Subhashini Sugumar, a Materials Science & Engineering graduate student, won the Overall Excellence in Research Communication award for her talk, "Reading a Battery's Mind."
Held at the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center on April 15th, twelve finalists presented their three-minute talks to five finalist judges: Sarah Ades, Dean of the Graduate School and Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Conor Cunningham, Vice President of Engineering at Microsoft, Archie Holmes, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas System, MacGregor Stephenson, Chief Deputy Chief Information Officer at Texas Health and Human Services and Matthew Watkins, Editor in Chief at Texas Tribune.
The three winners chosen by the judges, of which Subhashini was one, will receive a $1,000 award. Subhashini is currently in her second year of graduate school and a member of Venkat Subramanian's lab.
You can read more about the winners at the Office of Career and Life Design's announcement, "Four Doctoral Students Win at 2026 Empower Your Research Pitch Competition."
