School of Business and Economics

David Orozco, assistant professor of business law, and Christa Walck, professor of organizational behavior, are on a team of five that received $321,821 from the National Science Foundation for a three-year project. The topic "Ethics Education 2.0" is to improve STEM graduate students' understanding of responsible conduct of research.

"This substantial federal grant will provide Michigan Tech graduate students with a working knowledge of ethical issues related to intellectual property. A thorough understanding of intellectual property rights will increase ethical awareness across campus involving copyright and appropriate attributions, fair use, falsification of data, sponsored research disclosure conflicts and plagiarism concerns," said Orozco on the topic.

Karol Pelc began teaching at Michigan Tech over 20 years ago. During his time at Tech, he co-founded and directed the Center for Technological Innovation, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship and he initiated the Entrepreneurs and Inventors Club of Michigan Tech.

Since retiring from Michigan Tech in 2005 as a professor emeritus, Dr. Pelc continues to advance technological innovation across the globe. Dr. Pelc is currently active in editorial work as a guest editor for International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, he recently published a book in Poland titled Innovation and Technology Strategy, and he has continued teaching graduate courses at Michigan Tech during the summer months. 

Prior to arriving in Houghton in 1980, Merz was a Visiting Instructor at Miami (Ohio) University. In 1990-91, he was a Visiting Fellow at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. In 1994, he was elected to his first of three 4-year terms on the Houghton City Council serving as Mayor from 1996-2006. 

Merz was a Visiting Research Fellow at Curtin University of Technology in Perth July-November 2006 and July-August of 2007. He currently holds an Adjunct Professorship in The School of Economics and Finance at Curtin University.

Gary Campbell began teaching in the School of Business and Economics at Michigan Tech in 1982. He helped establish the MS in Mineral Economics (currently named Applied Natural Resource Economics) that admitted its first students in 1983. 

He is currently acting as the coordinator of the MS program and the associated Peace Corps Master’s International program. Gary Campbell is also involved with the Enterprise and Pavlis programs.

In collaboration with the Sustainable Futures Institute at Michigan Tech, Dr. Graman serves on a team of researchers dedicated to establishing a supply chain solution for a new ethanol plant being built in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In order to boost Michigan's economy, the new company, Frontier Renewable Resources, has arranged for representatives from Michigan Tech and Michigan State to provide consultation on critical issues.

The biggest challenge is the delivery of biomass (logs and wood chips) to the new plant for ethanol production. Transportation costs exceed the value of the logs by more than half, thus creating the need for a sustainable supply-chain system. Dr. Graman and the other researchers will determine how to develop, define, and demonstrate how the supply chain will function to yield an economical product.