Fast-talking grad students collect hardware

Winning the University’s inaugural Three Minute Thesis Competition was a little overwhelming for Chris Allan, but he is already looking ahead: “I am really excited to be going to Kingston,” he said.

The doctoral student in chemistry will represent Windsor in the province-wide competition, April 18 at Queens University, after taking top local honours Monday with his presentation “From your TV to the lab: Exploring the reactivity of indium.” He also will receive a $1,000 cash award.

Joining Allan in Kingston will be runner-up Rebecca Williams, a biology student whose presentation “Great Lakes Undercover: Can fish evolve to survive pollution?” was good for the $500 second-place prize.

And crowd favourite Heather Filiatrault won the people’s choice award and $250 with her précis “Stretchable electronics cast in a new light.”

Dean of graduate studies Patti Weir said the competition highlighted the excellent research conducted by graduate students across campus.

“This has been an awesome three days!” she said.