Taylor Mitchell wins CEAT Three Minute Thesis competition

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Taylor Mitchell, graduate student in aerospace engineering, won the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition on March 23, 2015, with his thesis concentrated on the use of unmanned aircraft to detect carbon dioxide leaks for carbon sequestration. Mitchell will be competing in the OSU 3MT Finals held on April 16, 2015.

“There were quite a few other good presentations, so it was a surprise to hear my name when they announced first,” said Mitchell.  “I’m looking forward to going to the university-wide competitions and seeing how engineering stacks up against the other colleges.”

The goal of his thesis is to use unmanned aircraft to detect carbon dioxide leaks for carbon sequestration.  Carbon sequestration is taking carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from manufacturing plants and instead of releasing it into the air, pumping it underground where it’s stored in the rocks that normally hold oil and natural gas, which also helps pump more oil and natural gas out.  Mitchell is making an unmanned aircraft and sensor system that flies and maps carbon dioxide levels so spot leaks can be seen.

Mitchell is in the last semester of his Master’s studies in aerospace engineering with the Unmanned Aircraft Systems option. He is originally from Stillwater, OK. After graduation, he would like to work in the commercial unmanned aircraft industry.

Second place belongs to Salah Hamim, doctoral student of mechanical engineering, with his thesis of Obtaining Stress-Strain Relationship of Biological Materials. Third place was Christian Tormos, doctoral student of chemical engineering, with Repairing a Damaged Heart thesis and people’s choice winner was Naveen Pessani, food science doctoral student, with a thesis Development of Pretreatment Method for Biofuel Production from Sweet Sorgum.