Summer 2016 Edition
Alumni & Friends Magazine
How not to lay a three-minute egg
Graduate students and doctoral candidates: Ready? Set? Explain your research in lay terms in exactly three minutes!
By Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ, CERT 鈥91 | June 10, 2016
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Simple, right?
It鈥檚 actually harder than it seems. But 帝王会所 students accepted the challenge at OHIO鈥檚 inaugural Three Minute Thesis (3MT庐) competition on Feb. 3 at Stocker Center鈥檚 Robe Auditorium.
The contest tasked graduate and doctoral students with relaying innovative insights about their research to a general audience and a panel of judges in three minutes using easily understandable language. The event was sponsored by OHIO鈥檚 Graduate College.
Entrant Kingsley Antwi-Boasiako, MA 鈥13, a doctoral student in the School of Media Arts & Studies at the Scripps College of Communication, signed up to 鈥済et outside of my comfort zone,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 ran my ideas by scholars, then decided to put myself out there.鈥
Antwi-Boasiako said explaining his research to a general audience inside of three minutes paradoxically required extensive practice on his presentation, 鈥淩eporting from the Frontlines of Ebola: African Bravery or Suicidal Professionalism?鈥
鈥淚 timed myself and broke it down so there was no jargon,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 tried to make it a conversation.鈥
How important is it for a lay person to understand concepts like combatting Ebola, detecting skin cancer, and finding the longest path of a directed acyclic graph? Very, says OHIO 3MT庐 judge Theda Gibbs, assistant professor of teacher education in the Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education.
鈥淚t is a necessity and valuable skill for researchers to be able to share their important scholarship not only with other scholars but also with the entire community,鈥 Gibbs said. The process 鈥渆ncourages researchers to value connecting with the community and encourages members of the community to learn more about important research,鈥 she added.
The wining 3MT庐 presentation, 鈥,鈥 by doctoral physics student Sean McGraw, illuminated how wind generated from black holes can change a galaxy鈥檚 shape, size, and color. Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology student Nikhil Dhinagar, MS 鈥13, pursuing a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science, came in second for his 鈥淣on-invasive Skin Cancer Detection.鈥 Reetobrata Basu, MS 鈥15, a doctoral student in the interdisciplinary program in molecular and cellular biology in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, earned third place and the 3 Minute Thesis庐 People鈥檚 Choice award for his presentation, 鈥淭o Grow or Not to Grow: A Melanoma Powerplay.鈥
Each of these top three finishers received a cash prize. McGraw advanced to the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools national meeting鈥檚 3MT庐 competition in April.
The 3MT庐 competition started in 2008 at Australia鈥檚 University of Queensland and has spread worldwide to more than 170 universities in nearly 20 countries.
鈥揔elee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ 鈥91, assistant director, Advancement Communication & Marketing; managing editor ohiowomen and ohiotoday.org
