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The 2025 Three Minute Thesis final competition will be held Feb. 13, 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 eleven graduate students will be wrestling with as part of the Graduate School’s eighth annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which will be held in the University Memorial Center’s Glenn Miller Ballroom on Feb. 13, 2025, 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 and local community, including Waleed Abdalati, executive director of the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and professor of geography; Jared Bahir Browsh, director of critical sports studies and an assistant teaching professor; Sonia DeLuca Fernández, senior vice chancellor for leadership support and programming; and Aaron Brockett, City of Boulder mayor.

In the days leading up to the event, we’ll feature each of the competitors. Today is Celeste Guiles, a doctoral candidate in aerospace engineering, with a focus on fluids structures and materials, specifically human-machine teaming. Her 3MT presentation’s title is, “Bringing You Safely Home from Outer Space.”

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

Reconstructing the chemistry puzzle of spacecraft heat shields.

What do you feel is the significance of your research to the every day audience?

The safety of space flight, whether for luxury, exploration, monitoring Earth or a dystopian future where we may colonize in space.

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

I sought to find an interesting field where I can apply my enthusiasm for science and help progress our knowledge of the world/outer space.

What is your favorite thing about the research you do?

Collaborating with people, from modelers to materials experts, NASA employees to students at universities across the globe.

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

I enjoy drawing, practicing kendo, cooking, reading espionage or mystery books, watching TV and sometimes hiking.

Tell us a random fact about yourself

I have a substantial rock collection.