“I hate to break it to you, but failure is inevitable—failure of materials, that is,” began Ellen van Wijngaarden, a mechanical engineering doctoral candidate, at the 11th Cornell University Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.

Alongside eight other finalists, van Wijngaarden presented her dissertation research in just three minutes on March 18 to a panel of judges and an audience from across campus while additional friends, family, advisors and research group members watched online. Presentations were judged by how clearly and compellingly students summarized their research to a general audience, using only one static slide.

Van Wijngaarden’s presentation, “Cracking Down on Cracks: A Living Coating for Crack Detection,” earned her first place and $1,500. Second place and $1,000 was awarded to Subash Bhandari, a doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering for his presentation, “Fight Night: Nodes vs. Invaders.”

Read more on the Graduate School website.