Each year U of M master’s and doctoral students take to the stage—literally—to make a case for their research and dissertation projects. But unlike a formal defense, time is of the essence: Each presenter is allowed exactly three minutes and one static slide to convey the gist of complex research that’s taken them years to complete.
It’s the 3-Minute Thesis competition (3MT), an event that aims to hone students’ academic, presentation, and communication skills.
“To be successful as the leaders of tomorrow, our students must also be able to communicate complex ideas to people who aren’t experts in their discipline,” says Scott Lanyon, vice president and dean of the Graduate School.
Lanyon hopes the annual 3MT event also highlights the wide range of research happening at the U of M.
This is a condensed snapshot of what the three 2023 competition winners said about their research.
First place: Koushik Sampath – Wet to Dry Paper
Bioproducts and biosystems science, engineering, and management PhD
College of Science and Engineering and College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
You may not realize this, but the paper industry uses a tremendous amount of energy to dry wet sheets of paper. That’s a problem, because paper is among the most used commodities in our daily lives, from toilet paper to cardboard to printing paper and much more.
According to the Department of Energy, the hundred-billion-dollar paper industry uses twice as much energy as it takes to power every single home in the United States. Currently, the industrial technology for drying paper involves using a hot surface and hot air to dry the wet sheets. (Imagine using a kitchen hot plate and a hair dryer to make pancakes!) This procedure stretches back to the early 18th century, so it’s obviously not state-of-the-art.
Post Covid, lots of things have changed in our world. Businesses have moved online so printing paper use has been reduced. But the use of thicker forms of paper like cardboard—which requires 5 to 10 times more energy to produce—is on the rise. It’s as if the amount of energy being used by this industry rose from powering twice the number of homes in the U.S. to powering four or five times as many in just a decade.
How do we tackle this mess, the burden of an energy crisis, and the need to sustain the next generation? This is where my research kicks in.
Radio signals and microwaves could save the day. It turns out that using sound radio signals and microwaves in a very concentrated spot is a more efficient and effective way to dry paper than the current industrial technology. With this modified tech, there could be a 30 to 50 percent improvement in the amount of energy, time, and costs involved with the whole paper-drying process.
Our initial results show up to a 60 percent improvement—and further research will tell us more about how this innovation could help revolutionize the paper industry and save energy.
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