Chemistry Students Sweep 3MT Competition Away

On February 20th, 2026, chemistry students Denise Procopio, Sudam Mane, and Jhon Sia competed in the annual 3MT competition. This competition is hosted by colleges across the world, challenging students to present their research to a wide audience. BYU hosts the competition in three levels: Department, College, and University, with higher prizes for each level.

At the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences competition, Denise was awarded first place with a $1,000 prize, Jhon was awarded third place with a $500 prize, and Sudam received an Honorable Mention.

On March 5th, Denise took second place in the University-level competition, winning $4,000 and an additional Presenter Award.

Above, from left to right: Denise Procopio, Dr. Pam Van Ry, and Jhon Sia after the College-level 3MT Competition.

Jhon’s research studies a new compound in Bleomycin-Induced Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a chronic lung disease.

In order to effectively present, Jhon had to be selective in what parts of his research he could share while still giving the diverse audience enough information. He did this by identifying the main thesis of his research and focusing his presentation on it.

“I only included data that actually helped with answering [my thesis] rather than telling the whole story,” Jhon shares. “It’s also important to highlight why this study is relevant, especially since my research is focusing on translational research and how it impacts patients in the long run.”

During the 3MT competition, Jhon was anxious but determined to give his best presentation.

“I’ve participated three times in previous years, and I always ended up forgetting some words or pausing during my presentation,” Jhon continues. “This year, I told myself that I would put in the time and effort to do better than before. My main goal is to improve, more than to win.”

Above: Sudam presenting at the College-level 3MT competition.

Sudam’s research focuses on developing efficient methods for distinguishing isomers: nearly identical drug molecules with structural differences that greatly affect how they react within the human body. To do this, Sudam uses ion mobility spectrometry, sending the molecules through a hollow tube and measuring their unique speeds to tell them apart.

Sudam had to condense much of his research to fit the parameters of the competition.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about which nuances were essential and how to communicate them clearly using relatable analogies,” Sudam shares. “I aimed to balance background, the problem statement, methodology, results, and impact — all within a very limited timeframe.”

During the Department competition, Sudam was confident, receiving encouraging scores from the judges. The College-level competition was equally exciting for him, but more competitive.

“It was a valuable learning experience and reinforced how presentation expectations can evolve at different stages of competition,” Sudam says.

Above: Denise receiving her second-place prize at the University-level competition.

Denise’s research focuses on Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy type 2B, a rare disease that causes muscle weakness. She studies how the immune system behaves in this disease to better understand the inflammatory environment and how it can influence disease progression. She also studies the effects of the Galectin-1 protein—known to support muscle repair—in her disease model, evaluating its anti-inflammatory properties with the goal of moving her research forward to clinical trials.

Like Sudam and Jhon, Denise had to skip many of the details of her research to be able to successfully share what she needed to during her three-minute presentation.

“A lot of the credit goes to the courses and professors in our department who continuously train us to communicate science effectively,” Denise shares. “I wanted to present a complete and coherent story, so I carefully selected the results that, together, formed a full narrative. Once I identified the data that created that complete story, I removed details and experiments that, while scientifically interesting, were not essential to understanding the main conclusion.”

During the different levels of the competition, Denise was nervous but excited, happy to watch her amazing peers also present their research.

“Listening to such diverse and impressive research was so inspiring,” Denise continues. “It brought me a lot of joy and reminded me why I love being a scientist.”

We wish to congratulate these three students on their dedication to their work and their stellar representation of our department.

Written by: Sydney Gant

Photos provided by: Alena Allred