Five CCEE Ph.D. students competed in the department’s 5th Annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition on April 18, presenting their research to an audience of judges and colleagues. Each student had three minutes and one static visual slide to make a compelling and concise statement about their thesis topic and its significance to society. 

“3MT showcases the hard work and talent of graduate students,” said Dr. Meagan Kittle Autry, CCEE assistant teaching professor and director of graduate professional development. “These students are central to our department’s mission. Their talks highlight how the research being done in our department betters the human condition by improving infrastructure, human health and the environment.” 

CCEE’s event is modeled after the international 3MT, which was created at the University of Queensland. The Graduate School at NC State also hosts an annual 3MT event in the fall, where winners have the opportunity to progress to a regional competition.

Ph.D. students Laura Dalton and Savanna Smith emceed this year’s CCEE 3MT event, and the judges included Danielle Herman, associate director of communication of the NC State College of Engineering; CCEE alumnus Dr. Nehemiah Mabry, founder and CEO of STEMedia; and Katlyn May, director, Community Engagement Core of the NC State Center for Environmental & Health Effects of PFAS. 

“We were thrilled to host the event in-person,” Kittle Autry said. “There’s nothing like connecting with a live audience as a speaker, and our students rose to the occasion!”

James East, advised by Dr. Fernando Garcia, gave the winning presentation on examining air pollution from space using satellite data to better understand the impact of emissions globally. 

Second place went to Adam Schmidt, advised by Dr. Eleni Bardaka, who gave a presentation on the social and economic impacts of new transit systems. 

In addition to the judges’ picks, the audience had a chance to vote for their favorite presentation. Gongfan Chen, advised by Dr. Min Liu, won the People’s Choice Award for his presentation on using blockchain to create smarter contracts for construction management.

Asmita Narode, advised by Dr. Mort Barlaz, gave a presentation on the negative effects of heat production in landfills caused by ash and strategies for its prevention. Qian Luo, advised by Drs. Jeremiah Johnson and Fernando Garcia Menendez, gave a presentation on how researchers need to examine how power sector decarbonization can impact different demographic groups in a pre-recorded video shown at the competition.

Watch the full presentations here.

 

The event also included the Spring 2022 CCEE Graduate Awards:

• Nooralhuda Saleh, advised by Dr. Richard Kim won the  Bruce E. Matthews Graduate Award for Transportation Engineering 
• Azmayeen Shahriar, advised by Drs. Mo Gabr and Brina Montoya, won the Thomas G. Coffey Graduate Award 
• Mehedi Hasnat, advised by Dr. Eleni Bardaka, won the C.E. “Ed” Vick Transportation Graduate Award 
• Doyun Lee, advised by Dr. Kevin Han, won the Thomas G. Coffey Graduate Award 
• Tanmay Das, advised by Drs. Billy Williams and Nagui Rouphail, won the C.E. “Ed” Vick Transportation Graduate Award 
• Abdullah Alsharef, advised by Drs. Edward Jaselskis and Alex Albert, won the Smith Gardner Graduate Award

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  Chuanni He, advised by Dr. Min Liu, won the David Johnston Graduate Award in Construction Engineering 

• Harleen Sandhu, advised by Dr.  Abhinav Gupta, won the Thomas G. Coffey Graduate Award 
• Urmi Devi, advised by Dr. Jason Patrick, won the Thomas Griffin Graduate Award 
• Abdelrahman Elmeliegy, advised by Dr. Murthy Guddati, won the Thomas G. Coffey Graduate Award 
• Johnathan Woodruff, advised by Dr. Casey Dietrich, won the Thomas Griffin Graduate Award 
• Chuhui Zhang, advised by Dr. Detlef Knappe, won the Charles Smallwood Graduate Award 

 Watch the awards ceremony here.

View photos from the event on CCEE’s Facebook page here.