Three Minute winners meet head-to-head in 3MC competition

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The Oklahoma State University Graduate College will host its first Presidential Fellows’ Grand Three Minute Challenge (3MC) competition April 14 in the Student Union Theater at 3:30 p.m.

The 3MC competition celebrates the success of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) and Three Minute Presentation (3MP) in a head-to-head competition of winners from the OSU 2015 3MP and the 2016 3MT®. The 3MC is sponsored by the OSU Presidential Fellows, a society made up of passionate and loyal OSU alumni and supporters of university priorities through the leadership of President Burns Hargis.

The first 3MT® competition at OSU was held in 2013. Two years later, OSU launched its 3MP competition, the first in the country. The 3MT® competition is reserved for thesis master’s and Ph.D. students, while the 3MP is for non-thesis students, education specialists and graduate certificate students. As with the 3MT® and 3MP, students in the Three Minute Challenge must present their research and its significance in less than three minutes, using only one PowerPoint slide, to a general audience. Students are judged on their communication style, comprehension of material and audience engagement.

Adam Cobb, a doctoral student in natural resource ecology and management, was awarded first place for his presentation on sustainability in farming systems in the 3MT® finals last month. Cobb is currently gearing up to compete in the Grand Challenge.

“At this point, changing the presentation would run the risk of saying the wrong thing,” Cobb said. “Now that I have the script locked in, it’s all about repetition. I walk from my house fifteen minutes away from here and back every day, so I practice on my walk. If I wasn’t doing that, I’d be singing.”

The 3MT® and 3MP finalists and People’s Choice winners who will compete in the 3MC with Cobb are:

Rishabh Dimri, master’s student in management information systems
Ezekiel Eastman, master’s student in theatre
Zahra Maria, doctoral student in mechanical and aerospace engineering
Kahli Remy, doctoral student in physics
Dane Robertson, master’s student in forensic sciences
Monika Ambadi, master’s student in management information systems
Rajest Tolety, master’s student in management information systems
Raghav Nargotra, master’s student in management science and information systems
Lacey Roberts, master’s student in International Agriculture

For more information, visit https://gradcollege.okstate.edu or contact Dr. Ken Clinkenbeard, associate dean of the Graduate College, at ken.clinkenbeard@okstate.edu, or 405-744-4578.

PHOTOS: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ostatenews/sets/72157666374387160/with/26309902695

Story by Taylor Young