Finals Study Break - Come to the Grad School for a Snack and Check-In!
Need a break during finals week? Come by the Grad School for a quick snack and a check-in to recharge!
When: December 13, 2024
Where: Morrill Hall 130
Time: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Take a breather, grab a snack and let us help you power through! You've got this!!
Graduate Alumni Spotlight
Distinguished alumni, Karunanithy Chinnadurai, graduated in 2010 with a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences. Chinnadurai is originally from India where he worked as a scientist for eight years and is now the senior manager for R&D Engineering at HP Hood.
As the senior manager of R&D engineering, Chinnadurai leads the process development team which he states, “takes care of scale up, supports commercialization, partners with cross functional team, explores new equipment” and his team handles “qualifying external contract manufacturing lines for Hood products in the USA and Canada” while representing 12 HP Hood manufacturing facilities.
Since graduating from SDSU, Chinnadurai has had many opportunities. For two years, he was a research associate for the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering department at SDSU. He then became an assistant professor of Food Engineering at the University of Wisconsin – Stout. Following his time in academia, Chinnadurai worked with Russell Stover Chocolates before landing at his current position at HP Hood.
Chinnadurai’s accomplishments on his journey have included collaborating and helping several food processing industries in Wisconsin, developing and mentoring his current team at HP hood, securing funding for lab equipment, and being a part of USDA – NIFA review panel while at the University of Wisconsin. Chinnadurai also shares that he “addressed marshmallow transportation to west coast through Rocky Mountains” and received recognition from VP of marketing and research. He also shared that he “saved more than a million dollars while reducing consumer complaints by 90%”.
When asked about giving advice to someone considering graduate school, Chinnadurai instead shared how he approached graduate school. He shared “I had an open mind to listen, learn, and grow. Whatever opportunities came on the way, I grabbed and utilized them to get better professionally with each opportunity” and “Dr. Muthu and Dr. Gibbons gave me plenty of opportunities”.
Important Upcoming Dates
Dec. 23, Monday - Grades due by midnight
Dec. 23-25, Monday – Graduate Office Closed
Awards and Scholarships
The SDSU Graduate School is pleased to announce the Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, in recognition of graduate students who exemplify excellence in the teaching/learning mission of SDSU.
Nominations must be submitted electronically: Deadline: December 6, 2024.
The SDSU Graduate School Travel Awards help provide funding for graduate students to present original research and scholarly activity at professional meetings and conferences. These monetary awards subsidize travel costs and serve to encourage scholarship, recognize excellence in research and support opportunities for professional development.
Guidelines
- Awards will be made for costs to attend meetings and conferences only, and will not exceed $500.
- Members of the Graduate Council will select awardees.
- Application deadline will be February 1 annually
- Applications must be submitted electronically.
- Departments are encouraged to supplement these awards where possible to cover full travel costs.
- Travel awards will not be given to students who have completed degree requirements.
Applications must be submitted electronically.
South Dakota State University invites you to participate in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition. The 3MT is an academic competition that challenges Ph.D. and Master's students to describe their research within three minutes to a general audience. 3MT celebrates the discoveries made by research students and encourages you to communicate the importance of your research to the broader community.
This year’s 3MT competition will be held in the Lewis and Clark Room, University Student Union, on February 6, 2025 at 5 p.m. We encourage all graduate students to participate. Interested students must register no later than Friday, January 31, 2025. More detailed information will be sent out to registered students after that date.
For more specific details about the competition, view the 3MT PowerPoint.
Register for the competition. If you are not already logged into MyState, you will have to enter your MyState credentials in the top right corner of the screen, click "Dashboard," followed by "Forms," (in the 4th column) and you'll find "3 Minute Thesis Competition Registration."