The University of Alabama

The Alabama Forensic Council, The University of Alabama's competitive speech team, recently competed in five national tournaments and brought home its 24th team national championship and nine individual event national championships among other awards.

Working with technology being developed at The University of Alabama, two students will compete in a national collegiate business pitch competition after winning the regional competition.

The regional winners participated in a roundtable discussion, reflecting on their experiences and offering insights that can help graduate schools develop successful 3MT competitions and other programs designed to hone students' communication skills.

Hosted by the UA Graduate School, Three Minute Thesis is a research communication competition that challenges graduate students to present a compelling oration on their research and its significance in just three minutes in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.

University of Alabama student Aslan Chikovani, a first year masters student in piano performance studying under Dr. Edisher Savitski, recently competed and placed first in the Alabama State MTNA Young Artists Competition, also advancing to the division stage of the competition.

Several UA students and publications, including Alice, The Crimson White, Nineteen Fifty-Six and the Corolla, brought home awards from MediaFest22 hosted by the College Media Association and Associated College Press Oct. 27-30 in Washington, D.C.

Senior Ibby Dickson was crowned Miss University of Alabama 2023 during the Nov. 5 competition held at the Bama Theater in downtown Tuscaloosa.

University of Alabama students advance the boundaries of knowledge and expression through their scholarly research and creative projects, and every year hundreds of students from across campus share their work with the community at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference. Judges select the top projects in each of the following categories: business, computer science and management, education, engineering, fine arts and humanities, health sciences, life sciences, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences and virtual presentations. An overall top paper award is also given. The 2022 URCA award winners represent a variety of colleges, departments and majors.

University of Alabama student entrepreneur Brian Henderson won second place in the 2022 Southeastern Conference Student Pitch Competition, hosted by the E. J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University.

The UA Collegiate Ballroom Competition Team recently competed in its first national competition and brought home more than 20 top three finishes including 10 first place ribbons.

The University of Alabama Table Tennis Association wins state championships.

Last week, Alabama Law Tax Moot Court team members Tanner Ary, Emily Ellis, and Curtis Graves-coached by Clay Staggs ('96)-were named the overall champions at the Florida State Bar's National Tax Moot Court competition in Miami. In addition to winning the competition, the team was awarded runner-up for best brief, and Curtis Graves finished as the runner-up for the best individual oralist.

The competition, named and endowed by distinguished Alabama Corps of Cadets alumnus John K. McKinley, consists of rifle and pistol matches. It is open to both contracted and non-contracted cadets who meet certain minimum criteria with regards to their GPA, fitness scores and good standing in the ROTC Program.

The Manderson Case Team took first place in the 19th annual Race & Case competition, hosted by the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.

Carmen Reese Foster, a University of Alabama Doctor of Social Work student in the School of Social Work, won the Conference of Southern Graduate School's regional Three Minute Thesis, or 3MT, competition for her presentation, "Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 and Race-Based Trauma on the Mental Health of Black Social Work Professionals."

The University of Alabama, in partnership with the Black Faculty and Staff Association, will host the 2022 Dr. Trudier Harris Black Scholar Bowl, Sat. Feb. 5. Five students will compete for UA. Hosted by UA's Black Faculty and Staff Association, this year's event will feature teams from The University of Alabama, Stillman College, Alabama State University, Alabama A&M and several community colleges competing in a series of questions centered on Black history.

UA's #ChampionshipSchool status continues to roll on as the University's Collegiate Ballroom Competition Team won numerous awards during the Gamecock Invitational at the University of South Carolina Oct. 23.

Innovation that was developed at The University of Alabama will be used in a race where computers, not humans, drive the cars at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Oct. 23 for a chance at $1 million and a place in automotive history.

The University of Alabama has crowned Lindsay Fincher as Miss UA 2021. Twelve women competed in the annual program at the Bama Theatre Saturday, Sept. 19, 2021.

The University of Alabama team of 65 students spanning a variety of majors from engineering to communications and business took home first place for year three of the automotive engineering competition. The four-year EcoCAR Mobility Challenge tasks student teams at 11 universities with improving a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer's fuel efficiency by incorporating a hybrid-electric powertrain and optimizing its operation using connected and automated vehicle features. During the third year of competition, teams switched their focus from design and integration to development and performance.

A dozen women at The University of Alabama are competing in the annual Miss UA scholarship program on Sat., Sept. 18 at the Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Kaitlyn May's presentation on Autism Spectrum Disorder won first place at this year's virtual Three Minute Thesis competition at The University of Alabama. May is a graduate student studying educational studies in psychology, research methodology and counseling. Her talk title for the competition was "Frontoparietal Network in Executive Functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder." Hosted by the UA Graduate School, Three Minute Thesis is a research communication competition that challenges graduate students to present a compelling oration on their research and its significance in just three minutes in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. Fifteen finalists competed Nov. 9 for a chance to win scholarships and monetary awards. This year's competitors represented an array of academic departments and disciplines.

Fifteen graduate students at The University of Alabama will compete for a chance to win scholarships and monetary awards in the finals of this year's Three Minute Thesis. The UA Graduate School hosts the competition. The finals will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, at the Bryant Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public. Developed by The University of Queensland, the competition challenges graduate students to present a compelling talk on their thesis or dissertation topic, explaining its significance using language appropriate to a nonspecialist audience, in three minutes. The audience will vote for the People's Choice Award. The scholarships and awards will be used to support the students' research and conference travel. This year's competitors represent an array of academic departments and disciplines. The competition also serves as a professional development exercise that gives students the opportunity to clarify and crystallize their research ideas and discoveries while honing their presentation and communication skills.

The 2019 University of Alabama Homecoming Court was selected Oct. 22 in a student election. A total of 10,352 votes were cast. These students were selected as members of the court: Bryan Covington, a marketing major from Houston, sponsored by the Blount Student Organization. Chloe Maize, a graduate advertising and public relations major from Cleveland, Tennessee, sponsored by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Taylor Roberson, an economics and history major from Florence, sponsored by First Fellows. Olivia Rush, a communicative disorders major from Montgomery, sponsored by Alpha Gamma Delta. E'talia Shakir, a mathematics graduate student from San Antonio, Texas, sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

For the fifth consecutive year, the student robotics team from The University of Alabama won NASA's grand prize in its Robotics Mining Competition. Made up of 60 students, primarily from UA's College of Engineering, Alabama Astrobotics won the Joe Kosmo Award for Excellence, the grand prize, in NASA's 2019 robotic mining competition, NASA announced. UA's teams previously placed first in 2012 and from 2015-2018.

For the second consecutive year, a senior robotics team from The University of Alabama took home a win at an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers regional conference. Brandon Quinn, Julia Lanier, Trent Whalen, Katie McCray and David Weil, senior computer engineering students, competed at IEEE SoutheastCon 2019 in Huntsville. Six senior computer engineering students won the Student Hardware Competition at IEEE SoutheastCon 2019 in Huntsville. Dr. Ken Ricks, faculty adviser and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, doesn't think any school has ever won twice in a row.

A team composed of four undergraduates from The University of Alabama placed second in the statewide Global Health Case Competition on March 2. Ten teams of students from six universities across the state participated in the third annual competition, held at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Each team presented to a team of judges theirplans for addressing indigenous child health outcomes in the face of development and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. Presentations were judged on 17 criteria, including innovation, legal/ethical issues, and cultural acceptability of approach. Members of the University of Alabama team were Brooke Adams, sophomore management major; Ibukon Afon, senior nursing major; Jessica Drummer, senior public health major; and Rolanda Turner, a junior political science and psychology major. The team advanced to statewide competition after winning the campus-wide competition at UA earlier this year. The team received a cash prize of $1,000 in recognition of their placement.

The University of Alabama's Manderson Graduate School of Business's case team program continues to roll in victories. At the 16th Annual Race & Case Competition on March 1-2, hosted by the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business, the team finished third and collected $2,000. Manderson is within UA's Culverhouse College of Business. Case competitions are invitation-only events where students tackle a complex business scenario and present a solution to two separate panels of judges. This year at Race and Case, participants were asked to recommend breakthrough opportunities that would allow Western Union to accelerate its growth potential in the global money transfer business while taking into consideration the ethical and reputational implications of their recommendations. In addition, each team competed in a timed ski race held in Breckenridge. UA team members are Bryonna Rivera Burrows of Atlanta; John Clary of Knoxville, Tennessee; Everette Dawkins of Mountain Brook; and Smith Hart of Independence, Virginia. Eleven teams were selected to compete. Ninety percent of each team's total score comes from their presentation, and 10 percent comes from the race. For new skiers like Clary and Dawkins, this meant translating their analytical abilities to master Breckinridge's powder. "Race and Case provides an opportunity for us to test our business case strengths while also competing in a fun and light-hearted athletic aspect that brings the best memories," said Burrows, team captain. Quoc Hoang, case team adviser and director of experiential learning at the Culverhouse College of Business, encourages analytic evaluation and vibrant collaboration, which prepares teams for both the cases and the work force. For more information about MBA Case Team, contact Quoc Hoang at qhoang@culverhouse.ua.edu or visit the Manderson website.

A University of Alabama Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law moot court team recently won a national competition in New York, defeating more than 150 other teams and landing UA its first championship in the event's history. The team won preliminary rounds and then defeated William & Mary, South Texas College of Law, Iowa and the defending national champions Northwestern, completing an undefeated run. Team members include Lindsey Barber, of Buffalo, New York; Cory Church, of Greensboro, North Carolina; and Anne Miles Golson, of Montgomery. The team is coached by Mary Ksobiech, assistant dean of students, and managed by Josh Kravec, a second-year law student. In the final round, before a panel of six federal and state appellate court judges, Judge Richard C. Wesley described it as having advocacy better than he had heard in his hearings that day. Of the 28 teams who qualified for the finals, the UA team was the only one comprised solely of second-year law students. The Moot Court Fellows program was started in 2011 to train a team of second-year law students in moot court to improve their success rates in their third year. This is the second time in the last four years that the Alabama Moot Court Fellows team has advanced past regionals to the national tournament. Golson was named the Best Advocate for the tournament. This summer, Barber will work for Baker Donelson and Waller Lansden in Birmingham, Church will work at Bradley Arant and McGuire Woods in Charlotte, North Carolina and Golson will split her summer between Bradley Arant in Birmingham and Jones Day in Washington, D.C.

Four pairs of University of Alabama Honors College students will compete for $12,000 in scholarships Tuesday in the final rounds of an annual debate tournament on campus. Semi-final and final rounds of the 13th annual James P. Hayes, Jr. Moral Forum debate tournament will begin at 7:30 p.m. in North Lawn Hall, room 1000. Moral Forum is an annual dialogue and debate program that involves extensive research as students prepare value-based case studies representing positions on each side of a controversial issue. Nearly 60 students are participating this fall through enrollment in the course UH 101: Moral Forum. Semifinalists include: Audrey Allen, a sophomore nursing major, of Jackson, Missouri Caitlyn Jones, a freshman political science major, of Birmingham Anna Kutbay, a freshman majoring in political science and economics, of Morristown, Tennessee Allyson Lacoste, a senior civil engineering major, of Mandeville, Louisiana Caitlyn Lesso, a senior construction engineering major, of Biloxi, Mississippi Danielle Pacia, a senior biomedical ethics major, of Morristown, Tennessee Adam Trotter, a senior mechanical engineering major, of Aurora, Illinois David Warren III, a junior computer science major, of Homewood This year, students are arguing in support of and opposition to the statement: In order to be a more moral society, the United States government should continue permitting plea bargaining in criminal cases. In teams of two, students conducted research, attended a nine-week seminar series, and constructed position statements that address both sides of plea bargaining and criminal justice in preparation for two required preliminary debate rounds. Each team must prepare to argue both affirmative and negative sides of the same resolution. Guest lecturers in this fall's course included Jaime Conger, criminal defense attorney at Smith & Staggs, LLC, and Senior U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, for the Southern District of New York, and who is a Columbia University law professor. Dr. Mark Nelson, dean of UA's College of Communication and Information Sciences, also met with the class to discuss public speaking. This event is free and open to the public.