‘Cheesy maths’ the whey to go for 3MT winner

The complex science and engineering behind getting the right consistency in cheese-making took out the top honours in Massey University’s doctoral Three-Minute Thesis final this week.

Meghan Keck, from the School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, wowed the judges with her presentation, Cheesy maths – an engineer’s guide to the transport of salt and whey in cheese, based on her PhD thesis looking to utilise mathematical modelling to improve the consistency of cheese.

She competed against eight others from each of Massey’s three campuses to win the $5000 first prize. She will now represent Massey at the Asia-Pacific Three-Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Queensland in September. 

She was “very excited” to have won and that she hopes to raise the profile among young people – especially women – of research opportunities involving mathematical modelling to solve real world problems. “Mathematical modelling can sound scary to a lot of people, but it’s a really exciting area to work in,” she says. Her research is supported by a United States cheese-making company and she hopes to continue doing further research in the dairy industry beyond her PhD.

Nurses' role in detecting child abuse

The master's winner title, and $1000 prize, went to Grace Shallard from the School of Nursing, for her presentation titled Although it’s small, it is precious. Her thesis looks at the difficult subject of child abuse in New Zealand and the role of nurses in early detection and intervention. She will represent Massey at the national Inter-University Master's Final, to be held at the University of Canterbury on August 23. 

The concept of Three-minute thesis, a global event for doctoral students, with a master's-level competition held nationally for the past three years, is to communicate a thesis topic to a non-specialist audience in a compelling, clear way in three minutes, using one slide as a prop. Judges assess presentation skills, taking note of a competitor’s ability to catch the audience’s attention, tell a good story, explain complex information and ideas succinctly, and convey passion and excitement for the project.

Runners-up and People's Choice winners

Other victors from the Wednesday night event at the Manawatū campus were runner-up in the doctoral division Nimeesha Odedra, from the School of Management, who won $2000 with her presentation, Skilled migrant women: Evolving or devolving careers. Seer Ikurio, from the School of Veterinary Science, was voted the People’s Choice Award of $1000 for his presentation titled My lamb is behaving odd, it might have worms.

The masterate runner-up prize of $500 was awarded to Lauren McInnes, from the Institute of Fundamental Sciences, for her presentation, In search of the Achilles heel of cancer. The People’s Choice Award winner of $250 in the masterate division was Danielle Visser, also from the Institute of Fundamental Sciences, with her presentation, Unravelling the molecular contribution of collagen higher order structure. 

Other candidates in the doctoral category presented on diverse topics, including treating surgical pain in dogs, the efficacy of smart phone disaster apps, the resilience of hotels when disaster strikes, the role of beetroot in heart health, and the experiences of people juggling multiple jobs.  

In the masterate section, thesis topics presented were a psychology study of the discriminatory barriers and challenges facing people with disabilities in gaining jobs, a creative arts study on differing perceptions of the value and use of recycled objects, and a management study of gender quotas in New Zealand boardrooms.

The contestants were judged by Associate Professor Tracy Riley, Palmerston North City Councillor Leonie Hapeta and Professor Emeritus Graeme Fraser. Dr Michael O’Shaughnessy was the MC for the night. 

Finalists:

Master’s:

Lauren McInnes, Identifying changes to the nuclear periphery composition of malignant cells – Institute of Fundamental Sciences (Manawatū)

Danielle Visser, Unravelling the molecular contribution to collagen higher order structure – Institute of Fundamental Sciences (Manawatū)

Grace Shallard, Although its small, it is precious – School of Nursing (Auckland)

Amy Mauer, It’s not me, it’s you – School of Psychology (Auckland)           

Damon Cook, The control of no control – College of Creative Arts (Wellington)

Masters Wildcard:

Erin Burrell, Discrimination or Diversity? Investigating gender quotas in the boardroom – School of Management

Doctoral:

Seer ikurior, My lamb is behaving odd, it might have worms! - School of Veterinary Sciences (Manawatū)

Christian Offen, How to avoid numerical artefacts? – Institute of Fundamental Sciences (Manawatū)

Sandeep Karna, Treating surgical pain in dogs: is one drug enough? -  School of Veterinary Sciences (Manawatū)

Meghan Keck, Cheesy Maths – An engineer’s guide to the transport of salt and whey in cheese – School of Engineering & Advanced Technology (Manawatū)

Nimeesha Odedra, Skilled migrant women: evolving or devolving careers – School of Management (Auckland)

Luke Stanaway, The root to a healthy beeting heart – School of Sport, Exercise & Health (Auckland)

Marion Lara Tan, Disaster apps: usability and continued use– Joint Centre for Disaster Research (Wellington)

Nancy Brown, Building disaster resilience within the hotel sector – School of Psychology (Wellington)

Doctoral Wildcard:

Zoe Port, The job jugglers: Investigating the experience of multiple-job holders – School of Management