Lawrence Barrett was named the 2015 CPMS Three-Minute Thesis winner on Friday, February 20.
Three-Minutes Thesis (or 3MT) is an annual competition requiring participants to present their graduate research in three minutes or less, using just one slide and language the general public can understand.
This year marked BYU’s second annual 3MT competition, and 21 students from departments across the college described their research in subjects ranging from superalloys to geological rock records.
“This is a great opportunity for students and a great showcase for research in the college,” associate dean Thomas Sederberg said as he introduced the competition.
Barrett’s first-place presentation centered on his efforts to create longer lasting batteries for potential use in electric cars.
“Every year we burn a Utah Lake of gasoline in all our cars and trucks,” he said in his presentation. “I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound very sustainable to me. We need energy solutions.”
Barrett said that he practiced his presentation with multiple mentors but that doing quality research was the best preparation for 3MT.
“This is a great event,” he said. “I think you learn some really valuable skills that you don’t get sitting in the lab.
Second place went to Jessica Alvey, who is studying the best methods of data imputation in understanding long-term temperature trends. Blaine Harker, who presented on sound localization in military jets, received the third-place prize.
Additionally, six honorable mentions were awarded to Benjamin Hillery, Chandramouli Nyshadham, Jayson Pagaduan, Joseph Rowley, Mukel Sonker, and Devyn Woodfield.
“We thank all of you students who participated and all you advisors who work with the students,” said CPMS dean Scott Sommerfeldt. “It’s great to see you presenting your research in a very energetic fashion.”
The top two students, Barrett and Alvey, will represent the college at the university 3MT competition on March 5, 11:00am, at the Varsity Theatre in the Wilkinson Student Center.