Winners of Round One, who will move on to the Grad Slam Semifinals, are: Mira Rai Waits of History of Art and Architecture, left, and Deborah Barany of Dynamical Neuroscience. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Monday, April 7, 11 a.m. to noon, Student Resource Building, Multipurpose Room.
Here is what you may have missed at the first round of the Grad Slam.
The Basics
Graduate Division Dean Carol Genetti was the host of Grad Slam Round One. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe Glad Slam features 3-minute presentations of student research.
The best two presenters from the preliminary round advance to the next round (and the best four receive a $50 gift card for the UCSB bookstore).
Kyle’s Picks
Best Dressed: Mira Rai Waits
Honorable Mention Best Dressed: Gary Haddow (for purple T-shirt featuring Africa)
Best Visuals: Deborah Barany
Fastest: Yassine Dhane (2:24)
Funniest: Heather Hodges
Judges’ Picks
Walter Boggan of Graduate Division was there to remind competitors of their time limit. Competitors were marked down for going beyond three minutes. Credit: Patricia MarroquinDeborah Barany (advances to the Semifinal round)
Mira Rai Waits (advances to the Semifinal round)
Gary Haddow
Heather Hodges
Presentation Summaries
The Brain in Action, by Deborah Barany, Dynamical Neuroscience.
Barany explained how humans are better than the smartest computers in completing movements. The human brain knows where you need to move and how to get there. Applications for the brain transforming thought into action are neuromotor prostheses, allowing physically disabled people to move objects with their thoughts.
Complex Fluids Being Even More Complex, by Yassine Dhane, Chemical Engineering.
Dhane explained the importance of squeezing complex fluids, such as plastics, through small tubes for industry. The bowl of pasta is the best model for studying complex fluids for suction power: how we suck noodles. Therefore, making even a .05% increase in suction power for this 200 million industry can make 
Yassine Dhane's talk was titled "Complex Fluids Being Even More Complex." Credit: Patricia Marroquinit into a billion dollar industry.
Beyond War: Rebuilding Liberia’s Ethnic and National Identities, by Gary Haddow, Education.
Haddow explained how there are always national violent conflicts going on in the world, especially in Africa, as a result of economics, religious, and ethnic differences. Specifically, when rebuilding a country after a civil war, such as Liberia, we need to understand how to rebuild a new national identity.
Method to Our Madness: Towards a Better Understanding of the Public’s Role in Policy, by Heather Hodges, Political Science.
Hodges explained we all matter in politics and policy, but we are weird and irrational in our decisions. The way information is worded and presented changes our responses to it. Also, are perceptions change depending on our relation to events. However, we still don’t understand how and why we matter or make decisions, so more research is needed.
Towards Bringing One Billion More to the Light without Raising the Global Thermostat, by Christopher Proctor, Materials.
Proctor explained one billion more people will gain access to electricity, but we cannot continue to use the same energy sources without having negative effects on our environment. Another problem is that fossil fuels are cheaper than renewable energy sources. However, plastic solar cells can provide a cheap source of energy, if only they were more efficient. Proctor’s research will try to make plastic solar cells way more efficient.
Uncovering Mechanisms of Developmental Robustness Using Microfluidics, by Eric Terry, BMSE.
John Vanderhoef of Film and Media Studies spoke about "Everyday Developers: The Production and Cultures of Indie Games." Credit: Patricia MarroquinTerry explained that heart disease is currently the largest cause of death in the U.S. One day many of us might need a new heart. So we need to understand how to take a single cell from ourselves to create an organ replacement. Currently, he studies C. elegans to learn how to use cells to make complex structures like a new heart.
Everyday Developers: The Production and Cultures of Indie Games, by John Vanderhoef, Film and Media Studies.
Vanderhoef explained that the video game industry is big, billions of people play video games, and the messages they deliver matter. However, games are not nearly as diverse as they could be, representing a white male culture. Fortunately, indie games provide more diversity. He studied how three different groups who make indie games, such as amateurs, independent game companies, and retro game developers, are now providing more choices and diversity.
Mapping the Finger: The Colonial History of Biometrics, by Mira Rai Waits, History of Art and Architecture.
Waits explained she is attached to her iPhone, which uses biometrics. Biometrics are now being used by governments and industry everywhere. But where did this trend begin? It began in 1858, in Bengal, India, when a contractor used handprints in addition to signatures to identify people. Later, scientists discovered fingerprints were unique. Fingerprints were then used in prisons to identify and control the population. So the history of biometrics is darker than we realize.
Disclaimer: Apologies to any presenters if I misrepresented your research. I only had three minutes to summarize.
While the judges deliberate, Grad Slam Round One competitors take questions from the audience. Credit: Patricia Marroquin