TXST names winners of the 2026 Three-Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition

Texas State University has announced the winners of the 2026 Three-Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition: Md Ibrahim Khalil Tanim, a doctoral student in materials science, engineering and commercialization, earned first place; Andrew Gombac, a doctoral student in civil engineering, received second place; and Nazwa Chowdhury, a master's student in physics, earned the People's Choice Award. The competition was held Nov. 6 in the LBJ Student Center Grand Ballroom.  

The 3MT® competition challenges graduate students to present their research and its broader significance in just three minutes using a single presentation slide. The event encourages participants to communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively to a general audience while showcasing the depth and diversity of graduate research at TXST.  

First- and second-place winners are selected by a panel of distinguished judges, while the People's Choice Award is determined through a ballot vote by attendees of the 3MT® University Final. All winners receive cash prizes and recognition for their achievements in research communication.  

For Tanim, participating in 3MT® was both a professional achievement and an opportunity to share the impact of his research, titled A Tire That Feels Itself Wearing Out. 

As the first-place winner, Tanim will represent TXST at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools' regional 3MT® competition in Spring 2027.

He credited his success to the support and encouragement of his wife, friends and fellow researchers.

"My wife was the real motivator throughout this process,” he said. “She kept pushing me and encouraging me to keep going when I doubted myself. Practicing in front of her and my friends helped me gain the confidence I needed."

Tanim said the experience reinforced the importance of making research accessible to a broader audience.

"My advice to future competitors is to remember that the audience is made up of people from many different backgrounds,” he said. “Try to avoid technical jargon and explain your research in a way that everyone can understand. Most importantly, keep practicing. The challenge of 3MT® is communicating your research clearly and effectively in just three minutes, and practice is what makes that possible."

Gombac, whose presentation focused on Soil Safety at Bridge Foundations, said participating in the competition allowed him to communicate the importance of his research to a broader audience. 

He said one of the biggest challenges of preparing for 3MT® was translating a highly technical topic into a clear, concise message for a general audience.

"The hardest part was getting my presentation under three minutes while still communicating the purpose of my research,” he said. “It can be tempting to focus on technical details, but I had to step back and think about the bigger picture. At its core, my research is about helping engineers design better bridges from the start and finding proactive ways to address scour before it becomes a problem."

Gombac hopes his research will contribute to improved bridge safety and more effective infrastructure management.

"Engineers often rely on restorative actions after scour has already occurred, but with so many bridges across the country, it's difficult to monitor every structure closely enough,” he said. “My goal is to help develop more proactive approaches that can be incorporated into bridge design and management practices to reduce risk and improve long-term safety."

While judges selected the first- and second-place winners, audience members chose Chowdhury's presentation for the People's Choice Award.

Chowdhury, who presented Engineering the Building Block of a Quantum Future: Unlocking the New Possibilities, said the audience recognition was especially meaningful. 

She said one of the biggest challenges of preparing for 3MT® was simplifying a highly technical research topic and communicating it within the competition's strict time limit.

"My research includes many complicated concepts and technical terms, so the biggest challenge was figuring out how to explain everything in a simple way and fit it into three minutes,” she said, “I had a lot I wanted to say, but I needed to focus on the most important points so that everyone could understand the message."

Twelve graduate students from master's and doctoral programs across the university competed in the 2026 final, presenting their research to a live audience and panel of judges.

Developed by the University of Queensland in 2008, 3MT® is an international research communication competition held at more than 900 universities across 85 countries.  

The Graduate College encourages all graduate students enrolled in doctoral and thesis master's programs to participate in future competitions. More information and resources are available on the 3MT® webpage.