Chemical engineering Ph.D. candidate Elvis Enebeli was awarded third place in the 2025 National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) 3-Minute Rundown (3MR) Competition this September.
NOBCChE is committed to support and advancing Black scientists and engineers through mentoring, networking and outreach. Enebeli has been a member for two years and is currently serving his second year as Academic Chair of the University of Houston student chapter.
Under the mentorship of Neal R. Amundson Professor Megan Robertson, Enebeli’s research tackles the end-of-life of plastics “by developing renewable, high-performance polymers with programmable, acid-catalyzed breakdown.” Previously, he worked as a Process Engineer at Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, trained on CCR/NHT at Bharat Petroleum and served as Field Services Engineer and Process Designer at Ariosh Ltd.
“The 3-Minute Rundown is a highly competitive event where scientists explain their work to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes,” said Enebeli. “In my presentation, I made plastic waste relatable and explained how my group engineered new, renewable polymers that stay strong during use but break down rapidly and can be fully recovered at their end of life—a real step towards circular plastics. I chose to highlight these core results and their impact because I wanted to communicate not just technical achievement, but also practical benefits that matter for sustainability and for people’s everyday lives.”
“The 3MR competition was important to me because it challenged me to distill complex science into a clear, compelling message for a broad audience—a crucial skill for real-world impact,” he continued. “It gave me a platform to showcase my research, connect my work to everyday experiences, and inspire others about practical solutions to environmental problems. Competing also pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me grow as a communicator, which is vital for both leadership and outreach in STEM. Winning recognition at such a respected event validated my ability to make my science meaningful and accessible beyond academia.”
In recognition of his placement, Enebeli received both a formal certificate and monetary award, and considers both “special acknowledgements of [his] research impact and [his] science communication skills.”
Knowing that he was presenting alongside strong, highly-competitive peers, he was both excited and genuinely surprised to learn he had been awarded third place in the competition.
“Placing third validated all the effort I put into making my science clear and accessible, and it also boosted my confidence to keep sharing my research with broader audiences,” he said. “It was an honor—and a great motivator for my future presentations and outreach.”
“I’d like to thank the judges and organizers for encouraging science communication and recognizing research that aims to make a real difference,” he added. “It’s a privilege to be part of NOBCChE, and I’m excited to keep contributing and learning from such a passionate community. I also want to thank my advisor for her steady guidance and encouragement—having a mentor who supports both scientific rigor and clear communication has made a tremendous impact on my journey.”
Now, Enebeli plans to continue building expertise in sustainable polymer research as he moves toward completing his Ph.D. with the Cullen College of Engineering. Using platforms like NOBCChE to “drive inclusion and real-world change in STEM,” he hopes to leverage these advances for “practical solutions,” whether in academia, industry or collaborations that “bridge both worlds,” and to pursue opportunities that allow him to develop innovative materials, mentor others, and expand the impact of circular chemistry.