Past Winners
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
SBU 3MT and Postdoc Spotlight 2026 Award Ceremony: From left to right: Graduate Dean Celia Marshik, Sarah Betz (3rd Place and People's Choice), Tamor Khan (2nd Place), Esther Opoola (1st Place), President of Stony Brook Alumni Association Neil Butterklee, Director of Research Training Initiatives Molly Lotz
Location: SAC Auditorium
Date: Friday, March 13, 2026 from 10 am to 3 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Esther | Opoola | Molecular and Cellular Biology | RSVP Required: Infections Denied Entry! |
| 2nd | Tamor | Khan | Neuroscience | Scribbling Away Memories |
| 3rd | Sarah | Betz | Economics | Finding Home: The Forces That Shape Migration |
| People's Choice | Sarah | Betz | Economics | Finding Home: The Forces That Shape Migration |
3MT 2026 Competitors
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
SBU 3MT and Postdoc Spotlight 2025 Award Ceremony: From left to right: President of Stony Brook Alumni Association Neil Butterklee, Interim Director for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs Molly Lotz, Antonio Novaes, Lissa Fortes Soares, Jonathan Plessis-Belair, Maryam Azmi (2nd Place), Chenyu Zhang (3rd Place), Sai Abasolo (1st and People's Choice), Graduate Dean Celia Marshik
Location: SAC Auditorium
Date: Friday, March 28, 2025 from 10 am to 2 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sai | Abasolo | Biomedical Engineering | Growing Bones: Body Not Included |
| 2nd | Maryam | Azmi | Genetics | Shrinking Brain's Superheroes! |
| 3rd | Chenyu | Zhang | Civil Engineering | From Scribbles to Safety: Drones and AI for Smarter Bridge Inspections |
| People's Choice | Sai | Abasolo | Biomedical Engineering | Finding Home: The Forces That Shape Migration |
3MT 2025 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Sai Abasolo | Biomedical Engineering | Growing Bones: Body Not Included |
| Maryam Azmi | Genetics | Shrinking Brain's Superheroes! |
| Ariek Barakat Norford | Ecology & Evolution | Monkeys: The Gardeners of the Forest |
| Julia Brown | English | Flipping the Script in Healthcare |
| Kevin Hatton | Geosciences | The Past is the Key to the Present |
| Varun Kankanallu | Chemical & Molecular Engineering | Realizing Safer Batteries |
| Sam Kim | Molecular & Cellular Biology | Tracking Cancer Cells On the Move |
| Jackie Martin | Neuroscience | The Undead in Your Head: Targeting Zombie Cells in the Aging Brain |
| Nikita Soni | Computer Science | Why Doesn't Your Smart Device Get YOU (Yet)? |
| Pallavi Surana | Biomedical Informatics | Decoding Cancer |
| Grace B. Wivell | Linguistics | One Little Language, So Much to Learn |
| Chenyu Zhang | Civil Engineering | From Scribbles to Safety: Drones and AI for Smarter Bridge Inspections |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
SBU 3MT 2024 Award Ceremony. From left to right: Stony Brook Alumni Association Past President Ahmed Belazi, Graduate Dean Celia Marshik, Shoumik Saha (3rd Place), Catherine Feldman (1st Place), Ashley Barry (2nd Place), Laiba Bilal (People's Choice), Stony Brook Alumni Association President-Elect Neil Butterklee
Location: Wang Center Lecture Halls 1 and 2
Date: Friday, March 8, 2024 from 10 am to 2 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Catherine | Feldman | Physics & Astronomy | FLASH Photography: Exploding Stars on Computers |
| 2nd | Ashley | Barry | Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | "Madness" in the Movies |
| 3rd | Shoumik | Saha | Chemical & Molecular Engineering | Melting Alaska: Can Polymers Preserve the Last Frontier? |
| People's Choice | Laiba | Bilal | Electrical & Computer Engineering | Unlocking Xenon's Super Powers |
3MT 2024 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Ashley Barry | Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | "Madness" in the Movies |
| Arghya Bhattacharya | Computer Science | Computing Efficiently with Shared Resources |
| Laiba Bilal | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Unlocking Xenon's Super Powers |
| Mohammad Fauzan | Molecular and Cell Biology | The Source of the Brain Taxi |
| Catherine Feldman | Physics and Astronomy | FLASH Photography: Exploding Stars on Computers |
| Caitlin Hetherington | Chemistry | Connecting the Dots to Save the Planet |
| Marija Iloska | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Making the Most of What We Can't See |
| Charles Kocher | Physics and Astronomy | Life Wasn't Lucky |
| Alexander Kwakye | Genetics, Ecology and Evolution | How Rapid Evolution Happens |
| Gönenç Moğol | Physics and Astronomy | A Minute in the Life of a Molecule |
| Shoumik Saha | Chemical and Molecular Engineering | Melting Alaska: Can Polymers Preserve the Last Frontier? |
| Sayantani Sikder | Chemical and Molecular Engineering | Tracking the Dance of NOx |
| Gurulakshmi Subramanian | Physics and Astronomy | The Dance of Stars in Gravity |
| Anna Thonis | Ecology and Evolution | Hurricanes Affect the Lizards, Too |
| Yijie Tian | Ecology and Evolution | Who Were the Barbarians? |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
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SBU 3MT 2023 Award Ceremony: SBU Alumni Association President Ahmed Belazi and Interim Graduate Dean Celia Marshik
honoring
1st Place Katherine Kling (left), 2nd Place Kaushik Londhe (middle), and 3rd Place
and People's Choice Samantha Chen (right)
Location: Wang Center Lecture Halls 1 and 2
Date: Wednesday, April 5, 2023 from 10 am to 2 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Katherine | Kling | Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences | Paradise Lost in Madagascar? |
| 2nd | Kaushik | Londhe | Civil Engineering | Can Radiation Solve Our Drinking Water Problem? |
| 3rd | Yen-Wen (Samantha) | Chen | Integrative Neuroscience | How the Aging Brain Processes Loneliness |
| People's Choice | Yen-Wen (Samantha) | Chen | Integrative Neuroscience | How the Aging Brain Processes Loneliness |
3MT 2023 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Anand Aiyer | Computer Science | Taming ‘Entangled’ Accessibility Forums |
| Haley Akemi Briggles | Music | Silencing the Stereotypes, not Asian Americans |
| Yen-Wen (Samantha) Chen | Integrative Neuroscience | How the Aging Brain Processes Loneliness |
| Jacob Crosser | Applied Mathematics and Statistics | Much Ado About Brain Models |
| Jacob Feder | Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences | Why Monkey Families Break Up |
| Brianna Gonzalez | Integrative Neuroscience | Your Brain on "Fake News" |
| Katherine Kling | Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences | Paradise Lost in Madagascar? |
| Kaushik Londhe | Civil Engineering | Can Radiation Solve Our Drinking Water Problem? |
| Tanzir Pial | Computer Science | From 4 letter DNA to Natural Language Alignments |
| Joanne Saldanha | Genetics | A Fork in the Road to Cancer Therapy |
| Mae Saslaw | Geosciences | Water in the Desert |
| Danilo Segovia | Molecular and Cellular Biology | Understanding the Play of Life |
| Zongxing Xie | Electrical and Computer Engineering | Wireless Sensing for In-home Health Monitoring |
| Yunting Yin | Computer Science | The Sound of Aging |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
SBU 3MT 2022 Award Ceremony: 3rd Place Farzana Ali (Upper left), 1st Place Derek Pope (Upper right), and 2nd Place and People's Choice Xinan Chen (Center bottom).
Location: Online via Zoom
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Derek | Pope | Science/STEM Education | Imagine Actually Understanding Math? Student teachers' beliefs about how math should be taught |
| 2nd | Xinan | Chen | Applied Math and Statistics | How Do Neuro-Degenerative Diseases Affect Our Brain? |
| 3rd | Farzana | Ali | Biomedical Engineering | Let Your Watch Pick Your Medicine! |
| People's Choice | Xinan | Chen | Applied Math and Statistics | How Do Neuro-Degenerative Diseases Affect Our Brain? |
3MT 2022 Competitors
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
SBU 3MT 2021 Award Ceremony: 3rd Place (tie) Shruti Iyer (Upper left), 3rd Place (tie) Amanda Russso (Upper right), 2nd Place and People's Choice Sara Santos (Bottom left), and 1st Place Chun-Hao Pan (Bottom right).
Location: Online via Zoom
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Chun-Hao | Pan | Molecular and Cellular Biology | Targeting Keratin 17 in Pancreatic Cancer: A Therapeutic Window Opens |
| 2nd | Sara | Santos | English | Living in the End of the World |
| 3rd (tie) | Shruti | Iyer | Genetics | Solving Genetic Puzzles to Understand Cancer |
| 3rd (tie) | Amanda | Russo | Integrative Neuroscience, Psychology | Getting Rid of Traumatic Memories |
| People's Choice | Sara | Santos | English | Living in the End of the World |
3MT 2021 Competitors
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: Online via Zoom
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sonali | Gera | Physics and Astronomy | Building a Quantum Computer, One Particle at a Time |
| 2nd | Xiaoqing | Zhang | Heath and Rehabilitation Sciences | Children Left Behind in Rural China--"I can Be Resilient and Happy" |
| 3rd | Keffy | Kehrli | Genetics | Evolution: Comparing more than Just the Sequences of Our Genes |
| People's Choice | Xiaoqing | Zhang | Heath and Rehabilitation Sciences | Children Left Behind in Rural China--"I can Be Resilient and Happy" |
3MT 2020 Competitors
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
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SBU 3MT 2019 Award Ceremony:
1st Place Olivia Swanson (left), 2nd Place and People's Choice Xiaoyu Zhao (middle),
and 3rd Place Bhavya Gai (right)
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Olivia | Swanson | Neuroscience | Brain in Motion |
| 2nd | Xiaoyu | Zhao | Molecular and Cellular Biology | Social Network of Cancer Genes |
| 3rd | Bhavya | Ghai | Computer Science | Let's Make Technology Fair Again! |
| People's Choice | Xiaoyu | Zhao | Molecular and Cellular Biology | Social Network of Cancer Genes |
3MT 2019 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Rimby | English | A Queer Meeting: Whitman and Wilde in Camden, NJ |
| Andy Eicher | Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Looking to the Past to Think About the Future |
| Bihua Yu | Applied Math | Cracking the Folding Puzzle |
| Bhavya Ghai | Computer Science | Let's Make Technology Fair Again! |
| Brian Hartwig | English | Stage to Page in the Progressive Era |
| Chaudhry Hassan | Biomedical Engineering | Let it flow! |
| Javier Gastón-Greenberg | Hispanic Languages and Literature | Hero Genesis |
| Jinelle Wint | Molecular and Cellular Biology | Fishing for a Cure |
| Joelle Mann | English | Viral Voices and Novel Forms of Expression |
| Lauren Ruiz | Art | DNA and Disposables: Nothing Disappears |
| Mohammad Mahdi Javanmard | Computer Science | How to Make Dynamic Programming Algorithms Faster |
| Nusnin Akter | Materials Science and Chemical Engineering | Toxic Gas Removal from Car Exhaust |
| Olivia Swanson | Neuroscience | Brain in Motion |
| Pawan Sharma | Health and Rehabilitation Sciences | Freedom from Hand Paralysis |
| Prithviraj Rajebhosale | Neuroscience | Tracking Trauma in the Brain |
| Stephanie Bonvissuto | Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | We Are Where We Can Enter |
| Tara Holmes | Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | How the Movies Made Me A Lesbian |
| Xiaoyi Hu | Mechanical Engineering | Miniature Waves |
| Xiaoyu Zhao | Molecular and Cellular Biology | Social Network of Cancer Genes |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Yi | Zheng | Psychology | How Do We Understand Foreign Accents? |
| 2nd | Molly | Graffam | SoMAS | Nitrogen - Public Water Enemy #1 |
| 3rd | Anusha | Shankar | Ecology and Evolution | The Surprising Secrets of Sleeping Hummingbirds |
| People's Choice | Yi | Zheng | Psychology | How Do We Understand Foreign Accents? |
3MT 2018 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Barbara J. Brennan | Social Welfare | Siblings: The Hidden Casualities of the Opioid Epidemic |
| Shrinath Deshpande | Mechanical Engineering | Machine Design for Motion Tasks using Artificial Intelligence |
| Molly Graffam | School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences | Nitrogen - Public Water Enemy #1 |
| Stacey Greengold | Science Education | Those Who Understand, Teach...Chemistry! |
| Lis Henderson | School for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences | How Fish Survive the Long Hot Summer |
| Kelly Hacker Jones | History | The Point of Alternative Medicine |
| Chang Kyung (Joanna) Kim | Pharmacological Sciences | Trust your gut |
| Corinna Kirsch | Art History | Life and Death in Art's First Computer Age |
| Tilsa Ore Monago | Economics | Should you switch? On the race to make you stay |
| Vihitaben Patel | Biomedical Engineering | Good Vibrations: Buzzing Your Way to Metabolic Fitness |
| Anusha Shankar | Ecology and Evolution | Why Hummingbirds Peeing at Night is Exciting News |
| Martin Smyth | Technology and Society | Predicting Mass-Mobilization Political Phenomena |
| Tatiana E. Tchoubar | Technology and Society | How Can People Get to Know Things? Cognitive Model of Virtual Information Communication |
| Estefania Vergara | Economics | Small Changes, Big Impact: Measuring and predicting the economic effects of changes in business games |
| Jingming Wang | Pharmacological Sciences | Getting Cancer From Your Broken DNA |
| Yi Zheng | Psychology | How Do We Understand Foreign Accents? |
| Weibo Zhou | Economics | Family Structure Matters: How parents help pay for college study |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st and People's Choice (tie) | Zoya | Vallari | Physics and Astronomy | Capturing ghost particles and telling apart real from fake |
| 2nd | Rajapillai | Pillai | Neuroscience | How to peer into the brain safely (and cheaply!) |
| 3rd and People's Choice (tie) | Elizabeth | Trimber | Cognitive Science, Psychology | How can we predict who will make impulsive decisions? With reward learning! |
| People's Choice (tie) | Pratik | Kumar | Chemistry | Illuminating the Brain Circuits, one cell at a time |
3MT 2017 Competitors
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Katarzyna | Sawika | Biomedical Engineering | Development of a Novel Immunization Platform |
| 2nd | Nadia | Jaber | Molecular and Cellular Biology | You've got (too much) mail |