NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – Three graduate students at the University of Oklahoma have been named winners of the 2025 Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, an annual event challenging graduate students to present their research in just three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
First Place: Zainab Iyiola, a student from the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, presented a project titled “A Smart Approach to Safe Hydrogen Transport in Natural Gas Pipelines.” In the project, she introduced a model and assessment software designed to evaluate the safety of transporting hydrogen through converted gas pipelines. As the winner of the competition, she represents OU at the regional 3MT competition during the 81st Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting in Indianapolis in April.
Runner-Up: Ashley Hawk, School of Music in the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Arts, delivered a presentation titled “Marches by Women,” which highlighted her research in compiling a catalog of over 100 marches written and arranged by women.
People’s Choice Award: Rana Ajeeb, Peggy and Charles Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering in the Gallogly College of Engineering, showcased a project titled “From Chaos to Precision: Delivering Drugs Safely and Effectively Where They Are Needed,” which detailed her work developing nanoparticles for precision drug delivery in the human body.
Developed by the University of Queensland in 2008, the competition has since expanded to more than 900 universities worldwide. This was the ninth year in which the Graduate College at OU has hosted its own 3MT event.
To learn more about the competition, visit https://www.ou.edu/gradcollege/student-life/awards-and-competitions.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
The Native Nations Center for Tribal Policy Research at the University of Oklahoma will launch its first Sovereign Policy Intensive in September, a new program designed for elected tribal officials that focuses on understanding broadly relevant federal systems grounded in departmental structures, legislation and appropriations, and legal frameworks.
For 46 years and counting, G. Frans Currier, D.D.S., M.S.D., M.Ed., has been a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry. This year, the American Association of Orthodontists recognized his service with a conference named in his honor and the opportunity to give a lecture to his fellow orthodontists from around the nation.
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its current building’s public opening, as well as its impact on the university, state and beyond.
