Michigan Technological University

Institutional Diversity

Grants & Funding—MSGC Fellowships

Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) Funding Opportunities

NASA implemented the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in 1989 to provide funding for research, education, and public outreach in space-related science and technology. The program has 52 university-based consortia in the United States and Puerto Rico. As an affiliate of the Michigan Consortium, Michigan Tech has been an active participant in MSGC for over fifteen years. For more information, please contact Chris Anderson, Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity, or visit the MSGC website.

Michigan Tech faculty, staff members, and students received awards in 2012 tallying $101,875 in funding through the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which includes 12 University members. Michigan Tech received 18% of the available Research Seed Grant funding, 24% of the Undergraduate Fellowship funding, 33% of the Graduate Fellowship funding, and 41% of the Pre-College, Public Outreach, Teacher Training, and Augmentation proposal funding.

Previous Faculty and Staff Awards

Faculty and Staff Awards 2013:

  • Louisa Kramer (Geological and Mining Engineering & Sciences):  “Remote sensing of gases in smoke stack plumes”
  • Doug Oppliger (Engineering Fundamentals):  “Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles for Teaching STEM Concepts in K-12 Classrooms” (Includes Augmentation funding)
  • Steve Patchin (Enrollment Services):   “Sustainable Rocketry Outreach System”
  • Loredana Valenzano (Chemistry):  “Revealing the Performance Barrier: First Principles Prediction of the Physical-Chemical Properties of New Co-Crystals for Rocket Propulsion”
  • Lloyd Wescoat (Civil & Environmental Engineering):  “Celebrating Lake Superior: A High School Water Festival”
  • Chris Wojick (Civil & Environmental Engineering):  “Field Training for Teachers in Earth System Science Education” (Includes Augmentation funding)
  • Chris Anderson (Institutional Diversity):  MSGC Administrative award ($3,675)

Previous Graduate Student Awards

Graduate students receiving $5,000 fellowships include:

  • Stacy Cotey (Forest Resources and Environmental Science):  “Analysis of Graph-Based Connectivity Models as a Possible Method of Assessing Watershed Health”
  • Emily Gochis (Geological and Mining Engineering & Sciences):  “Increasing Native American involvement in geosciences through interdisciplinary community-based student investigations”
  • Colin Gurganus (Physics):  “Examining the Role of Surface Roughness on Atmospheric Nucleation Processes”
  • Danielle Klimek (Chemical Engineering):  “Characterization and Modeling of Graphene Nanoplatelet/Epoxy Composites for Aerospace Applications”
  • Kathleen McKee (Geological and Mining Engineering & Sciences):  “Analysis of Temporal Velocity Changes from Seismic Ambient Noise in Volcanic Environments:  Source Modeling and Evaluation for Monitoring” 
  • Lauren Schaefer (Geological and Mining Engineering & Sciences):  “Application of remote sensing and numerical modeling to volcanic hazard monitoring”

Previous Undergraduate Student Awards

Undergraduates receiving $2,500 research fellowships include:

  • Jacob Braykovich (Materials Science and Engineering):  “Optimizing processing techniques for high ductility magnesium alloys”
  • Ashima Chhabra (Chemistry):  “Measuring surface roughness of mineral dust for comparison to Martian dust”
  • Adam Funkenbusch (Electrical and Computer Engineering):  “OCULUS-ASR”
  • Nathanael Green (Chemistry):  “A sequencing technology capable of monitoring variations of DNA methylation induced by travel in space”
  • Zachary Morgan (Materials Science and Engineering):  “Computational Study of Improved Damping Capabilities in Metal Matrix Composites with Functionally Active Ferroelectric Reinforcement”
  • Evan Schaefer (Materials Science and Engineering):  “Antimicrobial polymeric composites with clay-copper hybrid filler”
  • Matthew Tianen (Materials Science and Engineering):  “Corrosion of bioabsorbable materials”
  • Steven Trierweiler (Biomedical Engineering):  “Sub-cellular Mechanical Loads for Modulating Neuron Behaviors”
  • Bradley Villeneuve (Materials Science and Engineering):  “Antimicrobial copper-vermiculite filler”
  • Michael Warhus (Materials Science and Engineering):  “A predictive study of magnesium alloy bioabsorbable stents by computer modeling”

Institutional Diversity

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Fax: 906-487-4818

Michigan Technological University

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