Student Pitch Competition
Student Pitches
The Office for URaCE and the UTC Graduate School hosted in-person student pitch competitions on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in conjunction with the virtual Fall Research Conference. Thank you to all of the competitors, judges, and UTC personnel who made the event a success!
View Undergraduate Student Research Elevator Pitches
View Graduate Student Three Minute Thesis Pitches
2026 Pitch Competition details will become available in Summer 2026.
Undergraduate Student Research Elevator Pitch Competition Winners
| Name | Pitch Title | Mentor | Department | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Place | Noah Wyatt | A Low-Cost Portable Cosmic Ray Detector for Exploration and Education | Dr. Josh Hamblen | Physics |
| Second Place | Waltkia Clay | When Silence Speaks the Loudest: Safety Tap | Hannah Hartman | Social, Cultural, & Justice Studies |
| Third Place | Joshua Kilgore | Automatic and Controlled Processes in the Pathway from Drug Abuse to Addiction: E-Cigarettes | Dr. Michael Overton | Psychology |
Graduate Student Three Minute Thesis Pitch Competition Winners
| Name | Pitch Title | Mentor | Department | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Place | Maheshi G. Walawwe | Invasive Species Management | Dr. Lakmali Weerasena | Computational Science |
| Second Place | Ali Abuelgasim | Adaptive Insole Design to Prevent Foot Ulcers in Diabetic Neuropathy Patients | Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu | Engineering Management & Technology |
| Third Place | Hannah Daugherty | Decoding Belief: Neural Mechanisms of Conspiracy Message Evaluation | Dr. Ricardo Wilhelm | Psychology |
Thank You to Our Judges
The UTC Graduate School and the Office for Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE) would like to thank and gratefully acknowledge the UTC faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners who will graciously give their time to serve as pitch competition judges. We are thankful for your support and partnership.
Undergraduate Student Research Elevator Pitch Competition
Melissa Callejas, Program Director, Tech Goes Home TN
*Lee Hope, Assistant Director of Youth Services & Community Engagement, Chattanooga Public Library
Lane Wilkinson, MA, MLIS, Director, Research and Instruction, UTC Library
*Larvizo Wright, Chief of Staff to the CEO, Unum Group
Graduate Student Three Minute Thesis Pitch Competition
Dr. Manjot Bhussar, Assistant Professor of Strategic Management, UTC College of Business
Jesse Foster, Enrollment Counselor, UTC Mocs One Center
Natalie Haber, MLS, Online Services Librarian & UC Foundation Associate Professor, UTC Library
*Dr. Heather Palmer, Director of English Graduate Studies, UTC College of Arts & Sciences
Emma Vetland, Assistant Technology Manager, UT Research Foundation
*UTC alumni
Special thank you to the Hatch It! Lab for their assistance and expertise in producing the 3D-printed awards, and to Office for URaCE Student Assistant April Horn for their exceptional work on the award design.
- 2025 Undergraduate Student Research Elevator Pitch Competitors
!Kaye Kaye Anderson
Rethinking Oppression Through Intersectionality
Dr. Rick Dierenfeldt
Political Science & Public Service
Waltkia Clay
When Silence Speaks The Loudest: Safety Tap
Hannah Hartman
Social, Cultural, & Justice Studies
Gracie Crooks
Uncovering Hidden Systems: Solving Inverse Problems
Dr. Ayça Çetinkaya
Mathematics
Eleanor Forrest
Automated Evaluation of Student Notes with Generative AI: Agreement with Humans and Links to Exam Performance
Dr. Feng Guo
Psychology
Joshua Kilgore
Automatic and Controlled Processes in the Pathway from Drug Abuse to Addiction: E-Cigarettes
Dr. Michael Overton
Psychology
Austin McDade
Prosthetic Hand Copy
Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu
Engineering
Emilee Teague
Keeper's Club: The ultimate resource hub for reptile keepers
Dr. Rich Walker
Biology
Noah Wyatt
A Low-Cost Portable Cosmic Ray Detector for Exploration and Education
Dr. Josh Hamblen
Physcs
- 2025 Graduate Student Three Minute Thesis Pitch Competitors
Ali Abuelgasim
Adaptive Insole Design to Prevent Foot Ulcers in Diabetic Neuropathy Patients
Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu
Engineering Management & Technology
Megan Cales
Real-Time Feedback as an Intervention for Atypical Prosody
Dr. Tom Lyons
Business
Hannah Daugherty
Decoding Belief: Neural Mechanisms of Conspiracy Message Evaluation
Dr. Ricardo Wilhelm
Psychology
Deponker Sarker Depto
Smarter AI, Safer Streets
Dr. Mina Sartipi
Computer Science
Chase Guttu
Intelligent Active Brace System for the Treatment of Scoliosis
Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu
Engineering Management & Technology
Dikshya Karki
Uncertainty in Medical Imaging
Dr. Yingfeng Wang
Computational Science
Brenden Lippard
Design of a Tendon Based Exoskeleton Therapy Glove
Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu
Engineering Management & Technology
Patrick Lutz
The Language of Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Text Analysis of Startup Ecosystems in Global Cities
Dr. Philip Roundy
Data Analytics
Nishat Tasnim Nisha
Identification and Retention of Microplastics in Porous Media Incorporating Organic Materials
Dr. Jejal Reddy Bathi
Civil & Chemical Engineering
Gage Plott, MS
Reverse-Engineering Quantum Potentials with Laplace Inversion & Moment Bounds
Dr. Ayça Çetinkaya
Computational Science
Maheshi G. Walawwe, PhD Student
Invasive Species Management
Dr. Lakmali Weerasena
Computational Science
Chinthaka Weerarathna
Understanding and managing frogeye leaf spot through network-based modeling in soybean
Dr. Jin Wang and Dr. Thien Le
Mathematics
Krishani Weerasinghe
The Quality of Life of Final Year Undergraduate Students at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
Professor Xiunan Wang
Mathematics
Luke Wiley
Sucking up or sabotaging others: Responses to perceived job insecurity
Dr. Christopher Cunningham
Psychology