2022-2023 Penn 3MT Competition

Results of the 2023 Penn 3-Minute Thesis competition!

2022-2023 Penn 3MT Competition

Penn 3MT is a university-sponsored competitive speaking competition designed to showcase graduate student research in three-minute talks to a general audience. This is a terrific opportunity for graduate students engaged in substantive original research to develop communication skills and share their work with faculty, students, and staff from across the University.

In addition to bragging rights, a prize of $1000 will be awarded to the first-place winner and $500 to both the second-place and audience choice winners. Winners will also have the opportunity to participate in regional and national 3 Minute Thesis competitions!

To enter, students must fill out the interest form and submit a video of their three-minute talk to Penn 3MT (details below). From those submissions, finalists will be chosen to compete in the campus-wide, live competition in the Spring.

Meet the Finalists & Winners

First Place, $1000, Elena G. van Stee

Elena is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Sociology and an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Predoctoral Fellow at Penn GSE. Elena’s research examines how inequality shapes family relationships, higher education, and the transition to adulthood writ large. When Elena is not conducting interviews or writing articles, you can find her wandering around Philly in search of the best oyster happy hour. 

First Place, $1000, Mark Giovinazzi

Mark is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Candidate in the department of Physics & Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences. His research involves searching for and characterizing new planets that exist outside of our solar system. As we will hear, he has also spent much of his PhD understanding stars. When he is not looking for planets or studying stars, you can find him making pizzas, trying to learn the guitar, or at Citizens Bank Park rooting on the Phillies.

Audience Choice, $500, Alexander Ng

Alexander is a 4th year PhD student in the Materials Science and Engineering Department in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His research surrounds the development of novel devices for more effective energy storage. When he is not working on that, you can find him contemplating the benefits of learning to drive vs the risks of accidentally running someone over. After the trauma of failing to pass his driving exam the first time, he's been a changed man, so if anyone knows a free chauffeur, please contact him! 

Kritika Jha

Kritika is a Ph.D. student in the School of Arts and Sciences working in the Fakhraai lab. Her research is focused on preparing Ultrastable glasses & studying their properties. When she is not working on that, you can find her playing ping pong somewhere on campus. A fun fact about her is she was born with slightly cropped ears which her mother used to deter Kritika from being naughty as a child because she told her a mouse might come and nibble them some more. 

Amruthesh Thirumalaiswamy

Amruthesh is a PhD student in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His research focuses on modeling soft-glassy materials and method development for energy landscape exploration and sampling. When he is not working on that, you can find him at the squash courts, hiking or singing Indian Classical music. He is a big history buff and is always up for a chat on historical anecdotes. 

Yachong Elsa Yang

Yachong is a Phd candidate in Statistics and Data Science Department in the Wharton school. She goes by Elsa and her research focuses on studying the causal relationship using machine learning tools. Besides doing research, she enjoys singing, swimming, board game nights with friends and playing table tennis. Fun fact about her, she knows how to ride a unicycle, and can even ride it with one leg! 

Max Pisciotta

Max is a PhD candidate in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Their research is focused on carbon management, specifically carbon capture, removal, and the energy transition. When they are not working on that, you can find them running, swimming, or reading. 

Jarrett Dillenburger

Jarrett is a PhD candidate in the Chemistry Department in the School of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on inorganic layered materials. When he is not working on that, you can find him playing his trusty fiddle. Jarrett believes that Earth is the most beautiful planet in the universe, and he fully intends on keeping it that way! 

Katie Sun

Katie is a 2nd year PhD student in the Materials Science Engineering Department in the School of Engineering. Her research studies how polymer brushes interact with nanoscale particles for membrane filters. Out of lab, Katie often feels like a hibernating bear due to her constant need to search for free food on campus. But she has since come to terms that this is just a side effect of graduate school! 

Rebecca Liu

Rebecca is currently a first-year MBA student at Wharton and a Masters in International Studies student at the Lauder Institute. Prior to Wharton, Rebecca worked in consulting, education, and tech. She also runs a blog where she interviews entrepreneurs and creators from the Asian diaspora. Her blog has amassed views from people in 98 countries around the world. Rebecca received her BA in Economics from Northwestern University. 

Research Communications Workshops
Spring 2023

Fall 2022