Polymer nanofibers — it’s a topic that’s hard enough to understand, let alone describe in a way that someone without a nonscientific background would understand. Just ask Nils Persson, a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering. 

“I have a hard time explaining the technical details of my project to other scientists, and explaining them to the public presents a huge challenge,” Persson said. “So, when I heard about the Three Minute Thesis competition that Georgia Tech was hosting, I thought it was a great opportunity to improve in this area.”  

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which started at the University of Queensland in Australia and has spread to campuses around the world, is an event that challenges Ph.D. students to explain their research in three minutes in a way that someone with no knowledge of the subject would understand.  

“For example, I find that many chemical problems can be explained with food analogies, so, in my presentation, I decided to compare what I work with to spaghetti,” Persson added.  

The campus community is invited to watch Persson and nine other finalists compete in Tech’s inaugural 3MT competition on Nov. 18. It will be held from 5-7 p.m. in the Children’s Healthcare Seminar Room of the Engineered Biosystems Building. (Parking is available in the North Campus Parking Deck.)

The following students, who were selected during two preliminary rounds held in October, will compete for three research travel grants ranging from $2,000 to $1,000 and a $500 People’s Choice grant:

• Sireesha Aluri, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 
  Converting Household Garbage Into Fuels

• Claire Dell, Biology 
  Managing Coral Reefs For the Benefit of All
• Pamela Grothe, Earth and Atmospheric Engineering 
  Coral-thermometers and Monster El Ninos
• Marian Hettiaratchi, Biomedical Engineering 
  Heparin Microparticles: A New Method for Bone Regeneration
• Karan Jani, Physics 
  Searching for Black Hole-Collisions in the Universe
• Pranav Kalelkar, Chemistry 
  Plastic Implant to Aid Bone Healing
• Daegene Koh, Physics 
  Magnetic Fields in the First Galaxies and Stars
• Scottie-Beth Fleming Lindsley, Aerospace Engineering 
  Coordinating Design Decisions
• Nils Persson, Chemical Engineering 
  

  Painting with Electronic Spaghetti

• Jonathan Walker, Aerospace Engineering 
  Leaving Ancient Rocket Engines Behind 

For more information about the 3MT competition, visit www.grad.gatech.edu/3MT.