Ninth Annual Three Minute Thesis Competition

Chief Operating Officer, Buffalo Urban League

Carima El-Behairy is currently the Chief Operating Officer for the Buffalo Urban League, doing as she jokingly says "Raising friends and funds." Not a traditional fundraiser, she has had a diverse and rewarding career getting her to this point.

She began her career as an entrepreneur, a founder for P22 type foundry—a boutique design house, specializing in digital fonts, now part of a much larger company Type Founders. This allowed her the freedom to create and collaborate on other endeavors: she was a founder for Oracle Charter School; Western New York Charter School Coalition; and the Western New York Book Arts Collaborative.

During this time, Ms. El-Behairy, also engaged in the community as a volunteer, serving in leadership trustee positions for Association Typographique Internationale, Oracle Charter School, WNYBAC, Planned Parenthood, Irish Classical Theatre, Art Directors of Buffalo and Brainstorm to name a few.

After leaving P22, she started her own consulting firm, assisting women owned businesses after merge, acquisition or partner restructuring and even a brief foray into politics in 2018.

2020 found her pivot from consulting to taking on a full-time project, as the executive director of the Buffalo Heritage Carousel, starting the same week as the windows were delivered for the new building. This project spanned over three years, encompassed the completion of the construction, the restoration of a 1924 historic carousel, opening to the public with a great deal of fanfare in 2021 and making it financially stable.

With the project complete, Ms. El-Behairy shifted back to consulting, but that did not last long and she has found a new home with the Buffalo Urban League, where she is today.

On a personal note, she has two sons and is a transporter, home inspector and foster parent for Basenji Transport and Rescue.

Chief Science Officer, Mind Science Foundation

Ben Rein, PhD is a neuroscientist and science communicator whose research has focused on the neurobiology of social interactions. He graduated from SUNY Buffalo in 2021 with a PhD in neuroscience, earning the Dean's Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research. He is also the winner of the 2020 3MT competition at UB. After leaving UB, Ben completed a postdoc at Stanford University where he led research characterizing empathy in the brain. Ben has published over 20 scientific papers and his research has been honored with awards from the NIH, the Society for Neurosciences, and Sigma Xi.

Outside of the lab, Ben creates educational science videos for an audience of >1 million social media followers. His videos have received over 60 million views and have been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News and other major media outlets. Ben has been profiled by Popular Mechanics and Spectrum News, appeared on Entertainment Tonight, and joined over 40 podcasts including StarTalk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Ben's science communication efforts have been recognized with awards from the National Academies of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Neuroscience, and Stanford University.

Ben currently serves as the Chief Science Officer of the Mind Science Foundation and has served as a scientific/media consultant for more than 35 companies and foundations. He coaches 3MT contestants at the University of Minnesota, and is the Founder & President of the Aspiring Scientists Coalition, an organization providing free guidance for students in 75+ countries. He will also be launching his debut book in 2025 with Penguin Random House.

Strategic Designer and Senior Vice President, M&T Bank's Office of Innovation

Elyse holds a Master's in Architecture with a specialization in Inclusive and Human-Centered Design. As a strategic designer and senior vice president at M&T Bank's Office of Innovation since November 2022, she focuses on strategic planning and operational excellence, working closely with stakeholders to solve and co-design solutions to intricate problems.

Previously, Elyse served as an associate and higher education strategist at Rickes Associates, leading complex projects across the U.S. She also worked as an architectural designer at Shepley Bulfinch, serving on the Boston Children's Hospital architectural planning and design team. Her experience also includes being an inclusive design researcher at the University at Buffalo, contributing to research and development for marginalized groups, and managing a 600-student residence hall as an assistant hall director.

Elyse is a curious and solution-oriented design thinker, believing in incremental change for meaningful impact. Her human-centered approach focuses on helping all people, especially the most disenfranchised. Collaboration is fundamental to her work, and she leads impactful initiatives within the innovation team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and teaching innovative mindsets.

Communications Strategist, CannonDesign

Ever since his parents handed him a Hardy Boys book, Chris Whitcomb has loved few things more than a great story. Today, Chris is the Communications Strategist for CannonDesign, one of the most innovative architecture design firms in the world. He's helped the firm grow its brand via distinction and media coverage from Fast Company, Fortune, the New York Times, Forbes, Popular Science, Dezeen, Architectural Record and more. He's also the co-author of CannonDesign's first-ever children's book, Designing Dreams, which focuses on lead character Deja the Dynamo, who takes on exciting adventures to help inspire more diverse youth to explore career pathways in architecture and design. A recent Business First Buffalo 40 Under 40 recipient, Chris also loves spending time with his wife and daughter, running, hiking up mountains and through nature, and playing golf.