Bubbles — the solution to a stinky situation”
  • Tanya Fendler, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research
    “New menu item: invasive species”
  • Esrafil Jedari Sefidgari, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    “How to find health records from the timing footprints”
  • Jonathan Valencia, Human Kinetics
    “With great power(tools) comes great (workplace safety) responsibility”
  • Julia Borsatto, Psychology
    “Breaking barriers: communication without words”
  • Umair Durrani, Civil and Environmental Engineering
    “You drive like you order pizza and the results are not always delicious”

Going head-to-head in the second heat are:

  • Kassandra Korcsog, Biological Sciences
    “What would it take for me to change your mind?”
  • Liza-Anastasia DiCecco, Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering
    “Move over plastic, we’re 3D printing titanium”
  • Daniella Mlinarevic, Biological Sciences
    “Brain buckets: function over fashion”
  • Nadia Stephaniuk, Chemistry and Biochemistry
    “Making sense of chemical sensors”
  • Darko Milenkovic, Communication, Media and Film
    “The ‘innovative and strategic’ idea of sponsored news: when journalism becomes advertising”
  • Lucas Chauvin, Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering
    “The future is clear when gas isn’t a fear”
  • Ian Thomas, Biological Sciences
    “Birdsong and the roots of human language”
  • Celine Perron, Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology
    “The end of adulthood as we know it”
  • Jordan Deneau, Human Kinetics
    “Don't let aging catch you: ‘you gotta keep moving!’”
  • Celso Sakuraba, Law
    “There's no such thing as a bicycle accident”

The top six contestants from each heat will present again in the final round, starting at about 4 p.m.

The UWindsor champion will go on to the Ontario provincial final at York University on April 19.

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