The University’s first Three Minute Thesis Competition will wrap up today with presentations by eight finalists who advanced from the preliminary heats.

The public is invited to attend as graduate students in a variety of disciplines endeavour to explain their research in three minutes. Judges will select first- and second-place winners, who will receive cash prizes and the honour of representing the University of Windsor at the Ontario championships at Queen’s University on April 18. Members of the audience will vote for a $250 people’s choice award.

The event begins at 2 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre’s Ambassador Auditorium.

The contestants, all doctoral students, include:

• Heather Filiatrault, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, “Stretchable electronics cast in a new light.”
• Sathy S. Veeravalli, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, “Hydrogen production from low value waste.”
• Mojtaba Ahmadibaloutaki, Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, “Constructive aerodynamic interaction of vertical axis wind turbines.”
• Jessica Menard, Department of Psychology, “Prosody as a moderator of the relation between early reading achievement and reading intervention outcome.”
• Rebecca Williams, Department of Biological Sciences, “Great Lakes Undercover: Can fish evolve to survive pollution?”
• Osamah Batiha, Department of Biological Sciences, “Sex and a single gene, a lesson from the fruit fly.”
• Chris Allen, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, “From your TV to the lab: exploring the reactivity of indium.”
• Wudneh Shewa, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, “Converting waste into electricity.”