Bee food, energy solutions, moody qubits and more at the CSS 3MT finals

On Thursday, 25 June 2026, six Higher Degrees by Research (HDR) students verbally battled it out to win this year’s the ANU College of Systems and Society 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.

Each researcher had 3 minutes and one PowerPoint slide to present their research and its impact in front of a panel for the chance to win cash prizes and to compete in the ANU 3MT finals held later this year.

Meet our College finalists

Entrants for this year’s 3MT were:

• Ben Hofmann (ANU Centre for Energy Solutions) 
  Including social considerations in modelling residential energy systems
• Greg Baker (School of Computing) 
  P-adic linear
• Liye Fu (School of Engineering) 
  Tuning 2D materials properties via nanobubbles
• Okorite Itumo (Fenner School of Environment and Society) 
  What's on the changing menu for native bees?
• Sumayya Ziyad (School of Computing) 
  Efficient record linkage with improved privacy
• Salma Elsokkary (School of Engineering) 
  Artifical intelligence for reliable quantum computing

Photo of presenters from left to right: Salma Elsokkary, Sumayya Ziyad, Okorite Itumo, Liye Fu, Ben Hofmann and Greg Baker.

The winners are...

Congratulations to all the presenters for participating in 3MT this year.

Third place was awarded to Sumayya Ziyad, with joint first place awarded to Okorite Itumo and Liye Fu. Both Okorite and Liye will move onto the ANU 3MT finals.

Liye's building with Lego-like structures at the molecular scale (very, very small). He experiments with these tiny two-dimensional (2D) materials to see how they stack up to change. Are they strong under pressure? What happens when they get really hot or really cold? Liye tracks the motion of every molecule in the structures to understand what they do under any condition. His work isn't all play - it could be the key to cleaner energy solutions and faster mobile connections.

As Canberra's landscape changes due to urbanisation, Okorite is turning to the smallest locals to understand more. Her research explores the effect that changes in native plant availability have on native bees. As food sources change over time, how does their diet change? What does that mean for their species? By helping us understand what's on the menu for native bees and how we can help our buzzing neighbours as Canberra grows.

The People’s Choice award was awarded to Sumayya Ziyad. 

The 3MT competition was founded by the University of Queensland in 2008. 

Come support Okorite and Liye at the ANU 3MT finals – details to come.