In 2024, I participated in the LLNL Research SLAM, a competition where postdocs at the lab have to present their research in three minutes with a single static slide to answer the question “Why is your research important?” to a broad audience. This is similar to three minute thesis competitions at many universities. I was selected as the winner of the 12 finalists in the LLNL competition for my presentation “Looking Inside Batteries to Predict Failure”. The next rung of the ladder was the Bay Area Research SLAM where LLNL, LBNL, SLAC, and Sandia Livermore Site bring the top three finishers of each of their site events for a friendly competition. At the Bay Area SLAM, I was the top individual finisher and the LLNL team was the top overall team in the competition. Lastly, I went to Washington DC to represent LLNL at the national competition in March 2025 with one postdoc representing each of the 17 DOE National Laboratories. While I did not place at the national event, I received training from Jean-luc Doumont on effective scientific communication, met with multiple congresspeople to discuss the importance of STEM in government policy, and met many wonderful people doing great science across the DOE ecosystem.
Top left: Nicholas on stage delivering his presentation on predicting dendrite formation at lithium metal electrodes.
Top right: Group picture with House Rep. Zoe Lofgren (pink jacket).
Lower left: Highlight video featuring all of the 17 contestants in the national competition.
Lower right: Full recording of national competition. Nicholas’ presentation begins at 1:10:35.