Matthew Gebbie, third from right, answers a question from the audience while the other Round 5 competitors listen. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Here’s what you missed at Round 5 (aka "The Life-Saving Round") of UCSB's 2015 Grad Slam on Wednesday morning in the Student Resource Building's Multipurpose Room. Eight presenters wowed us with their timely and perfectly timed research, which included topics such as Endangered Languages, Disappearing Frogs, and an Artificial Pancreas. While each presenter went away with an Official Grad Slam T-Shirt, only three graduate students earned a gift card and an invite to the Semifinals.
Round 5 presenters included, clockwise from top: Dibella Wdzenczny; Andrew Johnson; Faye Walker; Lily Li; and Andrea Adams. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe presenters and their topics:
- Andrea Adams, Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology: “Solving the Mystery of Southern California’s Vanishing Frogs: Looking to the Past for Evidence of Disease”
- David Copp, Mechanical Engineering: “Closing the Loop: Engineering an Artificial Pancreas”
- Matthew Gebbie, Materials: “Simplifying Nature's Invention: Engineering Mussel Proteins into Biomedical Glues”
- Abel Gustafson, Communication: “Predicting Election Outcomes using Wikipedia”
- Andrew Johnson, Political Science: “Hegel’s Polizei: Between Security and Welfare”
- Lily Li, Mechanical Engineering: “Enhance Mass Sensing Using Nonlinearity”
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UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang's wife, Dilling, signs in before the start of Round 5. Credit: Patricia MarroquinFaye Walker, Chemistry and Biochemistry: “The Uberification of Genetic Testing”- Dibella Wdzenczny, Linguistics: “I Can Chat Ya in Kamchatka”
And the Round 5 winners are ...
Judges' Selections: David Copp and Matthew Gebbie
People's Choice: Abel Gustafson
Shawn's Selections:
- Best Slide Reveal: Abel Gustafson
- Best Use of Video: Lily Li
- Best Prop: Faye Walker (cell phone)
- Best Use of a Foreign Language: Dibella Wdzenczny
Abel, David, and Matthew will advance to the Semifinals, which will be held at the beginning of next week.
Winners of Round 5 are, from left, Abel Gustafson (Communication); David Copp (Mechanical Engineering); and Matthew Gebbie (Materials). Credit: Patricia Marroquin