Three Sciences Students Will Compete in Three Minute Thesis

Ten graduate student finalists representing four NC State colleges will compete in the Graduate School’s fourth annual Three Minute Thesis on Oct. 30, as part of Red and White Week.

Three Minute Thesis, an international competition, challenges graduate students to share their research in just three minutes with one slide. The finalists were chosen during preliminary rounds held Sept. 25-27.

The 3MT finals will be held Oct. 30, in the Hunt Library’s Duke Energy Center, 3-5 p.m., with a reception to follow for the finalists and their guests. Colleagues and students are encouraged to turn out to support the finalists. Audience members will vote for a “People’s Choice” winner, while a panel of judges will choose first and second place winners.

The 10 finalists, along with their student status and degree programs, are listed below by college.

Agriculture and Life Sciences

• Katherine Kelly, master’s student, animal science
• Stella Nhanala, Ph.D. student, horticultural science
• Hannah Wapshott, Ph.D. student, plant and microbial biology

Engineering

• Amber Hubbard, Ph.D. student, chemical and biomolecular engineering
• Vivek Samu, Ph.D. student, civil engineering

Sciences

• Katharine Ahrens, Ph.D. student, mathematics
• Nathan Corder, Ph.D. student, statistics
• Melissa Gaddy, Ph.D student, mathematics

Textiles

• Ciera Cipriani, master’s student, textile engineering, chemistry and science
• Engy Shafik, Ph.D. student, textile and apparel, technology and management

Tom Stafford, vice chancellor emeritus for student affairs, will serve as master of ceremonies. A native of Henderson, Stafford worked at NC State for more than 40 years until his retirement in 2012. During his years as vice chancellor, he served with 27 student body presidents and six NC State chancellors. He is known for hosting tours of the NC State Memorial Tower.

Judges who will choose the top two winners are Melissa Buscher, director of global communications and marketing for LORD CORP; Jeff Pfeifer, vice president, chief product officer, North America Lexis Nexis; and Marie Williams, associate vice chancellor for human resources, NC State University.

The Three Minute Thesis is free and open to the public. Locate the Hunt Library and nearby parking on this map.

Three Minute Thesis is an academic research communication competition developed by the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. The 3MT finals at NC State are made possible by gifts to the Graduate School Enhancement Fund.

This post was originally published in The Graduate School News.