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Student Success Research and Innovation

Miami’s 2022 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition winners

Ten finalists competed in the Graduate School's Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition

headshots of the 3mt competition winners (names in caption)
Winners of the Graduate School 3MT competition (left to right): First place, Shiwanka Wanasinghe; second place, Selena Mungur; third place, Phil O'Dell; People's Choice, Maddie McKinney (tied with Wanasinghe)
Student Success Research and Innovation

Miami’s 2022 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition winners

Winners of the Graduate School 3MT competition (left to right): First place, Shiwanka Wanasinghe; second place, Selena Mungur; third place, Phil O'Dell; People's Choice, Maddie McKinney (tied with Wanasinghe)

Ten finalists competed in the Miami University Graduate School Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition Feb. 23. The event was held in-person.

Finalists were selected from among 20 graduate students who participated earlier this semester in the research communication competition.

The 3MT, held at more than 900 universities worldwide, challenges participants to present their research in just 180 seconds, in an engaging form that can be understood by an intelligent audience with no background in the research area. 

Winners:

First place ($1,000 prize): Shiwanka Wanasinghe, fourth year doctoral student in Chemistry with advisor Dominik Konkolewicz, associate professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, for “Self-healing Polymers.”

Second place ($750 prize): Selena Mungur, combined BA/MA student in Political Science and Government, and triple major in Political Science, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, and Comparative Religion) with advisor Anne Whitesell, assistant professor of Political Science, for “Political Polarization: Cultivating Civility.”

Third Place ($500 prize): Phil O’Dell ’21, master’s degree student in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering with advisor Andrew Jones, assistant professor of Chemical, Paper and Biomedical Engineering, for “Chromosomal Integration in E.coli.”

People’s Choice Award (Tied, $500 each): Madeline “Maddy” McKinney, BS/MS student in Chemical and Biological Engineering with Andrew Jones, assistant professor of Chemical, Paper and Biomedical engineering, for “Psilocybin: The Evolution of Modern Medicine;” and Shiwanka Wanasinghe (also First Place winner).

Judges for the 3MT 2022 Final Round

Lindsey Romick-Rosendale Miami Ph.D. ’11, currently assistant professor in the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the director of the NMR-Based Metabolomics Facility at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Darrel Davis, associate professor of Educational Psychology.

Timothy Cameron, associate dean of the College of Engineering and Computing and professor of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.

Caroline Reges, second year master’s degree student in Biology and the 2021 3MT first place winner.

Miami's 3MT competition is sponsored by the Graduate School and in memory of Gerald Sanders, professor emeritus of communications and chair of the department of communications, 1981-1992.