On April 25, UC Merced hosted Flash Talks, where four prominent judges (Chief Financial Officer of Joseph Gallo Farms, UC Board of Trustee, Merced Chamber President, and a Silicon Valley technology President) evaluated 15 student presentations on current projects in the community.
Flash Talks developed as a way to teach STEM students communication skills to master presentations. Students have 20 presentation slides and need to present each slide in 20 seconds, essentially, presenting a hour presentation in six and a half minutes.
Eric Chu, a sophomore involved in Engineers for a Sustainable World, presented on “KivaGreen.” KivaGreen financially assists entrepreneurs in the Merced community by attaining an assessment badge and deeming whether a business is ecologically friendly. This Flash Talk, Chu stated, was a great way to begin accomplishing his long term goal to “endorse more entrepreneurs in the Merced community.”
Flash Talks “allowed me to make a condensed presentation where I could reevaluate where I was and make a reflection to what I have accomplished,” another presenter, Ana Zivanovic a fourth year environmental engineering major, said.
Flash Talks proves to be an amazing tool students can use to develop professionally, promote their research, make an impact, or even do something courageous. UC Merced student, Laura Li, recommends that students who are interested in participating in Flash Talks next year to be on the lookout for a mass email from Robert Goodman who works for the Center for Career and Professional Advancement (CCPA) at UC Merced.
Kimberly Ferguson
Writer
kferguson2@ucmerced.edu