The Department of Biotechnology and Food Science at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), recently hosted the second edition of the annual Three Minutes Flash Facts (3MF2) Competition. More than 50 people attended the eye-opening event, which included staff, students and invited guests. The competition provided the postgraduate students with an opportunity to effectively disseminate their project in simple language, appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
Highlights of the competition
The competition which involved postgraduate students from their second year onward, was rigorously contested among 11 and 12 Master’s and Doctoral candidates, respectively. Their performances were evaluated impartially and collaboratively by three external judges with expertise in Biotechnology and Food Science: Mr Russell Perkett (Tiger Brands), Dr. Nomfundo Ntombela (Technology Innovation Agency) and Dr. Karabelo Macmillan Moloantoa (University of KwaZulu-Natal).
Following the conclusion of the competition, awards and certificates of distinction were presented to the winner, the first and second runners-up, and the people’s choice award for both categories in the competition.
Master’s category winners
| Position | Name | Presentation Title | Supervisor |
| First | Theresa Yetunde Fadipe | Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates from macadamia nutshell | Prof S K Pillai |
| First Runner up | Humeira Hassan | Application of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from Chlorella sp. as a biocomposite film in food packaging | Dr Ismail Rawat |
| Second Runner up | Nokwanda Jiyeza | Enzyme immobilization on magnetic nanoparticles for bioethanol production | Prof K Permaul |
| Peoples’ Choice | Theresa Yetunde Fadipe | Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates from macadamia nutshell | Prof S K Pillai |
Doctoral category winners
| Position | Name | Presentation Title | Supervisor |
| First | Adedayo Lanrewaju | Metagenomic fingerprinting of waterborne enteric viruses and their inhibition using phyto-nanomaterials | Prof F M Swalaha |
| First Runner up | Kingstone Nihaka | Construction of a single plasmid system employing both optogenetics and cell autolysis strategies for the recombinant production of lignin and carbohydrate enzymes | Prof T. Kudanga |
| Second Runner up | Halimat Yusuf Lukman | Encapsulation of citrus essential oils in chitosan-glycerol monostearate nanostructures to improve antidiabetic activity | Prof S Sabiu |
| Peoples’ Choice | Prasiddhi Prakash Parab | Metagenomic insights into steroid degrading microbial communities from wastewater | Prof S K Pillai |
The competition established explicit guidelines and requirements, necessitating that each participant address three fundamental questions regarding their research: what is your research problem, how do you tackle it and why does it matter within three minutes, utilising static visual aids such as PowerPoint slides.
The welcoming remark was jokingly delivered by the Head of Department, Prof F M Swalaha, who promised to speak for just three minutes in accordance with the theme of the event. In his remarks, Prof. Swalaha welcomed the staff members and the students and appreciated the organising committee led by Prof S Sabiu for initiating such an event, which took off last year, and that he believed there has been improvement being the second edition. He further encouraged the students to be the marketer of their research and do so with all excitement.
While giving the programme overview, the Departmental postgraduate co-ordinator, Prof K Permaul, generally applauded the students for their various presentations and further encouraged them to be passionate and energetic while marketing their project to the audience and should also consider developing their presentation skills as one of the goals of the program is to build their confidence.
In his remarks, the convener Prof S Sabiu, an Associate Professor of Computational and Systems Biology in the Department, thanked the Head of Department for supporting such a noble initiative and appreciated everyone who took part in the programme starting, from the judges to the staff members and especially the organising committee members including Dr C Pillay, Ms P Pillips and Ms Z Mdluli. In addition, he appreciated the students who partook in the competition and encouraged others who did not to ensure they do in the coming years as the next editions will be better turnouts.
Pictured: Winners with the staff members of the Department.
Professor Sabiu Saheed
