The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a speaking format that celebrates the exciting research conducted by graduate students. Developed by The University of Queensland in Australia in 2008, the exercise cultivates students’ academic, presentation and research communication skills. The competition supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. The Conference of Southern Graduate Schools hosted its second annual 3MT competition on March 8, 2015, in New Orleans, La., including 26 champions from universities across the Southeastern United States. Yuanrui Sang, an engineering technology graduate student and 3MT winner at Western Carolina University, presented her 3MT titled “Optimizing Ocean Wave Energy Extraction with a Slider Crank Wave Energy Converter.”

For more information on Sang's 3MT and Western Carolina's other winners and nominees, please click here.