13 Finalists from The University of Texas at Austin will compete for prizes during the Empower Your Pitch Grand Finale and Celebration. Judges will choose three winners to receive $1,000 prizes (most creative, highest impact, overall excellence in communication). Audience members will vote on the audience choice award. Appetizers, beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks will be served.

RSVP for the Grand Finale & Celebration

Meet the Finalists

Name: Nina De La Torre Department: Ph.D. Student, Oden Institute Presentation Title: “Computational Star Formation”

Name: Vicki Deng Department: Ph.D. Candidate, Molecular Biosciences, College of Natural Sciences Presentation Title: “Building biomaterials from Caulerpa, the world’s largest single-celled organism”

Name: Marion Friske Department: Postdoctoral Scholar, Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, Department of Neuroscience Presentation Title: “From Sick to Sipping: How TLR7-Activation Primes the Brain for Escalated Alcohol Drinking”

Name: Ravi Ghadia Department: Master’s Student, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering Presentation Title: “Dialogue without limits: Extended conversations with AI chatbots”

Name: Gaurav Gomber Department: M.D. Student, Department of Diagnostic Medicine, Dell Medical School Presentation Title: “Investigative Imaging: Using Medical Imaging to Predict Gallstone Disease”

Name: Jessica Kane-Cabello Department: Ph.D. Student, Special Education, College of Education Presentation Title: “Supporting Student Writing Success at the Secondary Level”

Name: Cole Maguire Department: Ph.D. Candidate, Neuroscience, College of Natural Sciences Presentation Title: “A Dual Threat: Reactivation of Chronic Viruses in the Wake of COVID-19”

Name: Sridhar Sethuram Markandaraj Department: Ph.D. Student, Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences Presentation Title: “Farewell to Battery Fires”

Name: Adwait Pradhan Department: Ph.D. Candidate, Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, College of Pharmacy Presentation Title: “Downsizing pills: can we make medicines easier to swallow?”

Name: Ellen Sirower Department: Ph.D. Student, Piano Performance, Butler School of Music, College of Fine Arts Presentation Title: “Strange, Beautiful Music: Teaching Musical Interpretation of Post-Tonal Piano Repertoire”

Name: Leah Truckenbrod Department: Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts Presentation Title: “How Hormones Affect Risk-Taking Behavior”

Name: Lisa Wang Department: Ph.D. Candidate, Cell and Molecular Biology, College of Natural Science Presentation Title: “Does Abnormal Touch Sensitivity Lead to Social Difficulty?”

Name: Polina Washington Department: Master’s Student, Department of Slavic & Eurasian Studies, College of Liberal Arts Presentation Title: “Parents and the Russian Language”

This event is co-sponsored by the Graduate Coordinator Network and the Graduate School Office of Career and Life Design.