The ability to communicate science concisely and in a user-friendly manner to a non-specialist audience is a key skill for any scientist, especially those beginning their research career. Korah Parackal, a CRC PhD student at James Cook University, is on the road to communications success, having recently taken out the College of Science and Engineering 3 Minute Thesis Competition.
Progressing to the inter-faculty finals held later this month, Korah enlightened the audience with his talk on progressive failures and the correlation of peak loads on roofing connections based on a recent wind tunnel study.
"To explain months of work in just three minutes without using any engineering terminology can be really difficult," said Korah.
"But the 3 minute thesis forces you to be especially clear about the relevance of your research. It is also a great chance to share the complexities and the really interesting science behind it in an accessible way," he said.
Well done Korah and good luck for the inter-faculty final.