31st Doris S. Perpall SURF Speaking Competition Finals

Six finalists selected from all of the Caltech undergraduates who presented their summer research projects on SURF Seminar Day will compete at the 31st Doris S. Perpall SURF Speaking Competition on January 21, 2025 in the Hameetman Auditorium in the Cahill Center. The Perpall SURF Speaking Competition is the Institute's signature competition for promoting excellence in undergraduate scientific presentations.

Our finalists this year, along with their SURF mentors and co-mentors, are

• Joahan O. Castañeda Jaimes with Jeffrey Rich (Astronomer, Carnegie Observatories) and Lee Armus (Senior Research Scientist, IPAC)
• Logan A. Smith-Perkins with Melany L. Hunt (Dotty and Dick Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering) and Ricardo Hernandez (Graduate Student in Mechanical Engineering)
• Virginia (Gigi) H. Pistilli with Ingibjörg Svala Jónsdóttir (Professor of Ecology, University of Iceland) and Bastien C. Papinot (Graduate Student in Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland)
• Ishita Mathur with Pablo Moscato (Professor of Computer Science, The University of Newcastle, Australia) and Shinsuke Shimojo (Gertrude Baltimore Professor of Experimental Psychology)
• Kai L. Svenson with Maria Spiropulu (Shang-Yi Ch'en Professor of Physics)
• Emily Tu with Kaihang Wang (Assistant Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering) and Jolena Zhou (Graduate Student in Chemical Engineering)

Event Schedule

• 1:45 PM to 2:00 PM: Opening Remarks by Vincent Ton (Program Coordinator, Student-Faculty Programs)
• 2:00 PM to 2:20 PM: Joahan Castañeda Jaimes
• 2:20 PM to 2:40 PM: Logan Smith-Perkins
• 2:40 PM to 3:00 PM: Virginia (Gigi) Pistilli
• 3:00 PM to 3:20 PM: Intermission
• 3:20 PM to 3:40 PM: Ishita Mathur
• 3:40 PM to 4:00 PM: Kai Svenson
• 4:00 PM to 4:20 PM: Emily Tu
• 4:20 PM to 4:50 PM: Public Reception with Finalists and the Perpall Family
• 5:00 PM: Announcement of the 2024 Perpall winners by Candace Rypisi (Assistant Vice Provost and Director of the Student-Faculty Programs Office)

This year, the Final Round Judges are:

• Guillaume Blanquart (Professor of Mechanical Engineering)
• Harriet Brettle (Executive Director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies)
• Niles Pierce (John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Bioengineering; Executive Officer for Biology and Biological Engineering)
• Linda Ye (Assistant Professor of Physics)