On April 13, the annual WPI graduate research celebrations came to a dramatic conclusion as more than 60 finalists faced off in the tenth annual Graduate Research Innovation Exchange (GRIE) poster competition and 11 master’s and PhD candidates made their pitches in the finals of the i3: Investing in Innovations with Impact presentation contest. During the first part of the afternoon, the Rubin Campus Center Odeum was full of excitement as the GRIE finalists, chosen by judges from among the more than 210 graduate students who displayed their posters at the GRIE poster celebration in December, explained their research to guests and judges. Based on the judges’ scoring, Three IGERT students were awarded cash prizes of $100 for their 2nd place finish. In the Engineering category was Christopher Nycz and in the Life Sciences and Bioengineering there was a tie between Megan O’Brien and Lindsay Lozeau.
At the conclusion of GRIE, the i3 finalists, who made it through several rounds of presentations, took to the stage and presented their pitches and answered questions to a panel of distinguished judges. The students explained in just three minutes, and without visuals, how their research innovations can be translated into value in the marketplace. The judges chose one winner from each category-Best Presentation and Best Concept for which they were awarded a $750 cash prize. The Best Concept winner was IGERT fellow Heather Cirka who pitched “Controlled in Vitro Models for Calcific Aortic Valve Disease”