Seven Engineering grad students compete in Western 3MT Finals

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From left to right: Robert Kuehnen, Kelsey Doerksen, Harsimrenjit Singh, Andrea Kassay, Ian Vallamagna, Seva Ioussoufovitch and Hareem Nisar

Western Engineering News | March 22, 2019

On March 21, Western held its annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Finals competition at the Wolf Performance Hall in the London Public Library, where seven graduate students from Western Engineering placed as Top 20 finalists and competed in the campus-wide 3MT competition.

3MT is a research communications competition, where graduate students have three minutes to present their research and its impact to a panel of non-specialist judges and peers. The exercise develops academic, presentation and research communication skills.

Among the 20 finalists, Western Engineering MESc candidate Robert Kuehnen came in 2nd place for his 3MT talk: How fast can you evacuate a building fire?

“It is important to me that my research has not just a theoretical basis, but also a practical basis that everyone can relate to and understand,” said Kuehnen. “The 3MT competition provides an exciting opportunity for me to share this understanding, and also get feedback to improve the basis of my work.”

The Western Engineering finalists (in alphabetical order) are:

  • Kelsey Doerksen (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
    Research topic: Space Weather: Needing more than just umbrellas
  • Seva Ioussoufovitch (Biomedical Engineering) 3rd place in Engineering heat
    Research topic: Shedding light on Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Andrea Kassay (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
    Research topic: Radiographic measurements and their role in predicting osteoarthritis and patient outcomes following distal radius fractures
  • Robert Kuehnen (Civil and Environmental Engineering) 1st place in Engineering heat
    Research topic: How fast can you evacuate a building fire?
  • Hareem Nisar (Biomedical Engineering)
    Research topic: Image guidance system for intra-cardiac interventions
  • Harsimrenjit Singh (Civil and Environmental Engineering) 2nd place in Engineering heat
    Research topic: Impact of climate change on temperature and rainfall interactions
  • Ian Vallamagna (Biomedical Engineering)               
    Research topic: Changing the paradigm of Osteoarthritis treatment using biomaterials

View this year’s winners, and check back soon for videos of each finalist’s 3MT talk.