Poster Competition & Three Minute Thesis!
April 25, 2026
The Poster Competition & 3MT shines a spotlight on our students—celebrating their research, innovation, and hands-on experiences that set them up for future success.
Poster Competition
This is the 18th year for our signature poster competition event!
Current graduate and undergraduate students present their posters to industry judges and receive valuable feedback.
Awards are given for first-third place in the following categories:
- Undergraduate research
- Graduate research
- Experiential learning, including one of the following:
- Internships and co-ops
- Senior design
- Student organizations
- Study abroad
Three Minute Thesis (3MT)
For PhD students participating in the graduate research poster competition.
3MT™ is a research communication competition that challenges PhD students to explain their research thesis and its significance to a general audience in three minutes, using a single PowerPoint slide as a reference.
Finalists present their 3MT at the event and one will earn a $1,000 scholarship prize. Learn more.
Deadlines
- Registration opens: February 16, 2026
- Registration closes: March 29, 2026, midnight (no late registrations)
- Judge registration closes: April 12, 2026, midnight
- Posters from registered participants due: April 15, 2026, midnight (no late posters)
- We will print all posters for the event, except for those students who are also participating in the SURF Poster Symposium on Friday, April 24, 2026.
Agenda: UWM Student Union
| 7:30-9 am | Continental Breakfast |
| 8-8:45 am | Check-In |
| 9-9:20 am | Welcome and Judge Orientation |
| 9:30-11:00 am | Poster Competition Judging |
| 11-11:15 am | Break |
| 11:15 – 11:45 am | 3MT Honoring Michael Krauski Finalist Presentations |
| 11:45 am – 1:00 pm | Lunch and Awards |
Students, this is your opportunity to present your work in poster form to a professional audience of engineers and computer scientists, as researchers do at conferences.
Student org and senior design participants: Please bring your model, project, student org vehicle or any other artifact that shows your work (and Milwaukee Engineer enthusiasm!).
To participate:
- You must be a current student of the College of Engineering & Applied Science or your mentor/advisor must be a member of the college.
- Each student must register and create a unique poster in one of the following categories:
- Undergraduate research
- Graduate research
- Experiential Learning, including, but not limited to:
- Co-op or internship
- Senior design project
- Student organization poster
- CEAS study abroad
- Group projects
- Research included in the research poster competition must be extracurricular and not related to a required course.
- Each poster must be submitted and presented by one student. If a group worked on a project, each student can enter their own separate poster that addresses a unique attribute of the research or their part of the project.
- No duplicate work accepted. If a poster was submitted for this competition in the past, it can’t be submitted a second time unless there is substantial advancement to the research and findings.
- We will print all posters for the event, except for those students who are also participating in the SURF Poster Symposium on Friday, April 24, 2026.
Please download a copy of the appropriate template and “Save as” your own poster on your device:
PhD students participating in the Research Poster Competition also have the option to compete in the Three Minute Thesis, Honoring Michael Krauski, for the $1,000 scholarship prize.
You must participate in the Research Poster Competition to enter the Three Minute Thesis, Honoring Michael Krauski category.
Judges from Industry Needed.
If you’d like to support our students, consider being a volunteer judge. A few hours of your time will have a big impact.
Start with a continental breakfast, then meet our students one-on-one as you judge four student posters. We’ll break, then all will judge the finalists for the Three Minute Thesis event. Then lunch and you’ll find out who won!
No previous judging experience is needed. You might even meet your next employee or inventor.
Congratulations to the winners (and their faculty advisors) of the Poster Competition & 3MT. The work of every student who entered in the competition is worthy of acknowledgment. Their research addresses many of society’s pressing challenges and illustrates the curiosity, passion and abilities of students who attend one of the nation’s top research universities.
Thank you also to the judges and the many sponsors who helped make this event possible.
2026 Sponsors
Interested in being a judge?
Sponsor our event
Contact Mark Meier meiermd@uwm.edu
Other questions?
Contact ceas-events@uwm.edu
All participating students receive a premium branded Carhartt Foundry Series backpack.
