Originally Published June 14, 2014
ComSciCon 2014 featured the first-ever American Scidol competition, which featured 10 brave ComSciCon attendees presenting short, digestible “pop talks” of their research for the public – and for the judges – at the MIT museum. Held on Saturday afternoon, after all the panels, meals, and main events, American Scidol gave the competitors a chance to practice what they had learned over the workshop, and the audience the opportunity to hear the judges’ feedback and science communication tips, as well as to vote on their favorites. The following ComSciCon attendees were chosen (based on interest and on a first-come, first-served basis) to compete:
Brian Aguado (Northwestern)
Jaan Altosaar (Princeton)
Reggie Bain (Duke)
Levi Gadye (UC Berkeley)
Pinar Gurel (Dartmouth)
Rosa Li (Duke)
Heather Olins (Harvard)
Kunmi Sobowale (U. Chicago)
Laura Stevens (MIT)
Madeleine Stone (U. Penn)
All ten presented passionately and effectively, and the choice was not easy for the audience. But after the first round of voting, the field was narrowed down to three: Pinar, Brian, and Kunmi. These three then were asked to step up their communication skills to the next level by presenting an additional one-minute talk on a topic in their field of science they thought was important. All three did a fantastic job with this challenging task, but at the end of the day there could be only one American Scidol, and the audience chose…
Kunmi Sobowale as the first American Scidol!
The illustrious judges were: David Aguilar, Director of the Public Affairs and Educational Outreach Department at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Brindha Muniappan, Director of Education and Public Programs at the MIT Museum Bassam Shakhashiri, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, science demonstration and communication advocate extraordinaire, and former ACS president. All three provided helpful comments to the speakers (and for the audience). Special thanks to ComSciCon organizers Anna Schneider and Karna Gowda, and to the MIT Museum and in particular Brindha Muniappan for helping organize and execute this special event.
ComSciCon 