2024 CEPS 3MT College Heat recap

On March 27, 2024, the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS) held its annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) College Heat to select the top two candidates who will advance to the University of Guelph’s (U of G) Final Competition in April. Eight CEPS students took the challenge this year of presenting their graduate-level research in just three minutes and one slide.

The 3MT® contest is a Canada-wide competition hosted by participating universities and is judged by a panel of non-specialists who score the students on their communication skills, engagement with the audience and their plain-language research explanation.

Judges were particularly impressed by all presenters and, after deliberation, we are pleased to announce that the two winners from CEPS moving forward to the U of G competition are:

• 1st Place – Himashree Ponrajan (pictured).
• 2nd Place – Victoria Arbour.

Both winners receive a certificate and a cash prize – Ponrajan receives $500 and Arbour receives $250.

Ponrajan is completing their M.A.Sc. in Biological Engineering studies in the School of Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Keener. The presentation was titled "PAW PATROL: Microbial Decontamination of Raw Chicken using High Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma.” Ponrajan’s research looks at how new cold plasma technology can reduce salmonella on chicken without affecting the quality or texture.

Arbour is completing their M.Sc. in the Department of Physics under the supervision of Dr. Mike Massa. The presentation was titled “Physics is for everyone!”. Arbour’s research is looking at the historical equity imbalance in the field of physics and current U of G students’ experiences with gender balance.

Finally, honourable mention goes to Adya Aiswarya Dash, a PhD student in the School of Engineering, with their presentation entitled "Predicting Floods with Precision: An AI-based Approach". 

Ponrajan and Arbour will go on to the U of G final, and the top two winners from the U of G-wide 3MT® will move on to represent the University on the Ontario stage at the provincial competition that follows.

Each of the eight participants are to be commended for their outstanding performance in this year’s CEPS College heat. They demonstrated mastery of their topics, passion for the impacts their research creates and exemplar communication skills. Congratulations!