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The 2024 Three Minute Thesis final competition will be held Feb. 7, from 4 to 6 p.m.

What is the best way to distill a multitude of information into just three minutes?

That’s the question ten graduate students will be wrestling with as part of the Graduate School’s seventh annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which will be held in the University Memorial Center’s Glenn Miller Ballroom on Feb. 7, 2024, from 4 to 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, but .

This event challenges students to explain their thesis to the general public. They are then evaluated by a panel of judges from across the university, including College of Arts and Sciences Dean Glen Krutz, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Associate Dean Charles Musgraves, Professor of Sociology Lori Hunter, and Physics Professor and Nobel Laureate Eric Cornell.

In the days leading up to the event, we’ll be featuring each of the competitors. Today’s is Alex Meyer, a doctoral candidate in aerospace engineering sciences, specializing in astrodynamics and satellite navigation. His 3MT presentation’s title is, “Binary Asteroids and the DART Impact.”

If you had to describe your research in one sentence, what would you say?

Binary asteroids are complicated and can do some really weird things if you bump into them.

What led you to pursue your doctoral degree in your field of study?

I'm really interested in space exploration and I wanted to learn how to fly spacecraft.

What is your favorite thing about the research you do?

It's romantic and captures the imagination.

What did you do before coming to CU Boulder for graduate school?

I was in undergrad at University of Wisconsin Madison, where my research was in cellular mechanics.

What are your hobbies/what do you enjoy doing outside of your academic work?

I like reading, building LEGO models, board games, gaming, and the Boulder staples of hiking, camping and skiing.

Tell us a random fact about yourself

I have displayed my LEGO builds at national conventions.