University of Tennessee
Materials Science & Engineering Department


Powerpoint Karaoke
Knoxville, TN, April 13, 2026





Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and friends gathered at IAMM for a round of powerpoint Karaoke.


Alfredo, the reigning "Best Slide" champion from 2025 started off the evening with a rather macabre exposition on the mechanical testing of ferrets.


Sean proposed four new core courses for the MSE graduate program including The TMS Drinking Experience and AI-Generated Papers. (This powerpoint slide ended up winning the "Best Slide" award.


Randi described a miraculous material, the high entropy alloy VbCbUnKyMi that is appropriate for just about any application.


Tadi introduced many in the audience to new-fangled terms such as "looksmaxing" and "frame mogging". Sadly, once learned, this vocabulary cannot be unlearned.


Findley, the reigning "Best Presenter" champion, combined his first-rate knowledge of the geography of the state of Tennessee with an unparalleled skill at ribbiting to take home a share of the "Best Presenter" award for the second year in a row.


Kyle channeled his inner 6'7" athlete to make a convincing case that not only should he be on the Vols basketball team but he should be the whole team. For his efforts, he took home the other half of the "Best Presenter" award.


Some slides were textbook examples of Dadaism, an art movement that arose in the aftermath of World War I, in which participants protested against war, nationalism, and cultural conformity by adopting nonsense to negate prevailing attitudes. Ayush turned out to be a natural champion for the Dada aesthetic.


Logan advocated for departmental resources to be redirected toward Testosterone Replacement Therapy for all members of the MSE community.


Ronan gave a nostalgic presentation on an era when the halls of engineering buildings bore the smell of professors smoking at their office desks. Of course, he had a creative solution to accommodate the modern aversion to cigarettes.


Luke was an enthusiastic champion for a new MSE departmental mascot, Banana Cat. He lauded its many virtues and won the audience over. Look for it soon wandering the halls in Ferris.


To close the event, John did his best to untangle the geo-political challenges of the day with some eye-opening alternatives.

Thanks to all who attended for making the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee a special community.

More photos on the Keffer research group site.