3MT 2026

Neti Bhatt, Physics Ph.D. Candidate

Advisor: Nozomi Ando

Area of Research: Biophysics

Title of 3MT Presentation: Protein Disco: Measuring the Dance of Life

Biography: Neti Bhatt earned her B.S. in physics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is now studying protein dynamics using X-rays under the guidance of Nozomi Ando at Cornell.

Aminat Ibrahim, Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. Candidate

Advisor: Jonathan Butcher

Area of Research: Cardiovascular biomaterials and endothelial mechanobiology

Title of 3MT Presentation: Beyond Survival: Designing Living Heart Valves

Biography: Aminat Ibrahim’s research focuses on clot prevention in cardiovascular implants. She studies how engineered microstructures support endothelial cells that naturally prevent blood clotting. Using computational modeling and biological experiments, she aims to develop safer next-gen prosthetic valves.

Favorite Thing About Cornell: My favorite thing about Cornell is its diverse, collaborative, and supportive culture, which encourages exploration across disciplines.

Jonathan Segal, Information Science Ph.D. Candidate

Advisor: Angelique Taylor

Area of Research: Augmented reality and team coordination

Title of 3MT Presentation: When Seconds Count: Inter-Team Coordination in Emergency Care

Biography: Jonathan Segal studies how technology can improve teamwork in high-stakes environments. Beginning with XR teamwork research at Iowa State University (B.S. ’22), his current work focuses on designing augmented reality systems to support emergency medical teams during patient handoffs. To better understand the domain, he became EMT certified.

Favorite Thing About Cornell: In addition to the amazing people and cutting-edge research at Cornell, one of my favorite things outside the lab is going to Big Red hockey games. Although I am now at Cornell Tech in New York City, I still try to make it back to Ithaca whenever I can to catch a game with friends.

Pia Spychalla, Plant Breeding Ph.D. Candidate

Advisor: Walter De Jong

Area of Research: Potato breeding and genetics with a focus on market class traits and disease resistance

Title of 3MT Presentation: Cracking the Genetic Code Behind Russet Potato Skin

Biography: Growing up on a potato farm in Wisconsin, Pia developed a love for potatoes at an early age. As an undergraduate, genetics courses turned that love into curiosity about what makes a potato a potato and how breeding can make better varieties. At Cornell, her research supports the potato breeding program to develop high-quality varieties for farmers.

Delia Tota, Microbiology Ph.D. Candidate

Advisor: Teresa Pawlowska

Area of Research: Molecular immunology and fungal-bacterial interactions

Title of 3MT Presentation: Fungal Innate Immunity: The Best Defense is a Good Defense

Biography: Delia Tota specializes in immunology and regulated cell death in fungal-bacterial interactions. Along with optimizing molecular protocols for under-studied fungi, Delia enjoys science communication including presenting at conferences and teaching in various courses. Outside lab, Delia takes a sometimes scientific approach to baking.

Favorite Thing About Cornell: The Cornell microbiology department contains faculty and labs conducting theoretical and applied research on a wide range of organisms and systems. This has presented me with the opportunity to explore a variety of techniques and collaborate with experts in different areas of life science. I’ve enjoyed opportunities to do interdisciplinary work.

Ellen van Wijngaarden, Ph.D. Candidate

Advisor: Meredith Silberstein

Area of Research: Mechanics of materials

Title of 3MT Presentation: Cracking Down on Cracks: A Living Coating for Crack Detection

Biography: Ellen van Wijngaarden is working toward making science fiction a reality through biomanufacturing and designing biomaterials that can respond to stimuli, change material properties, and mitigate damage for applications in health care and infrastructure.