Three-Minute Thesis Competition

CEGE Graduate Students

Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering 
University of Minnesota

Five CEGE graduate students compete to deliver their research thesis in just three minutes! The 3-Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a research communication competition that challenges students to communicate the significance of their projects without the use of props or industry jargon, in just three minutes. 3MT develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of research students' capacity to quickly explain their research in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience leaving them wanting to know more. 
The winner of this contest was chosen by audience vote.

2026 Student Participants

• Tareq Bastawisy, metagenomics & wastewater, advised by Tim LaPara
• Alexa Chesley, environmental,  advised by Sebastian Behrens
• Mobina Nankali, transportation, advised by Michael Levin
• Nicholas Saia, transportation, advised by Raphael Stern
• Ehsan Zadehali, cohesive sediments, advised by Judy Yang