Upward of 120 Presentations Expected at 2013 GradExpo

University of Maine graduate students will present their research, artistic works, projects and collaborations during the 2013 Graduate Academic Exposition, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday, March 28–29.

This year more than $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to graduate student participants.

The GradExpo will be held in the new Innovative Media Research and Commercialization Center on the UMaine campus, and will include an open house of the facility.

The event will feature four areas of competition — poster presentations, oral presentations, intermedia and fine arts exhibits, and a PechaKucha, or rapid-fire slide show event. Upward of 120 presentations are expected at this year’s expo.

The poster and oral presentations will highlight the physical sciences and technology, natural sciences, humanities and social sciences. The intermedia and fine arts exhibits will include art works, projects and performances. The PechaKucha competition, open to students in all academic disciplines, invites participants to share their work in a slide show lasting under seven minutes. Unlike the other presentations, the PechaKucha talks will be judged by the audience rather than faculty reviewers.

The expo will also feature a new roundtable discussion. This year’s talk will focus on cellulose nanotechnology, and five graduate students will address questions on the topic. The student presenters are Alper Kiziltas, Yucheng Peng, Esra Erbas Kiziltas, Melanie Blumentritt and Nadir Yildirim.

Photographs submitted in the first Graduate Student Photo Contest will also be featured.

Graduate students are invited to a screening of a feature film by Jorge Cham, creator of the online comic series “Piled Higher and Deeper” (aka “PhD Comics”) at 6 p.m. Thursday night. The awards gala at 6:30 p.m. Friday begins with light refreshments and a social.

Awards will include:

• The Foster Center for Student Innovation Commercialization Prize, $100.

• Three awards in each of the four presentation divisions from the Graduate Student Government, with faculty judges choosing winners based on academic worthiness, excellence of presentation and skill in making the work understandable to a wide audience, $600, $300 and $150.

• The Graduate Student Photo Contest Award, presented to graduate students who submitted photos in the categories of graduate student life and graduate student research, $100, $50 and $25.

• The Graduate Dean’s Undergraduate Mentoring Award, presented for effective undergraduate mentoring in research, $500, $250 and $100.

• The President’s Research Impact Award, given to the graduate student and adviser who best exemplify the UMaine mission of teaching, research and outreach, $2,000.

Visitors will also vote for their favorite presentation, which will receive a cash prize.

“We are pushing for more community attendance this year,” says Charles Rodda, vice president of the UMaine Graduate Student Government. “This is the first event being held in the new Stewart Hall. Community members interested in the new intermedia facilities are encouraged to attend and will be offered tours and demonstrations.”

For additional information, to become a judge or to request disability accommodations, contact Charles Rodda, 207.210.4969.

Details about the GradExpo are online.

Contact: Elyse Kahl, 207.581.3747