BME doctoral student Okafor wins first place, People’s Choice awards at PhD-in-3D competition
Somtochukwu Okafor won the awards for presenting her research on scaffolds at the McDonnell International Scholars Academy PhD-in-3D competition
Somtochukwu Okafor, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering, received first-place and People’s Choice awards at the McDonnell International Scholars Academy PhD-in-3D competition March 26, 2025.
Okafor, who works in the lab of Alexandra Rutz, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, presented her research on the complex topic of bioelectronic scaffolds in just three minutes.
“In the presentation I likened the scaffolds to scaffolding for buildings or plants and how they can provide structure and be used to build, in this case, cells, into mature tissue outside the body,” Okafor said. “I then discussed an application of electronic monitoring of these tissues outside the body. I likened the scaffolds to live wires and the cells to insulating rubber casing across the wires and used this concept to explain how we can monitor changes in cell behavior.”
To prepare for the competition, Okafor participated in a 3-minute thesis competition at the BME PhD retreat last fall, where she came in second place. That experience helped her to create a clear message, to consider her audience and to be concise. Okafor worked with mentor Staci Thomas to hone her presentation.
“I’m thrilled and grateful to have had the opportunity to share my research with such an outstanding community,” she said. “Receiving both the first place and People's Choice awards is truly an honor! This experience has significantly enhanced my science communication skills, enabling me to convey complex concepts clearly across various disciplines.”
Okafor was one of 11 McDonnell Scholars who presented at the competition. Each scholar had to distill their research into a compelling three-minute presentation for a nonspecialist audience. Judith Sokei, a doctoral student in the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences studying cancer biology, was the runner up.
The awards were presented to scholars whose presentations showed a thorough grasp of their research areas and conveyed the broader significance of their work to the audience. Additionally, the People’s Choice Award was determined through live voting, reflecting the high level of engagement and admiration from attendees.
