Finish in 5 competition showcasing graduate student research

The Council of Engineering Graduate Students will hold its first Finish in 5 competition Wednesday, March 22, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in room 2222/2223 of the Student Center.

The competition will consist of five-minute, rapid-fire research presentations from seven graduate students. A panel of faculty judges will score each presenter on clarity, organization and speaking ability. The overall winner will receive a cash prize, and the audience will have the chance to vote on their favorite presenters for the People’s Choice winner, who will also receive a cash prize. A pizza lunch will be served at the competition.

“The Finish in 5 competition is a fantastic opportunity for Auburn Engineering graduate students to showcase their research while also honing their presentation skills,” said Alexander Kelly, graduate student in chemical engineering and president of CEGS. “We look forward to hosting this event and hope the campus community will join us in supporting these students.”

The following students will present their research at Finish in 5:

• Mehul Barde, polymer and fiber engineering: “High performance bio oil-based polymers and resins”
• Sarah Gustitus, civil engineering: “Effects of crude oil weathering on oil-mineral interactions, and implications for the mitigation of oil spills in nearshore environments”
• Pablo Jimenez-Bonilla, biosystems engineering: “Clostridium beijerinckii alcohol dehydrogenase knockout using CRISPR/Cas9”
• Kyle Johnson, aerospace engineering: “Vortex dynamics of a rolling and pitching wing”
• Nathan Roberts, chemical engineering: “Biological conversion of biogas by a methanotroph and microalgae consortium”
• Partha Saha, chemical engineering: “Shear induced assembly of cellulose nanocrystals for advanced micromechanical and optical properties”
• Menekse Salar, industrial and systems engineering: “The Concavity Index: A novel approach for quantifying intervertebral disc degeneration”