Novel hybrid cheese talk wins communication competition

11 September 2025 - Di Lu was named Student Communicator for 2025 yesterday, impressing judges with her succinct research into the microstructure of hybrid protein cheese analogues.

Her presentation on using a novel combination of Confocal Raman spectroscopy with machine learning to investigate the structure of hybrid plant-milk protein cheese was innovative and engaging over the entire eight minutes.

Runner-up at the annual Student Colloquium competition was Bi Xue Patricia Soh, showcasing her research on improving the protein quality of vegan diets using innovative data modelling tools. Close behind, and receiving a special mention, was Crisline Alhambra presenting her research comparing the different gastric emptying rates of specific protein-carbohydrate combinations.

The competition had two sections, an eight-minute oral presentation, and a quick-fire two-minute talk combined with a poster.

In the poster competition, students were judged on their graphical abstract summarising an aspect of their PhD research on a research poster, with a supporting two-minute oral presentation to encapsulate their research in an engaging manner. This year’s poster winner was Vitor Geniselli Da Silva, with runner-up Manfred Goh Hongyi. 

The communication competition is a highly anticipated feature of the Riddet Institute Student Colloquium every year. Students were vying for the Ansley Te Hiwi Student Communicator Award, an award named for the late Ansley Te Hiwi, a former Riddet Institute administrator and Colloquium event organiser.