Vote Now! Materials Grad Student is Finalist in 3 Minute Thesis Competition (VIDEO)

University of Maryland graduate student Amy Marquardt (Department of Materials Science and Engineering [MSE]) is a finalist in the 2014 Three Minute Thesis competition (3MT^®). Visitors to the 3MT web site can watch her video and cast their vote for her to receive the competition’s People’s Choice Award.

University of Maryland graduate student Amy Marquardt (MSE) describes how she uses atomic layer deposition to apply protective coatings to silver artifacts. To vote for Amy to receive the 3MT People’s Choice Award, visit www.u213mt.com.

Marquardt, advised by Professor Ray Phaneuf (MSE), is using her expertise in materials science to help museums analyze, clean and preserve their art and artifacts. For the past several years, she has been part of a team working with conservators from the Walters Art Museum to develop nanometers-thick coatings that protect silver from tarnish. The material, applied using atomic layer deposition (ALD), is currently being tested on an artifact from the museum’s collection. The project has been reported by Science, highlighted by the American Physical Society and the American Vacuum Society, and was the subject of a National Science Foundation video. Marquardt has collaborated with the University of Trento, Italy, and is currently serving a research-in-residence fellowship at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI). At the Smithsonian, she is exploring the use of her coating technique to preserve bronze art and artifacts, with a particular focus on patinas.

Created by the by the University of Queensland, Australia, in 2008, the international Three Minute Thesis competition challenges students to explain the significance of their research to a general audience in just three minutes.

Marquardt was nominated to enter the competition after winning a campus-wide competition coordinated by the Graduate School in the summer of 2014. The Graduate School selected her to represent the University of Maryland in the 3MT based her "impressive presentation" of her research. In addition to the nomination, the Graduate School awarded her $500 in research funds.

To vote for Amy Marquardt's Three Minute Thesis presentation, visit www.u213mt.com.

Published October 7, 2014