Postdocs shine at 2024 LLNL Research SLAM!

Gathered in a Laboratory auditorium on Wednesday, Sept. 25, a dozen Livermore postdocs used three minutes and a single slide to answer the question “Why is my research important?” Lab trivia, guest appearances from previous Research SLAM! winners and thematic walk-up music for each of the finalists added to the festive atmosphere of the live event.

Talks were judged using an extensive rubric quantifying intellectual significance, individual contribution to the project, clarity, delivery, visuals and engagement. The esteemed panel of judges included LLNL’s Steve Bohlen, Pat Falcone, Dustin Riggs, Doug Rotman and June Yu from the University of California.

Following the presentations, the finalists and audience members adjourned to a reception in the West Cafeteria while the judges deliberated. Pat Falcone, speaking on behalf of the judges, joined the reception to announce the three winners, in addition to the People’s Choice winner determined by audience votes.

Falcone congratulated all the finalists on a job well done, addressing how much preparation went into the compelling talks.

“Through participation in the SLAM, our postdocs convey their commitment to our science, demonstrate their ability to communicate its impact, and share their excitement about our Lab’s broad missions,” Falcone said.

Second-time judge Dustin Riggs was equally impressed by this year’s participants.

“This year’s finalists did a great job of making complex science easy to understand,” Riggs said. “I was impressed by how well they connected with the audience, not just with visuals, but with their energy and clear communication. Each presentation really showed the effort they put into breaking down tough topics in a way that everyone could follow.”

This was the first Research SLAM! event Ted Baumann, the new Institutional Postdoc Program Lead, got to see from beginning to end.

“I was so impressed by how polished each of the participants were in their presentation,” Baumann said. “My hope is that, as the stature of this event continues to grow, more of our postdocs will take advantage of this valuable opportunity.”

The winning presentations and winners are noted below.

First place
Nicholas Cross, “Inside Batteries to Predict Failure”

“As a student, I was always told to ‘tailor the presentation to the audience’ and creating my Research SLAM! presentation has really driven that concept home for me because of how unique the format and audience are compared to other presentations. The process and training sessions were a fantastic experience that taught me to constantly be thinking about what information is critical when creating a presentation and to think creatively about how to convey that message to the audience.”

Second place
Jillian McCool, “Racing for a Cure: Engineering Immune Cells for Improved Cancer Targeting”

“I was surprised at how difficult it is to fit your research into 3 minutes! I feel like I had so much I wanted to say, but this is a great way to learn how to be a more concise speaker. The Research SLAM! is such a fun opportunity to challenge yourself, learn how to talk about your research, and engage with postdocs you might not normally even meet!”

Third place
Caspar Donnison, “Agriculture and Solar Power: An Unlikely Alliance”

“I really appreciated the investment that LLNL put into our science communication skills in the run up to the Research SLAM! finals. I've really enjoyed learning these new skills alongside other postdocs who I have met from across the Lab. With so much scientific research published every day, at a time when it can be very competitive to capture attention, the training we received has helped us learn how we can communicate our own work succinctly and powerfully. For this reason, and for the fun social aspect of learning alongside other postdocs, I would absolutely encourage postdocs at the lab to participate next year!”

People’s Choice
Abhinav Parakh, “Where’s My Quantum Computer?”

"Research SLAM! was a really fun event! I really enjoyed the training sessions and learning about other people's work. I am looking forward to spending my prize money on buying wood to build my own green house.”

The event was sponsored by the Academic Engagement Office within the Office of the Deputy Director for Science and Technology (DDST). Michelle Perez-Robles led the planning and execution of the event, a massive months-long undertaking. “My goal is to improve this event each year — finding ways to make it more fun and interesting. This event was successful because the finalists worked hard and supported each other, and because I had an amazing team helping me,” said Perez-Robles.

Aditya Prajapati and Widi Moestopo, two finalists from last year’s 2023 Research SLAM, served as the event’s emcees.

“Before the 2024 Research SLAM!, I was surprised that a friend of mine from outside of the Lab thought we couldn’t possibly have a very fun event in the Lab — maybe the “Smartest Square Mile” branding is not always perceived as fun,” Moestopo said. “Yet I had a lot of fun giving back to this meaningful event and the awesome people that run it as an emcee, and I enjoyed getting to collaborate with them to create a warm, light,yet scientifically engaging event for the Lab community.”

His counterpart Adi Prajapati added, “I was delighted that we were asked to be the emcees! Being a SLAM! alumnus helped both of us a lot in preparing engaging material for the audience while still remaining on track to host this very professional event. I would encourage all the postdocs to definitely try out for the Research SLAM! at least once in their tenure as a postdoc at the Lab.” Always the comedian, Prajapati added that “if any of my emcee-ing footage ends up with Conan O’Brien and I get to meet him, then that’s a big win for everyone (mostly me).”

The biggest winners of the event were awarded cash prizes (first place, $4,000; second place, $3,000; third place, $2,000; and People’s Choice, $750). The top three winners earned a spot to compete against researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories in the third annual Bay Area Research SLAM! on Oct. 3, 2024.

As the first-place winner of the 2024 LLNL Research SLAM!, Nicholas Cross stamped his ticket to the 2nd annual National Lab Research SLAM! to be held in Washington, D.C., in spring 2025. All 17 national laboratories will send a single postdoc or early-career staff member to compete, heightening competition and collaboration while raising visibility of the national laboratory system and federal research priorities.

Meg Rodriguez, director of the Career Pathways Office at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, attended the LLNL SLAM! to support her counterparts and check out the competition.

“My team and I look forward to attending the annual LLNL SLAM. The competition and the event itself gets greater and greater every year,” she said. “I especially enjoyed the Olympics theme, and the co-emcees were more than entertaining. LLNL will be a heavy contender (as always) for the Bay Area and National SLAMs.”

Visit the Bay Area Research SLAM! website and the National Lab Research SLAM! website for more information on those events.

–Stephanie Turza