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Commencement 2013: The Last Day, the First Day

Mon, 6 May 2013 15:57:36 -0400

“The future is already here; it’s just not very evenly distributed”
–President Glenn Mroz, quoting novelist William Gibson

Twice a year we celebrate all of the wisdom developed behind closed doors and in lecture halls and in the field. But because it happens twice a year doesn’t mean it’s ordinary, uneventful. It brings together hundreds of lives, thousands of accomplishments, millions of thoughts and ideas.

Commencement is a celebration of what is possible.

90 minutes before the ceremony

The Peter J. Grant Hockey Education Center is a beautiful facility, designed to help student-athletes learn and grow and relax, all in one place. This morning it . . .

Late Spring Puts the Pressure on Facilities Management

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:01:47 -0400

Winter storm warnings are hardly unusual in the Keweenaw. An average winter usually has days and days when the forecast is simply “snow.” And getting at least six inches of snow a week is quite normal.

But it isn’t normal for April, especially the second half of April. This winter, April has seen more snow than November or December, and the late spring snowfall is playing havoc with commencement plans.

While students are pushing to finish projects, presentations and exams, Facilities Management staff too are hard at work, trying to move away the stubborn remnants of winter and prepare for coming commencement celebrations.

George . . .

South Koreans at Michigan Tech Hold on to Hope for their Homeland

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:41:07 -0400

Recent saber-rattling by North Korea has the world on edge. But for South Koreans living and working in the US, it’s causing particular concerns.

Chang Kyoung Choi is a young engineering faculty member at Michigan Technological University and faculty advisor to the Korean Student Association. He’s been in the US since 2002, first in Texas, then in Tennessee and now on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but his mother and other relatives still live in South Korea.

Choi calls his mother almost every day, just to check on her and the situation there.

North Korea has threatened South Korea as far back . . .

IBM Technology Strategist to Speak to Spring Graduates

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:17:33 -0400

David Barnes, program director for IBM’s Emerging Technologies group, will be the featured speaker at Michigan Technological University’s Spring Commencement at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 4, in the John J. MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Barnes will also receive an honorary doctorate of philosophy.

At commencement, the University will honor the achievements of nearly 1,000 graduates, including 739 students receiving undergraduate degrees, 226 receiving graduate degrees, and 19 also being commissioned as second lieutenants in the armed forces.

Continuing a new tradition, Katherine Price, who will be receiving a BS in Environmental Engineering, will be the student speaker.

A native of Bridgeman, Barnes was a . . .

Tech Teaches Creativity of Many Kinds

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:05:14 -0400

Last week two very different expressions of the talent of Michigan Tech students were on display for all to see.

In the Van Pelt and Opie Library, the third floor was transformed into the Undergraduate Expo, a sea of posters and prototypes, wave after wave of innovative designs, engineering solutions, and excited and proud students from Enterprise and Senior Design. Their work is a testament to the value of a Tech education.

At the east end of campus, though, tucked away on the garden level of the Rozsa Center, is another testament. The annual Student Art and Design Show is an exhibition of . . .

Michigan Tech Named a Bike Friendly University

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:41:31 -0400

The League of American Bicyclists has named Michigan Tech a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly University.

The Transportation Enterprise at Tech spearheaded the Bicycle Friendly University application. “This award recognizes the progress being made at Michigan Tech to improve biking on campus," said Chris Fongers, project manager for the Enterprise's Bike Friendly Campus team. "Some key elements in our application were the creation of an ongoing Campus Bike Advisory Committee and the development of a 10-year plan for campus biking improvements.”

The Michigan Tech Bike Advisory Committee includes representatives from the Transportation Enterprise, the Copper Country Cycling Club (C4) and the Green Campus Enterprise, . . .

Colors Fly for Annual Pride Week Events

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:51:13 -0400

A variety of events as diverse as the community they celebrate are planned for the 15^th annual Pride Week, March 18–23. The week’s events celebrate the culture of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (GLBTQ) community—specifically on Michigan Tech’s campus.

The following events are scheduled:

Tuesday, March 19

The Education of Shelby Knox film screening—7 p.m., Fisher 135

Join Keweenaw Pride and the Women’s Programming Committee as they co-host a Women’s History Month/Pride Week screening of The Education of Shelby Knox—a film about a Texas high school student who stood up to her school board by demanding comprehensive sex education and equal treatment . . .

Women’s History Month—Honoring and Educating Tech’s Extraordinary Females

Tue, 5 Mar 2013 13:40:22 -0500

March is Women’s History Month, and the Women’s Programming Committee has kicked off its month-long celebration of the accomplishments of women. This year, events focus on a central message of health and wellness.

The month’s events started with the Society of Intellectual Sisters’ annual Bra Show, which raised over $500 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. For the show, different women’s student organizations each design a bra and choose a male student—and a song for them to perform to—for the public reveal of their design. This year’s theme: the Seven Wonders of the World.

“It was a huge hit,” said Sarah Stoolmiller, a . . .

Puff the Magic Sledder: PhD Student Races Snowmobiles Professionally

Mon, 4 Mar 2013 14:41:40 -0500

Michigan Technological University PhD candidate Jennifer Fuller grew up dabbling in snowmobiling in her native Saginaw, where they have just a few inches of snowfall per year. So when she got to Houghton and Michigan Tech, she was hooked.

“I started with a local hill climb, found the Sledheads student organization and eventually moved on to the Midwest pro circuit,” she says.

Whether in a hill climb or endurance run (100—and sometimes 500—miles), her Polaris sled can be found battling other women on the USXC Cross Country Snowmobile Circuit.

“The endurance races are true to the original terrain that snowmobiles were designed for,” she . . .

Employers, Students Brave Blizzard to Build Their Futures

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:47:22 -0500

Michigan Tech’s Career Fair is an event awash in numbers, statistics, efforts to quantify the success of our students and the health of the overall economy. The numbers so frequently tell the story.

Behind these figures, though, there are the students and employers themselves, and the careers and lives that they’re building together. Tuesday, the Multipurpose Room at the Student Development Complex hosted hundreds of companies that braved a blizzard to meet the ambitious, motivated and talented students of Michigan Tech.

Largest Spring Fair Ever
Representatives of 229 corporations attended, and more than 2,000 interviews were scheduled.

Just inside the doors of the SDC . . .