Two students from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering (FEQ) represent Unicamp and Brazil in the competition Three Minutes Thesis Student Competition (3MT), in Beijing (China), on October 13th. The competition is part of the program of the seventh international symposium McDonnell International Scholars Academy Symposium, which takes place between the 11th and 14th of October and has the rector Marcelo Knobel as one of the guest speakers. Bárbara Maria Borges Ribeiro and Gabriela Filipini Ferreira will present their doctoral research, in English, to a non-specialist audience, using just three minutes and a single slide without animation.
In the first phase of the competition, 6 candidates were selected from Unicamp, the only university in the country invited to participate. The presentations were recorded and submitted to international juries at Washington University in St. Louis and Tsinghua University in Beijing. 15 finalists were selected, including the two FEQ students. The research presented is related to the three themes of the symposium: Agriculture, Food and Water, Climate Change; Energy and Environment or Public Health and Aging.
Gabriela develops research on the production of emulsifiers (monoacylglycerols) and biodiesel from microalgae oil, integrating the biodiesel and sugar-alcohol industries. He is supervised by professor Leonardo Vasconcelos Fregolente and researcher Luísa Fernanda Ríos Pinto. “I found the challenge of summarizing my research in just three minutes to be an excellent exercise, trying to convey its importance and contribution in an interesting way,” she said.
According to the student, FEQ has many postgraduate students who study the alternative of second and third generation biofuels and other biomaterials, which aim to minimize the effects of climate change and other losses from the use of fossil sources. “This is a very important subject, which must be discussed and requires investment”, she added.
Watch the video of student Gabriela Filipini:
Doctoral student Bárbara is researching the development of a reactor for the degradation of some atmospheric pollutants, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). “These compounds are widely used in industries and are also present in our daily lives, but they can cause harm to human health and cause some environmental problems, such as an increase in the greenhouse effect. The reactor used in my research is capable of treating air contaminated with these pollutants, releasing clean air free of impurities.” For her, participating in the competition is a great opportunity to publicize the work developed in the research group, guided by professor Edson Tomaz.
Watch the student's video Bárbara Maria Borges Ribeiro:
Professor Sandra Maria Carmello Guerreiro, advisor to the Dean of Postgraduate Studies (PRPG) coordinated the stage of the competition at Unicamp. “Presenting the University’s research results to the world is an important factor for our internationalization,” she highlighted. Access here more information about the symposium.
