May 15, 2025

Though their work takes place in different labs in Michigan Tech’s H-STEM Engineering and Health Technologies Complex, Michigan Tech researchers Kevin Trewartha (PsyHF) and Carolyn Duncan (KIP/BioMed) share a common mission: helping people live longer, better, and on their own terms. Both are interested in how we sense our surroundings — and what that means for the freedom to choose where we live and what we do late into life.

Trewartha, a neuroscientist whose expertise is grounded in psychology and human factors, integrates movement science into his research, which focuses on advancing the ability to detect the preclinical stages of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. “The idea is to maximize the benefits of emerging pharmaceutical interventions by being able to identify the condition earlier,” he says.

In Duncan’s Functional Mobility and Human Biomechanics Lab, researchers examine the factors that affect our ability to regain balance when we lose it. Her team also develops effective outreach strategies to help prevent falls. “I joke that I make people fall for science,” says Duncan, an engineer with industry experience in ergonomics and fall prevention.

Read about their research in our 2025 Michigan Tech Magazine.

Today, May 15, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) — a global initiative dedicated to getting everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion for the more than 1 billion people living with disabilities or impairments.

Digital accessibility means ensuring that everyone can independently access, navigate and interact with digital content and tools, including:

• Websites and applications
• Documents and presentations
• Multimedia (audio/video, captions)
• Social media, software and more

Have You Benefited from Accessible Technology?
Even if you don’t identify as having a disability, chances are you’ve used accessible technology. Examples of accessible technology include:

• Talk-to-text
• Virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa
• Closed captioning
• Audiobooks
• Mobile gestures and voice navigation

What Can You Do Today?

• Only share electronic documents that are accessible. This includes PDFs, Microsoft Word documents, course materials, and more.

• Explore your devices’ built-in accessibility features. They benefit everyone, not just those who may need accommodations. Try navigating a website using only your keyboard.

• Learn more about how to make your digital assets accessible by exploring the content available on the Accessible Technology Working Group (ATWG) Training Resources page.

Visit the GAAD website for more information and ideas on how you can get involved.

If you’ve encountered an information and communication technology barrier at Michigan Tech, please let us know by using our Barrier Reporting form.

Financial Services and Operations (FSO) will periodically be sharing information regarding a specific topic to increase awareness and knowledge in an “FSO — Did You Know?” article. If there is an FSO topic that you’d like to learn more about, please email fso@mtu.edu.

Finance Self Service Functions Moving to Experience on Monday
As of Monday, May 19, all of the Finance Self Service functions available in Banweb are moving to Experience.

You will find the new Finance Self Service link on the Finance card in Experience. FSO has posted instructions on the new requisition process on our Purchase Order Requisitions webpage. The Banweb Finance tab will be updated to forward to Experience.

Ellucian Experience is an inclusive interface with a mobile-accessible, user-friendly design that allows you to customize a central dashboard and access your information and campus services with a single sign-on.

If you have any questions, please contact Purchasing at 906-487-2510.

Looking for a thoughtful, last-minute way to say “Congrats,” “Happy birthday,” or “Good luck on finals”? The Campus Store now offers custom greeting cards with our brand-new Ink’d greeting card machine, exclusively available right here on campus!

With Ink’d, you can:

• Choose from a variety of card designs for any occasion
• Add a personalized message right on the spot
• Include a digital gift card for an extra-special touch

Whether you’re celebrating a friend, thanking a professor or sending a pick-me-up, it’s never been easier to create a one-of-a-kind card in minutes.

Stop by the Campus Store today and try it for yourself!

In response to concerns raised about the uncertain funding landscape during the recent Vice President for Research Campus Q&A, Michigan Tech is offering a practical workshop to help researchers develop compelling Broader Impacts components for National Science Foundation (NSF) proposals. Broader Impacts is one of the NSF merit criteria for all NSF proposals; however, many agencies and foundations require submitters to articulate societal benefit.

Researchers are invited to participate next Thursday, May 22, from 2-3 p.m. in MUB Ballroom A2 on Michigan Tech's campus.

Please note: This session is in-person only. A separate Zoom workshop will be scheduled for off-campus researchers.

This 60-minute interactive session will:

• Guide participants through NSF's expectations for Broader Impacts and how this translates into other agency and foundation proposals.
• Use a “share together, share out” approach to the following conversations:
  • Sharing successful approaches from past projects
  • Reframing your existing approaches to highlight societal impact
  • Brainstorming innovative Broader Impacts ideas

RSVP is required: To secure your spot, please respond “yes” or “no” to the Google Calendar invite sent by the Research Development team to campus researchers. We need to be sure about attendance to ensure adequate space and a productive workshop environment. Didn't receive an invite? Email rd-l@mtu.edu to participate.

Job Postings for Thursday, May 15, 2025

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available on the Human Resources website. For more information regarding staff positions, call 906-487-2280 or email humanresources@mtu.edu. For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.

Manager – Benefits Services, Human Resources. Apply online.

Academic Advisor II, College of Science and Arts. Apply online.

Associate Payroll Accountant, Financial Services. Apply online.

Lab and Academic Coordinator, Materials Science and Engineering (Internal Posting Only). Apply online.

Senior Office Assistant (12 months, 30 hours), Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education (UAW posting dates May 15 to May 21, 2025 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal UAW applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal UAW posting dates). Apply online.

Senior Administrative Aide (12 months, 40 hours), Residential Living (UAW posting dates May 15 to May 21, 2025 — external applicants are encouraged to apply; however, internal UAW applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal UAW posting dates). Apply online.

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Accommodations are available. If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or other accommodations to apply for employment, or for an interview, at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or humanresources@mtu.edu.

Mongabay quoted Jared Wolfe (CFRES) in a story about his study linking climate changes to tropical forest bird declines. The 27-year study found that increased temperatures and reduced rainfall significantly affected bird survival rates in Brazil’s rainforests, with dramatic impacts on understory species.

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The Daily Mining Gazette picked up Michigan Tech’s press release about the University’s partnership with the Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeship & Learning (METAL) program, announced earlier this week by Michigan Tech News.

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GlobeNewswire mentioned Michigan Tech in a press release about a new workshop curriculum developed by partners The Jed Foundation and Talking Rain Beverage Company to prevent student-athlete suicide. MTU was listed as an early participant in the workshop. The release was picked up by 70 outlets across the U.S.

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Michigan Advance mentioned Michigan Tech in a story commenting on the state of affairs at the National Science Foundation as the agency celebrated its 75th birthday.

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The Outdoor Wire mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about Green Timber Consulting Foresters being named 2025 Stewardship Forester by the Michigan Association of Consulting Foresters. Founded by Justin Miller ’00 (B.S. Forestry) and located about 17 miles from Houghton, about half of the company’s employees are alumni of MTU’s College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. Read more about Green Timber in CFRES’ 2024 Re:Generations Magazine.

Watch MTU AstroHuskies Compete in NASA Lunabotics Challenge

The Michigan Tech community is invited to watch the MTU AstroHuskies team, part of the Multiplanetary INnovation Enterprise (MINE), participate in the qualifying round of the NASA Lunabotics Challenge at the University of Central Florida.

NASA invited the AstroHuskies to take part after receiving the team’s proof of life video of their robot. The team will compete in a three-day Qualifying Challenge at UCF's Florida Space Institute starting today, May 15. Following qualifications, the top 10 teams will be invited to NASA’s On-Site Challenge at the Kennedy Space Center.

Representing MTU in Florida are 10 AstroHuskies team members: Asher Zeyl, Connor Eddy, Joshua Prall-Stankewitz, Kade Nielsen, Katherine Rauscher, Ben Christians, John Dagg, Braeden Moore, Drew Knutson and Tanner McLean. Traveling with them is the team’s faculty advisor, Paul van Susante (MAE).

The AstroHuskies are Team 11 in the Qualifying Challenge. They will appear on the UCF Lunabotics 2025 Event Livestream at the following scheduled times:

MTU AstroHuskies’ Qualifying Challenge Schedule:

• Practice Runs: Thursday, May 15, between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (no assigned MTU AstroHuskies time slot)
• MTU AstroHuskies Qualifying Competition Run 1: Friday, May 16, at 11:20 a.m.
• MTU AstroHuskies Qualifying Competition Run 2: Saturday, May 17, at 4:30 p.m. (may slip to Sunday, May 18, at 8 a.m. if any delays occur)
• Closing Ceremony Qualifying Event: Sunday, May 18, at 6 p.m.

NASA’s On-Site Challenge at the Kennedy Space Center will be streamed live starting at 7 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 20, on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center YouTube channel. Competition run times for the top 10 teams are not scheduled yet.

Kennedy Space Center On-Site Challenge Schedule:

• Opening Ceremony: Tuesday, May 20, at 8:30 a.m.
• Competition Runs:
  • Tuesday, May 20, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Wednesday, May 21, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Thursday, May 22, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Award Ceremony: Thursday, May 22, at 3:15 p.m.

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Sustainability Film: 'Water for Life'

The 2025 Sustainability Film Series, coordinated by Michigan Tech Office of Sustainability and Resilience, will present May’s film “Water for Life” at 7 p.m. today, May 15, in Fisher 135. The film is free and everyone is welcome to attend. The film will be followed by a facilitated discussion and refreshments.

Add “Water for Life” to your Google Calendar.

“Water for Life” presents the powerful stories of Berta Cáceres, Francisco Pineda and Alberto Curamil — three Indigenous leaders who fought to protect their water resources from exploitation by governments and corporations, despite facing threats, corruption and violence, all while advocating for environmental justice and Indigenous rights.

Film sponsors include the Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Keweenaw Co-op, Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, WUP MiSTEM Network, Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK), Keweenaw Land Trust, and Michigan Tech's Office of Sustainability and Resilience and Hardwood Mass Timber Institute.

Series Details:

• What: 15th Annual Sustainability Film Series
• When: Third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m., through May
• Where: Fisher 135 (refreshments in lobby)
• Cost: Free! $5 donations are greatly appreciated. You can make a donation online to support the Sustainable Film Series.

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Adjusted Payroll Schedule for Memorial Day

Due to the upcoming Memorial Day holiday on May 26, deadlines for payroll forms will be as follows for the pay period from May 11 through May 24 (Bi-Weekly 11). Department timekeepers are responsible for sharing this information with all employees in their departments.

The deadlines below indicate when items are due to Payroll and/or Human Resources, not to individual departments. Departments are responsible for setting internal deadlines with their employees to meet the Payroll/Human Resources deadlines.

• Status Forms — due to Human Resources on Thursday, May 15, at noon
• EPAF Submissions — due Thursday, May 15, at noon
• Deduction Forms — due Tuesday, May 20, at noon
• Electronic Time Submissions — due Friday, May 23, at noon
• Web Time Entry Approvals — due Friday, May 23, at 2 p.m.

All web time approvers are required to have a designated proxy set up. For instructions on how to set up a proxy, please visit the Quick Reference Guide for Approvers PDF.

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Michigan Tech Hosting Peace Officers Memorial Day Ceremony

In 1963, a presidential resolution designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day. Each year on this day, the country pays tribute to those men and women of law enforcement who lost their lives in the performance of their duties, holding ceremonies across the nation in observance.

Michigan Tech will be hosting this year’s Upper Peninsula Officers Memorial Service at the SDC Varsity Gym today, May 15, at 11 a.m. Prior to the service, police vehicles from across the U.P. will participate in a motorcade procession from the National Guard Readiness Center in Calumet, traveling through Calumet, Hancock and Houghton and concluding at the SDC, where the ceremony will take place. The procession will begin at 10 a.m.

The campus community and general public are invited to the ceremony to show support for the officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their community.

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

No events are scheduled for today. Visit the University Events Calendar.