Minutes Matter: Conveying Complex Research In 180 Seconds

Texas A&M University graduate students competing in the global 3MT Thesis (3MT®) competition have three minutes and a single display slide to present a compelling summary of their graduate work. Master’s student Edudzi David Sallah won both the 2019 master’s division level and the overall competition.

Sallah is a Department of Performance Studies student in the College of Liberal Arts and won for his “Toko Atolia” presentation on a pre-19^th century, indigenous African execution practice.

He and nine other graduate students earned the opportunity to compete in the recent showdown after besting other competitors at a two-day competition earlier this fall. Sallah will represent Texas A&M at the Regional 3MT Competition in March at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools Annual Meeting.

Now in its seventh year at Texas A&M, the competition is sponsored by the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies (OGAPS).

Topics presented at this year’s competition ranged from female students in STEM to shipbuilding, vaping, and historic preservation, among others.

Doctoral student Shivaranjan Raghuraman, who studies mechanical engineering, won the doctoral division competition with his talk on “Green Mechanochemistry” research. The People’s Choice Award, which is voted on by audience members, was given to Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology student Marcus Orzabal, who also won the Runner-Up prize in the doctoral division. Orzabal presented “Do You Vape?” In the master’s division, geography student Crockett Walter won the People’s Choice Award for presenting “Drone Precision Agriculture: Selecting Improved Varieties of Corn,” and biomedical engineering student Anna Kersey won the Runner-up prize for her talk about “Using Noble Metals to Direct Stem Cells.”

Texas A&M doctoral and master’s students compete in the annual competition and are judged by a panel of experts from the university and the local community. The competing researchers are evaluated based on their communication style, audience comprehension, and audience engagement. Students prepare for the competition with coaching and support from OGAPS, the University Writing Center, and the English Language Proficiency Program at the Center for Teaching Excellence.

The 3MT® concept was originally developed by the University of Queensland in Australia and has spread throughout the globe.