How not to lay a three-minute egg

Simple, right?

It’s actually harder than it seems. But Ohio University students accepted the challenge at OHIO’s inaugural Three Minute Thesis (3MT^®) competition on Feb. 3 at Stocker Center’s 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’s Graduate College.

Entrant Kingsley Antwi-Boasiako, MA ’13, a doctoral student in the School of Media Arts & Studies at the Scripps College of Communication, signed up to “get outside of my comfort zone,” he said. “I ran my ideas by scholars, then decided to put myself out there.”

Antwi-Boasiako said explaining his research to a general audience inside of three minutes paradoxically required extensive practice on his presentation, “Reporting from the Frontlines of Ebola: African Bravery or Suicidal Professionalism?”

“I timed myself and broke it down so there was no jargon,” he said. “I tried to make it a conversation.”

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^® judge Theda Gibbs, assistant professor of teacher education in the Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education.

“It 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,” Gibbs said. The process “encourages researchers to value connecting with the community and encourages members of the community to learn more about important research,” she added.

The wining 3MT^® presentation, “Black Holes: Little Engines that Control the Evolution of Galaxies,” by doctoral physics student Sean McGraw, illuminated how wind generated from black holes can change a galaxy’s shape, size, and color. Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology student Nikhil Dhinagar, MS ’13, pursuing a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science, came in second for his “Non-invasive Skin Cancer Detection.” Reetobrata Basu, MS ’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^® People’s Choice award for his presentation, “To Grow or Not to Grow: A Melanoma Powerplay.”

Each of these top three finishers received a cash prize. McGraw advanced to the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools national meeting’s 3MT^® competition in April.

The 3MT^® competition started in 2008 at Australia’s University of Queensland and has spread worldwide to more than 170 universities in nearly 20 countries.

–Kelee Garrison Riesbeck, BSJ ’91, assistant director, Advancement Communication & Marketing; managing editor ohiowomen and ohiotoday.org