Student Pitch Competition a Success!

On Wednesday, October 21, undergraduate and graduate students competed in the Fall 2026 Research Pitch Competition. Learn more about the competition on the UTC News.

Thank you to all who made the event a success – the judges, faculty mentors, the team at the UTC Graduate School, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Mina Sartipi, UTC Interim Provost Dr. Matt Matthews, Dr. Jennifer Goodrich, and the outstanding competitors who shared their research with the audience.

Congratulations to our winners!

Graduate Student 3MT Pitch Competition

	Student	Project	Faculty Mentor	Department
1st Place	Katelyn Hamilton	Pulling Water from Thin Air!	Dr. Venkateswara Kode	Chemical Engineering
2nd Place	Kate Graphos	Green Space or Screen Space: Cognitively and Psychologically Restoring the Mind in Virtual Nature	Dr. Max Teaford	Psychological Science
3rd Place	Maneesha Vanga	Smarter Infrastructure for Safer Autonomous Driving	Dr. Mina Sartipi	Computer Science
People’s Choice	Priya Chowdhury	Reimagining Urban Streets: A Framework for Greening Cities Through Autonomous Vehicle Transitions	Dr. Jejal Reddy Bathi	Water Resources Engineering

Undergraduate Student Research Pitch Competition

	Student	Project	Faculty Mentor	Department
1st Place	Autumn Reagan	Designing a Variable Stiffness Wrist Brace	Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu	Mechatronics
2nd Place	Allison Turner	The Missing Link in Taf2: Uncovering Its E3 Ubiquitin Ligase as a New Target for Cancer Therapy	Dr. Jannatul Ferdoush	Biology
3rd Place	Austin McDade	Affordable Myoelectric Prosthetics Hand	Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu	Mechatronics
People’s Choice	Autumn Reagan	Designing a Variable Stiffness Wrist Brace	Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu	Mechatronics