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.
After a heart attack, the body rapidly floods the injured heart with neutrophils — white blood cells that help repair damage but can also make it worse when too many arrive too quickly. The discovery also identifies a potential way to limit their harmful surge.
Five current and former students from the University of Oklahoma have received prestigious fellowships, in recognition of their exceptional potential for STEM leadership.
Although often considered a disease of the past, leprosy remains a global health issue, causing preventable disability due to delayed diagnosis and gaps in care. In a paper published in The Lancet, a professor of infectious diseases from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine calls for stronger awareness, earlier detection and improved long-term management.
