Almost 200 registered for annual Graduate Engineering Research Showcase
Published: Sep 21, 2023 8:00 AM
By Joe McAdory
Almost 200 graduate students will exchange ideas, hypotheses and fresh concepts between one another and faculty judges at the annual Graduate Engineering Research Showcase (GERS) on Thursday, October 12.
The annual competition, held inside the Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center’s Grand Hall and presented by the college’s Council of Engineering Graduate Students (CEGS), features research presentations from a variety of academic and engineering disciplines. This time, however, there’s a twist. Not only must participating students offer eye-catching poster presentations before faculty and industry professional judges – three-minute oral presentations are included.
“For years, our graduate student researchers have presented one-on-one before peers and judges – and this remains an important part of the process,” said Maria Auad, associate dean for graduate studies and faculty development. “But speaking before an audience with a limited time to express ideas forces students to focus on what’s most important, while still explaining the research in context. That’s a challenge.”
The 11th annual event, which offers $8,250 in prizes, kicks off with oral presentations at 8 a.m. with poster presentations beginning at 1 p.m. The competition concludes with a 6 p.m. banquet, where winners will be announced. As keynote speakers, Arndt Siepmann, deputy director of economic development with the City of Auburn, and Allan David, associate dean for research, will share ideas on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Matthew Garnett, CEGS president and fourth-year doctoral student in chemical engineering, said the annual showcase “sharpens student researchers.”
“It gives students an opportunity to show off the work they spend many hours on to other faculty, staff, alumni, industrial representatives, and peer graduate students,” he said. “The Graduate Engineering Research Showcase gets students out of the lab, where they have an opportunity to network with peers from in other engineering disciplines within the college. It also helps them to practice giving presentations on their research prior to presenting at local, regional, or national conferences.”
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The 11th annual Graduate Engineering Research Showcase offers $8,250 in prizes.
