Doris S. Perpall SURF Speaking Competition

The Doris S. Perpall SURF Speaking Competition was endowed by Robert (Bob) C. Perpall (BS ‘52 Mechanical Engineering; MS '56 Mechanical Engineering) in memory of his late wife as an incentive for Caltech students to give excellent oral presentations. Mr. Perpall strongly believed that effective communication skills were critical to one's future success.

For over thirty years, the Perpall SURF Speaking Competition has developed into an incredible force for improving the oral presentation skills of Caltech undergraduates.

We hope you will join us for the 32nd Perpall SURF Speaking Competition Finals, occurring on Thursday, January 15th at 153 Noyes Lecture Hall. This event is open to the public.

Our finalists this year are listed below, alongside their mentors and co-mentors.

• Shrila Esturi with Jeffrey Reimer (Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UC Berkeley), Sophia Fricke (Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UC Berkeley), and Paul Wennberg (R. Stanton Avery Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Science and Engineering)
• Diya Kumar with Fei Dai (Assistant Professor of Astronomy, University of Hawaii) and Lynne Hillenbrand (Professor of Astronomy)
• Jude McLean with Philip Hopkins (Ira S. Bowen Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics) and Daichi Tsuna (Sherman Fairchild Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in Theoretical Astrophysics)
• Grace Otos with Bil Clemons (Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Biochemistry) and Jacob Kirsh (Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in Chemistry)
• Avinash (Avi) Vadali with Jason Alicea (William K. Davis Professor of Theoretical Physics) and Pablo Sala (Postdoctoral Research Associate in Physics)
• Ellie Wang with Yanan Sui (Associate Professor, Tsinghua University) and Joel Burdick (Richard L. and Dorothy M. Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering; Jet Propulsion Laboratory Research Scientist)

Congratulations to the 2024 Perpall SURF Speaking Competition winners!

• First Place: Ishita Mathur with Pablo Moscato (Professor of Computer Science, The University of Newcastle, Australia) and Shinsuke Shimojo (Gertrude Baltimore Professor of Experimental Psychology)
• Second Place: 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)
• Third Place: Kai L. Svenson with Maria Spiropulu (Shang-Yi Ch'en Professor of Physics)