March 14, 2017, Vol. 23, No. 14

Keweenaw favorites. Cleaner Snowmobiles. Spring Break memories.

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Thank you for the welcome! And thank you for sharing your favorite places and things to do in the Copper Country. Stay tuned for the Keweenaw Bucketlist, coming to TechAlum this spring.

Michigan Tech students enjoyed spring break this past week. Students traveled across the country to visit Silicon Valley businesses, volunteered at nonprofits and shared science, engineering and technology with students and their families.

Closer to home, the Keweenaw Research Center hosted the 18th Clean Snowmobile Challenge. I spoke with many alumni and sponsors who came to offer advice, encouragement, and more for this year’s event. Here’s their story.

Now it’s your turn. Please share your spring break story from life as a Michigan Tech student or how you give back to Michigan Tech. Send us your stories.

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Sarah

At Tech

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Clean Snowmobile Challenge: Many Wild Cards, One Sure Bet

by Cyndi Perkins and Sarah Williams

You can’t count on the weather at the annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge. And breakdowns? More a matter of if than when. But what you can predict with certainty is strong support from Michigan Tech alumni and friends.

This is the 18th year SAE International has run the event, and . . . [ Full Story ]

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Matching Up Fruit Flies, Mushroom Toxins and Human Health

Pulling data from 180 different lines of fruit flies, researchers from Michigan Technological University compared resistance to a toxin found in mushrooms like the Death Cap and Destroying Angel. Their results were published by PLOS ONE this week.

The team’s main finding is the genetic mechanisms that control the toxin resistance correspond to the mammalian . . . [ Full Story ]

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Pilot Project at Michigan Tech Leads to Federal Regulations Changes

Michigan Tech’s Board of Trustees were told about the pilot project and the regulations changes at their regular Board meeting Friday, March 3.

Michigan Tech and three other universities—George Mason, the University of California-Irvine and the University of California-Riverside—participated in a pilot project designed to develop an alternative method for certifying labor expended on federally . . . [ Full Story ]

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Volcano Breath: Measuring Sulfur Dioxide from Space

Volcanoes erupt, they spew ash, their scarred flanks sometimes run with both lava and landslides. But only occasionally. A less dramatic but important process is continuous gas emissions from volcanoes; in other words, as they exhale. A number of volcanoes around the world continuously exhale water vapor laced with heavy metals, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide . . . [ Full Story ]

Alumni Around the World

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Good Beer, Great Visit in Denver

Alumni and friends in Denver, Colorado spent the evening of March 8 at the Great Divide Brewing Company’s Barrel Bar for a VIP tour and tasting followed by a social with Bill Roberts, Associate Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Engagement.

Visit the Denver Chapter Facebook page for more event photos.

Alumni Profile

Johnathon Aho ’08, ’08

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“Make your own success every day. Don’t wait for it to come.” Johnathon M.E. Aho ’08 continues a tradition and philosophy he developed at Michigan Tech and puts it into practice as he continues at the Mayo Clinic. His ability to excel might not surprise those who remember the accomplishments of the Michigan Tech President’s . . . [ Full Story ]

Tech Sports

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From the Email Bag

Keweenaw Bucket List, Copper Spoons, Memories

We have an old souvenir spoon, apparently copper, with Hubbell Hall on it. The spoon was among my father’s belongings, perhaps from when he was a dean at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, a competitor of sorts with MTU. I ran across your very nice page on “Remembering Hubbell Hall” this morning, . . . [ Full Story ]

Featured Alumni Benefits

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Around the Keweenaw

Job Opportunities

On Campus

Miss the great Keweenaw lifestyle? If you’re looking for a way to get back to this awesome corner of the world, check out these positions available right here at Michigan Tech.

View a listing of our on-campus career opportunities.