Grad Slam Preliminary Round 6 winner Briana Simmons. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe sixth round of the Grad Slam was another heated competition. Student presentations ranged from how to rethink time to understanding how and why complex life began on Earth.
Rusha Rawaf started Round 6 with an enthusiastic presentation about museum education and how she plans to evaluate and improve informal and formal learning at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (opening in Saudi Arabia in 2014). Randy Drake took us into the world of music, identity, and transgender issues with a presentation and a cappella song.
Stephanie Robbins described how her research on the Bystander Effect in social networking sites will shed light onto how people can appropriately respond to difficult disclosures, such as suicide notes posted on Facebook. Briana Simmons shared about the value of rethinking the history of the products that we consume in order to make life better for the individuals who grow our food today. Christopher Proctor philosophized about the notion of time as a human construct. Christopher explained that even though we are all caught up in a race against time, it’s the timeless moments (e.g., birth, death, weddings) that define our lives.
Faisal Nawab discusses cloud computing. Credit: Patricia MarroquinMichael Gaultois shared that his goal of making more efficient thermoelectric materials may help reduce our dependence on oil. Forrest Horton described his theory about the role of phosphorus in the evolution of complex life on Earth. Ryan Wilson taught the audience about biochar, an efficient, effective, and environmentally friendly product that can enrich soil and increase the efficiency of the land that is being used for farming.
The final two participants took the audience into the world of data and technology. Faisal Nawab told a story about Derp, a cartoon character who tried to solve the world’s problems by storing and using large amounts of data in the cloud. Unfortunately, Derp’s story did not have a happy ending, but Faisal hopes to change that with his efforts to improve cloud computing by employing two data centers that communicate with one another. Song Gao focused his presentation on the relationship between telecommunications and movement and talked about his use of extensive mobile phone data to assess the role of distance in spatial interaction.
While the judges had the challenge of selecting the top three participants, the audience enjoyed a long question-and-answer session with the presenters. After the judges returned to the room with the results, the top three participants (Michael Gaultois, Ryan Wilson, and Briana Simmons) were asked to step forward to receive their $50 UCSB Bookstore gift cards.
Briana Simmons was awarded first place and she will be moving on to compete in the finals on Friday, April 19, at 3:30 p.m.
Grad Slam Round 6 participants gather at the front of the room for a question-and-answer session while the judges deliberated. Credit: Patricia Marroquin