A graduate student at Waterloo Engineering has won the campus-wide Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition at the University of Waterloo for the third straight year.
Jasdeep Multani of the School of Architecture was joined on the podium by third-place finisher Robert Bennnett, a master’s student in electrical and computer engineering, to give the Faculty two of the top three spots.
Jasdeep Multani, a master's student in architecture, is the 2020 winner of the 3MT contest at Waterloo.
Held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event gave 15 finalists - including eight who had advanced from engineering department heats - three minutes and one static slide to explain their research and its significance to a non-expert audience by video.
Multani, a master’s student who now moves on to Ontario finals hosted by the University of Windsor, took the top prize of $1,000 with a talk entitled Designing the Classrooms of the Future: Incorporating Sensory Cognizant Design Strategies.
Robert Bennett is a master's student in electrical and computer engineering.
Bennett claimed third place and $250 with a presentation called Simulating the Technology of Tomorrow.
Jeff Casello, associate vice-president of graduate studies and postdoctoral affairs at Waterloo, praised the winners in a letter for the quality of their presentations and for persevering through the new format in challenging times.
“I’m sorry that you did not get the full 3MT experience in the large theatre with a full audience and stage lights, but I think what you’ve done this year demonstrates your resilience and your commitment to and passion for your research,” he wrote.
The winner of the 3MT contest at Waterloo last year was Haya Almutairi, a doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering who went on to a fifth-place finish at the provincial finals.
Worldwide event began in Australia
In 2018, chemical engineering doctoral student Jeremy Lui won the campus-wide competition before finishing fifth at the provincials and second at the Canada-wide finals, where he also claimed the People’s Choice Award.
Second place and $500 at the 2020 event for Waterloo went to Yara Mohiar, a graduate student of optometry and vision science in the Faculty of Science. Sarena Daljeet, a psychology student in the Faculty of Arts, won the $250 People’s Choice Award.
3MT began in Australia in 2008 and has grown into a world-wide event involving more than 600 universities and institutions in over 60 countries.