Grad Slam Round 4 winner Britney Pennington. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe fourth round of the Grad Slam competition kicked off Tuesday with a dynamic and engaging presentation from Britney Pennington, a Biomolecular Science and Engineering grad student, who described how her research on directly reprogramming human cells can be used to treat ocular diseases.
Following Britney, Alex Troesch shared how symmetry is an important concept to understand for complex physics theories, like string theory, as well as everyday problems like packing things neatly. Next, Hannah Kallewaard engaged the audience in a hands-on demonstration of the proper way to wash your hands, which is the number one practice for living healthy.
Kitty Currier took the audience on a journey around the globe as she shared how sailing taught her about shipshaping, navigation, and Fiafia (Polynesian for “happiness”). Steven Pokornowski walked the audience through the history of viruses and zombies and how this fascination and fear of transformation can overpower more important issues such as race and politics.
Hannah Kallewaard demonstrates how to properly wash your hands. Credit: Patricia MarroquinStephanie Gamble Morse emphasized the value of preserving languages because when a language is lost, so too are the culture, contexts, history, and human knowledge associated with that language. Rafael Hernandez discussed how his research on racial microaggressions aims to make the invisible visible and to help Latino students build resilience in the face of subtle and implicit acts of racism.
Aaron Elmore pitched his idea for using smartphones to crowdsource decisions and to spread the word when the Internet is down or disrupted. Miles Detrixhe shared how parallel computing can provide faster solutions in a time when the clockspeed of computers is no longer increasing at exponential rates. Philip Deslippe described the importance of the digitization of records and how it allows people to find figures hiding in the archives who “may change the way we view our past.”
After much deliberation, the judges selected the top three participants: Britney Pennington, Miles Detrixhe, and Aaron Elmore. Britney was selected as the winner of round four. She will be competing against Bob Lansdorp, Jasmin Llamas, Torrey Trust, and the rest of the Grad Slam preliminary round winners on Friday, April 19.
See the full Grad Slam schedule for other events this week.
While the judges deliberated, the audience got a chance to ask questions of the Round 4 competitors, led by Graduate Division Dean Dr. Carol Genetti. Credit: Patricia Marroquin