First published 12 September 2024
QUT PhD researcher Shanshika Maddumage has won the QUT 2024 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, announced today, with her research on the smart shoes she is developing to help people with Parkinson’s disease improve their walking.
Ms Maddumage (above), from QUT’s School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, is designing and testing shoes that send vibrating cues to the feet, which help the brain send the right signals back to the feet for walking.
“My research is about giving hope and independence to millions of people with Parkinson’s disease. If you ask people with Parkinson’s what they want to achieve, they say ‘I wish I could walk as I used to’,” said Ms Maddumage, who took out the $1000 first prize for her presentation, Smart Shoes: Empowering Parkinson’s walking.
Runner up is Julia Solonenka, from QUT's Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy, for her presentation Plant-based medicines: Once they’re pure, they’re the cure. Her research focuses on developing new techniques for cheap, large-scale purification of plant-based therapeutics.
Callan Alexander, from QUT’s School of Biology and Environmental Science, received a special mention from the judges for his presentation Birdwatching and wine: using AI to eavesdrop on vineyards.
The People's Choice went to Yasaman Memari (above) (QUT Engineering) for her video Towards more reliable train rides: Optimizing inspection and maintenance for railway tracks
This year’s competition drew more than 60 entries from which eight finalists were chosen – one from each faculty and three wildcard entrants.
The other faculty finalists are:
Elise Bray (above) (QUT Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice): Navigating change: Experiences of students on the autism spectrum in Flexible Learning Environments.
Lisa Coulburn (above) (QUT Engineering): Unpacking the problem of indoor dampness and mould in Australian housing.
Saraniya Devendra (above) (QUT Business and Law): Why are sustainable travel influencers so effective?
Jessamine Giese (above) (QUT Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice): Teams in early childhood education and care: can they make the quality dream work?
The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition aims to stimulate higher degree students’ academic, presentation, and research communications skills,supporting their ability to explain their research in three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
Judging panel chair Professor Gene Moyle said the judges looked for ability to creatively engage the audience, communicate clearly, and generate excitement about their research.
“Developing skills to successfully pitch ideas/concepts, connect and relate effectively to others are critical within any profession and are also essential to being an effective leader,” Professor Moyle said.
The students were coached by Professor Rowena Barrett, QUT Pro Vice Chancellor (Entrepreneurship and Regional Innovation), who said getting the balance right between the details of the research and their delivery to an audience was key to a successful 3MT presentation.
“A great pitch can unlock for a researcher many career-enhancing opportunities such as grant money, partnerships, or a research position,” Professor Barrett said.
Ms Shanshika Maddumage now progresses to the Asia-Pacific 3MT semi-final showcase, with video submissions from 3MT finalists from across Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, North-East Asia and South-East Asia. The showcase will be launched on the 3MT website from October 8.
The Asia Pacific finalists are announced on 21 October, via an online showcase on the 3MT website. The 2024 Asia-Pacific 3MT Final will be held on Wednesday, 30 October.
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