Emerging Media Design & Development students win in the 2023 Three Minute Thesis Competition
Written by: Alexis Miller
Each year, Ball State University graduate students compete in the Three Minute Thesis Competition. Initially developed by The University of Queensland in 2008, the contest now occurs worldwide at over 900 Universities across more than 85 countries. To compete, students must compete through multiple preliminary rounds to make it to the final competition. While a typical thesis could take hours to present, competing students have a 3-minute time limit. The competition challenges students by making them condense their research findings to be presented concisely to an audience who may not be familiar with the subject.
EMDD students Zainab Aamir and Matt Lowe competed against eight other contestants in the final round this year. Zainab placed 1st and won the People’s Choice Award, claiming $1500 for her efforts. She will also represent Ball State University at the regional competition – The 2023 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools 3MT competition in Chicago, IL! Matt secured the 3rd place award and a $500 prize.
Zainab’s presentation discusses “Users’ Privacy Considerations in Virtual Reality.” Her research aims to understand user-centric privacy considerations when using VR headsets and assesses how being more informed affects users’ privacy attitudes. She is working with Advisor Dr. Joshua A. Fisher for this research. Zainab is originally from Lahore, Pakistan, where she majored in Management Science and Computer Science. Her motivation to pursue her graduate thesis on users’ privacy considerations while using VR headsets stems from her interest in usable privacy and extended reality (XR) technologies.
Matt’s thesis presentation is titled “Capitol Gains: Ethics and intent of transmedia, resulting from the January 6 Select Committee Report.” His research examines how transmedia is used by media outlets to influence their audience by looking at news stories published in the weeks surrounding the release of the January 6 Select Committee Report. For this research, he is working with Advisor Dr. Kevin Moloney. Matt is the Project Manager for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication. His research is motivated by how effectively certain media outlets can spread stories among various media channels.
Photographs by: Dr. Kevin Moloney
Alexis Miller
Alexis Miller is a second-year graduate student with EMDD and a graduate assistant for the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication and EMDD.