MSE’s recent TikTok competition brought out the creativity in MSE! Students were encouraged to submit TikTok videos that showed:

  • Friendsgiving: the MSE community: #ONE_GTMSE
  • A material property: #GTMSE_MaterialsRock, #GTMSE_TransformingTheWorld, #GTMSE_TransformingIdeas
  • Opportunities for MSE students (jobs, internships, research, minors/certificate, etc.): #GTMSE_TransformingLives
  • The activities of L&D teams in the MILL: #GTMSE_TransformingLearning
  • Life of an MSE student at GT: #ONE_GTMSE, #GTMSE_MaterialsRock
  • How MSE can transform tomorrow: #GTMSE_TransformingTomorrow

A great selection of videos were received and reviewed by faculty, staff, and some external advisory board members, with the criteria including visual appearance, fun, power of communicating about our MSE community/materials science and engineering, breadth of audience that can be reached, or for a specific audience (e.g., high-school students). MSE awarded three winners, plus an honorable mention.

First place, with an award of $500, went to Emiliano Gonzales and co-creator Elise Kim for the video “What is MSE?” They provided a tongue-in-cheek look at what it is like to tell an interviewer how materials science engineers are valuable to almost all engineering challenges in the world. Its closeness to reality and the humorous nature really hit home with the judges.

Second place, with a $300 prize, went to Joseph Mushyakov for his video “Crushing Cans.” Mushyakov demonstrated not only how a common material (aluminum can) behaves under stress, it also highlighted a key piece of equipment (tensile tester) for materials characterization. This engaging video resonated with both engineers and non-engineers.

“My summer at Imerys” by Helen Liu received third place and a $200 prize. Liu highlighted her summer internship at Imerys USA. The video shows interesting views of the internship, and the addition of the music from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory demonstrates the awe and wonder in seeing how materials are discovered that can be processed into valuable products.

Honorable mention went to Reanna Rafiq for the video “Conjugated Polymers.“ She showed the world of conjugated polymers as exciting when viewed up close to the amazing materials. From the naked eye, they seem "plain" but when you "zoom in a little more and it's a whole new world." The music adds the feeling of wonder and excitement.

Hopefully, this will be the first of many more TikTok competitions and we look forward to seeing the continued creativity of MSE students!


Emiliano Gonzalez
What is MSE?

Joseph Mushyakov
Crushing Cans

Helen Liu
My summer at Imerys

Reanna Rafiq
Conjugated Polymers