NEWS

Louisiana Tech Ph.D. student Zannatul Tulona represented Louisiana Tech in the regional Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition in Dallas, TX, during the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools.

The 3MT competition, originally developed by the University of Queensland in Australia, challenges Doctor of Philosophy students to communicate their research in an engaging and concise three-minute presentation tailored for a non-specialist audience. Since 2017, Louisiana Tech has hosted this competition, fostering academic, presentation, and research communication skills among its graduate students.

Tulona’s project, From Trash Bags to Mars: Turning Rice Husks to Biofuel, focuses on transforming rice husks into biofuel and consumable water for space missions. Funded by the NASA L’SPACE program, her research explores the potential of using rice husks from hydroponically grown plants in space.

“This project has the potential to make space missions more sustainable by reducing the need to transport essential resources from Earth,” Tulona said. “By saving cargo space and energy, we could cut millions of dollars in costs while also finding new ways to repurpose agricultural waste for environmental cleanup here on Earth.”

“The Conference of Southern Graduate Schools regional competition provides high visibility, not only to the cutting-edge research being done at Louisiana Tech, but also to the exceptional scientific and communication abilities of our graduate students,” Dr. Ramu Ramachandran, interim vice president of research, said. “Zannatul is well-prepared to impress the judges and the audience.”

Tulona, Jermya Wilson (runner-up), and Bivek Basnet (people’s choice) were awarded for their accomplishments on March 17. Tulona’s achievement and her dedication to showcasing her research at the regional competition highlight the innovation and excellence of the University’s graduate students.