Lillian JA Olule, PhD student from The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC), has recently won the ‘Highly Commended Award’ at the U21 (international) Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition, and received a cash prize of USD500 (RM2,094.92).
Lillian presented a three-minute talk entitled, ‘Capturing signals then charging batteries’ via a video recording. Her presentation described research on the potential to transform wireless signals into energy which can power up small devices. The applications for such technology have immense possibilities, ranging from powering sensors used in biomedicine or hazardous environments, and possibly, in the future, charging mobile phones on the go.
“The 3MT experience has been amazing! It was great to see people from all walks of life getting excited about the research I am doing. I got a lot of “Oooh… so THAT'S what you are doing!” and I am glad I participated. It has made me more comfortable discussing my research jargon free. Anyone who has the opportunity to participate in the 3MT should definitely give it a shot,” Lillian said.
“I would like to give a very big thank you to everyone who showed their support and who gave me feedback - from my colleagues, supervisors, family, friends, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus particularly the Graduate School, the University of Nottingham and last but not least God,” she added.
Lillian represented The University of Nottingham at the competition, after winning against her counterparts from Nottingham University’s UK and China campuses on 5 October. Prior to that, she qualified as the UNMC representative at the Tri Campus round when she won the 3 Minute Thesis competition held at UNMC on 6 September.
“I am delighted that Lillian Olule has won the runner-up prize for the U21 3MT competition. Her research project is outstanding and she is clearly a highly effective communicator of her science. It is a great testament to the high quality of postgraduate research students at The University of Nottingham and it’s especially pleasing that a student from Nottingham’s Malaysia Campus is a prize–winner. This sends a great signal not only about the quality of our students but also the excellent research training and support by UNMC’s Graduate School,” said Professor Claire O’Malley, Vice-Provost (Research and Knowledge Exchange) at UNMC.
The annual 3MT competition is the brain child of The University of Queensland, which initiated the competition in 2008 with the aim to enhance the students’ academic presentation and research communication skills.
The competition became popular at several universities which led to the development of the competition as an international event. The first Universitas 21 (U21) competition was held in November 2013 with several universities from around the world competing in a virtual competition.
The video of Lillian Olule’s presentation is available here.
(Article image: Professor Claire O'Malley congratulates Lillian Olule)
(Thumbnail Image: Signals from radio and wifi has potential to charge your phone. Image credit: Lillian Olule)
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More information is available from Lillian Olule on kecx5ljl@nottingham.edu.my or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus on josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and the winner of ‘Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2015. More than 97% of research at The University of Nottingham is recognised internationally and it is 8th in the UK by research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 2nd November 2016