Hailey Johnson, a senior chemistry major from Appleton, won first place at the WiSys Quick Pitch earlier this month at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
The annual student pitch competition inspires students to consider the impact of their research and effectively communicate it to the public. Students have three minutes to impress a panel of judges with their pitch.
Johnson’s winning presentation was titled Ligand Gated Ion Channels as Drug Targets to Kill Blood-Dwelling Parasitic Flatworms. The first-place finish comes with a $450 prize and a spot in the WiSys Quick Pitch State Final later in the year. Quick Pitch contests are scheduled over the next several weeks at UW System campuses and the State Final date remains to be determined.
Assistant Chemistry Professor John Chan was Johnson’s faculty adviser on the project. Johnson also would go on to present her work at the Research in the Rotunda event in Madison.
Second place and a $250 prize went to Drosianos Louvaris, a senior mechanical engineering technology major from Appleton, for Applications of Information Theory on Allostery and Nanomechanical Communication.
Liseng Xiong, a senior history major from Appleton, earned the event’s People’s Choice Award for Cia Siab in Wisconsin: A HMoob Story.
The prizes were partially funded by UW Oshkosh Office of Student Research & Creative Activity.
For more information about the WiSys Quick Pitch Program, visit wisys.org/quickpitch.
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