November 10, 2025

In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, the University will be closed Nov. 27 and Nov. 28. Payroll deadlines for the bi-weekly pay period ending Nov. 22, 2025 (BW24) will be adjusted.

To ensure timely processing, please review the updated deadlines below and plan accordingly.

Key Reminders:

• Hourly employees must estimate hours for any time worked through the end of Week 2.
• Supervisors and approvers: Please review and approve time promptly and ensure proxy approvals are in place if you are unavailable during the holiday period.
• No off-cycle payroll for Nov. 21 payday due to the updated schedule.

Off-Cycle Pay Requests & Processing Schedule

• Requests submitted before the deadline will be processed and paid on Friday, Nov. 28.
• Requests submitted after the deadline will be processed and paid on Friday, Dec. 5.

Deadlines:

• Electronic Timecard Submission & Approvals — due Thursday, Nov. 20, at midnight
• Manual Timesheets & Off-Cycle Pay Requests — due Friday, Nov. 21, at noon
• BW 24 Payday — Friday, Nov. 28

Thank you for your cooperation in meeting these deadlines. We wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

For instructions on how to set up a proxy, please refer to the Quick Reference Guide for Approvers.

High school students and families are invited to attend Planning and Paying for College, a free event designed to help students prepare for the transition from high school to higher education. Hosted by Michigan Tech’s Center for Educational Outreach, this evening of information, resources, and connection will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the Memorial Union Building (MUB) on the Michigan Technological University campus.

The event begins with a complimentary taco bar dinner and resource fair at 5 p.m., followed by a series of interactive sessions and panel discussions from 6-8 p.m.

Attendees will have the chance to:

• Have a complimentary taco bar dinner while engaging with representatives from Northern Michigan University, over 10 Michigan Tech departments and community organizations like the Tech Tutors.
• Learn about financial aid, including scholarships, grants, loans, and student employment opportunities, in a presentation by Michigan Tech’s Director of Financial Aid.
• Explore college readiness topics, including choosing a major, finding your college fit, and writing a compelling personal statement.
• Hear directly from a panel of current Michigan Tech students about their college experiences.

During the Resource Fair (5–6 p.m., MUB Commons), families can meet representatives from Northern Michigan University, over 10 Michigan Tech departments, and local organizations who will share information about majors, student support services, and community opportunities—all while enjoying a taco bar dinner!

To make the evening even more accessible, a Kid Zone for children ages 6 and up will be provided. Children can participate in Engineering Challenges, Arts and Crafts.

Attendees are asked to register by midnight on Monday, Nov. 10. On the day of the event, registration will open again day of at 4:45 p.m. at the south entrance of the MUB (facing the highway).

This event is free and open to the public, with programming especially geared toward 11th and 12th grade students and their families, but all high school students can benefit.

Register online. For more information, call us at 906-487-2219 or email us at trio@mtu.edu.

Looking for a meaningful way to make a difference with your furry (or fluffy!) friend? SuperiorLand Pet Partners is offering a Handler Class on Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Michigan Tech.

This fun six-hour class is the first step to becoming a nationally registered Pet Partners therapy animal team, helping to spread comfort and joy at MTU events, local hospitals, schools and more.

The training is offered in partnership with Michigan Tech’s Center for Student Mental Health and Well-being and Van Pelt and Opie Library as part of ongoing efforts to promote connection and reduce stress on campus.

Share the healing power of the human-animal bond and make a real impact in our community!

To learn more or register, contact Patty Cornish, R.N., MSN, a certified Pet Partners Handler Class instructor, at 906-485-5815.

Join Carved and Crafted Catering at Michigan Technological University for the C-Cubed Luncheon, being held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge (MUB 107). All faculty and staff, along with their guests, are invited.

Menu for Thursday, Nov. 13:

• Fajita Style Chicken Thighs (PR)
• Steak Fajita (PR)
• Portobello Fajita (VG, CF)
• Flour Tortillas (VG)
• Tortilla Soup (V, AG, PR) 
• Sopapillas 
• Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese (V, AG), Pico de Gallo (VG, AG), Sour Cream (V, AG), Cuban Black Beans (VG), Spanish Rice (VG, AG)

The C-Cubed lunch buffet menus are created and prepared by the catering culinary team. As the name suggests, the meals are meant to foster conversation, community and collegiality. Attendees may bring their lunch instead of purchasing the buffet. Fruit-infused water, coffee, tea and desserts are available free to all attendees.

The buffet lunch is $16 per person. Cash, credit cards and gift cards are accepted. Gift cards can be purchased in the Memorial Union office (MUB 101). Meals are dine-in only and personal containers/tupperware or to-go meals are not permitted.

Submit C-Cubed Feedback • Sign Up to Receive Weekly Menus

The final MTU Artificial Intelligence Colloquium talk of the fall semester will be hosted by the Center for AI tomorrow, Nov. 11, at noon in EERC 315. Food/refreshements will be provided.

Jennifer Celeste, undergraduate research assistant, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, will present “Retrieval-augmented compact language model for porous acoustic metamaterials.”

From the abstract:
Since ChatGPT’s release in 2022, general-purpose large language models (LLMs) have been increasingly adopted as AI assistants, though their effectiveness in specialized scientific domains remains limited. While domain-specific LLMs, such as BloombergGPT for finance or Med-PaLM 2 for healthcare, address these limitations, their training costs and data requirements remain substantial. This project proposes developing a compact, domain-specific language model tailored to porous acoustic metamaterials. Our method involves continual pre-training using targeted acoustics textbooks and research papers, followed by supervised fine-tuning with domain-specific question-answer pairs. To ensure accuracy and relevance, the model will utilize retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), dynamically accessing an external knowledge base of recent literature and technical resources. By reducing model size and training complexity, we aim to enable local deployment, enhancing privacy and allowing researchers to customize the model for specific subfields, such as foam-based acoustic absorbers or resonant structure optimization. This work demonstrates a practical approach to creating lightweight, domain-focused language assistants that support research and innovation in acoustic metamaterials.

Daniel Brandt from the Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) in Ann Arbor will present at this week's Physics Colloquium.

Brandt's presentation is titled "Space Weather: Majesties of the Near-Earth Space Environment."

The seminar will be presented at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, in Fisher 139. The coffee hour will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the Fisher Lobby.

Read Brandt’s abstract and bio on the University Events Calendar.

Henry Louie, Ph.D., will present as a part of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Seminar Series on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 10 a.m. in EERC 103.

Louie will present "Ending Energy Poverty through Off-Grid Solar Power."

From the abstract:
Over 600 million people lack access to the electricity grid. This form of energy poverty disproportionately afflicts those living in developing countries, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia. Closer to home, tens of thousands of households, mostly on tribal lands are without grid electricity. Achieving universal electrification through grid extension is optimistically decades away, and in many rural areas may never occur. This talk describes approaches to providing off-grid electricity solutions in the form of renewable energy-powered minigrids, microgrids, energy kiosks, and solar home systems. Dr. Louie will draw upon his experiences in Zambia and the Navajo Nation to explain the technology, development approaches, barriers and opportunities for rural electrification.

Job Postings for Monday, Nov. 10, 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.

Assistant Professor of Sound, Visual & Performing Arts.

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.

Angie Carter (SS) is the author of a chapter published in “Women and smallholder farming: Addressing global inequities in agriculture” (Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, 2025) edited by Carolyn Sachs and Paige Castellanos.

The chapter is titled "Rebranding and reconstructing masculinity in agriculture: an overview."

The chapter summarizes the importance of masculinity (re)construction to the work of agricultural equity and discusses how agribusiness strategically rebrands masculinities to maintain and expand the reach of capitalist agriculture.

Professor Emeritus Bill Sproule (CEGE) made a presentation on the Edmund Fitzgerald and baseball (and hockey) at the Canadian Baseball History Conference, held in St. Marys, Ontario, on Nov. 1-2.

St. Marys is the home of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. The presentation introduced the Edmund Fitzgerald, the ship, its sinking, Canadian Gordon Lightfoot’s famous ballad, and the interesting link to baseball and hockey.

BioGraphic mentioned Rupali Datta (BioSci) in a story about phytomining, an emerging technique that uses hyperaccumulator plants to extract critical minerals like nickel from soil. Datta is part of a research team funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program investigating how soil chemistry and microbes can help maximize metal uptake for more sustainable mineral recovery. 

Islands and Yahoo! Life mentioned Michigan Tech in stories about the best U.S. national parks to see wild moose. The articles highlighted Isle Royale National Park and noted Michigan Tech’s long-running Wolf-Moose Project, which has studied the predator-prey dynamics on the island for more than six decades. 

New York’s Q105.7 referenced Michigan Tech’s “What are the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)?” webpage in a story about where to view the northern lights across New York State.

WCMU Public Media mentioned Michigan Tech in an interview with author and MTU Trustee John U. Bacon about his new book “The Gales of November: The Untold Stories of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” The segment highlighted recent scientific modeling work by Michigan Tech and other research partners that is providing new insights into the conditions surrounding the 1975 shipwreck. 

WLUC TV6 featured Michigan Tech alum Matthew Spencer ‘20 ‘22 (B.S. Computer Engineering, M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering) in a story about his Upper Peninsula-based video game company, Yooper Game Studios. Spencer, who also works with MTU students on game development, is aiming to grow local career opportunities in the video game industry without requiring talent to leave the region. 

Can The Citation! Donate to HuskyFAN

Do you have an unpaid parking citation? Looking for an easy way to clear it while supporting the campus community?

Student Affairs, the Husky Food Access Network (HuskyFAN) and Transportation Services have teamed up for Can The Citation, a food drive that allows you to pay off your tickets with nonperishable donations to the HuskyFAN food pantry!

How to 'Can' The Citation
Donate non-expired, nonperishable food or personal care items between next Monday, Nov. 3, and Nov. 23 at the Dean of Students Office on the first floor of the Administration Building.

Your donation will remove a citation from your account based on the following tiers:

• One full brown grocery bag = $25 citation removed from your account
• Eight 12-oz. cans = $25 citation removed from your account
• Four 12-oz. cans = $10 citation removed from your account

Please note: A maximum of three citations are eligible for removal from your account during this donation period.

Bonus Raffle Entry!
Every person who donates will be entered into a raffle to win a free parking pass!

Don't have a citation but still want to donate and be entered into the raffle? We welcome and appreciate all donations to help stock the HuskyFAN food pantry for our students.

Questions about the program can be directed to the Dean of Students Office at deanofstudents@mtu.edu.

Thank you for supporting the HuskyFAN and our campus community!

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MTU Food Security Survey Needs Student Input

Currently enrolled students are invited to be a part of Michigan Tech’s first food security survey since 2018. 

This survey builds upon past MTU food security surveys as well as a focus group with students conducted in spring 2025. This previous research identified that upward of 30% of students on campus may be food insecure at some point during the academic year. More students taking part in this survey will provide updated data to inform our research into needed resources and programs on campus to help all students.

The survey is anonymous and takes only 5-10 minutes to complete. When finished, participants can choose to be entered to win one of 16 $10 MTU gift cards.

Take the Food Security Survey! The survey closes Friday, Nov. 14.

We thank you in advance for sharing this survey within your department and student organizations, and with students you advise. 

Please contact supervising faculty member Angie Carter at ancarter@mtu.edu or undergraduate research assistant Katherine Loff-Peterson at kgloffpe@mtu.edu with any questions.

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CommUNITY Conversation: Being a Veteran on Campus

In recognition of Veterans Day, join us for a CommUNITY Conversation featuring a panel of faculty, staff, students and retirees who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. The conversation will be held today, Nov. 10, from 4-5:30 p.m. in Rekhi G005.

This event invites our campus community to come together to listen, learn and reflect on the experiences of veterans within and beyond Michigan Technological University. Through personal stories and open dialogue, our panelists will share insights about their time in service, the transition to civilian and academic life, and what it means to build supportive communities for veterans on campus. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in meaningful discussion.

Whether you’re a veteran, a supporter or simply interested in learning more, this event offers a chance to deepen your understanding, express gratitude and strengthen our community connections. Light refreshments will be provided. All are welcome.

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Info Session: Summer 2026 Costa Rica Study Away

Come to an information session tomorrow, Nov. 11, from 6-7 p.m. in EERC 216 to learn about Michigan Tech's summer 2026 Costa Rica study away program. Pizza will be provided! Contact Richelle Winkler at rwinkler@mtu.edu for more information. 

This faculty-led study away is a chance to earn 9-10 credits from Michigan Tech while spending almost six weeks abroad during Track A of the summer 2026 semester. Courses all meet Essential Ed or HASS/PE requirements. The program is open to current MTU students or non-degree-seeking students from elsewhere.

The program's focus is on sustainability applications in Costa Rica and on Latin American culture and immersion. All levels of Spanish speakers are welcome. Students will live in homestays with local families in the Monteverde region (on top of a mountain in the Cloud Rainforest), and have opportunities to engage with students at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose.

The program is based on experiential learning, with dozens of field trips, dozens of local speakers, and hands-on activities like reforestation activities, processing coffee and sugar cane, and collecting water quality data. There are significant focuses on conservation, tropical ecology and renewable energy.

This program is offered in partnership with the Monteverde Institute and supports local community initiatives in the Monteverde region.

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EPSSI Seminar with Manel Errando

Manel Errando of Washington University in Saint Louis will give a talk as part of the Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences Institute (EPSSI) Fall 2025 Seminar Series today, Nov. 10.

This event will be held in the Great Lakes Research Center. Refreshments and a social will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the GLRC Lobby on the first floor, with the lecture to follow at 4 p.m. in GLRC 202.

The title of the talk is "Relativistic jets: what happens when black holes reveal their cosmic appetite?"

Read Errando’s abstract and bio on the University Events Calendar.

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

New Huskies Orientation Paperwork Session

Monday, November 10, 8–10 a.m.

PhD Defense: Yun Chu Hung

Monday, November 10, 8–9 a.m. | Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building, 875

Civil Engineering Co-advisors: Qingli Dai and Pasi Lautala Advancing Intelligent Transportation through Data-Driven Traffic Monitoring, Real-Time Forecasting, and Stability-Aware Control Strategies Attend Virtually: https://michigantech.zoom.us/j/84365796319

Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar

Monday, November 10, 3 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Alexander Zhao, PhD Student, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering, Michigan Tech Evaluation of Environmental Impacts of Recycled Concrete Aggregate in Highway Applications Abstract: This study evaluated the short- and long-term environmental impacts of using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) blends in highway applications, including pavement base layers, pipe bedding, and edge drain outfalls. The objectives were to determine leachate pH values, total dissolved solids (TDS), and how these parameters vary with precipitation or flow rates. The study also examined the influence of RCA type, blend ratios, and soil buffering capacity under various field conditions. Laboratory-based modified column leaching tests were conducted on RCA and virgin aggregate blends with different RCA percentages. Leachate samples were analyzed over time for pH, TDS, and element concentrations. Additional column tests used effluent solutions with controlled pH levels to assess the neutralization capacity of various soil types and layer thicknesses. Flow rates were adjusted based on the permeability of test samples, and pH changes between inflow and outflow were tracked. The buffering performance of sands and natural aggregates in the subbase was also evaluated. Complementing the column tests, lab-simulated field leaching experiments were performed to assess leachate behavior under more realistic environmental exposures. These included non-continuous precipitation tests to replicate field carbonation effects and seasonal wetting patterns. The results from simulated field tests aligned well with column test findings, confirming that both RCA blend composition and subgrade material properties significantly affect leachate chemistry. The influence depth and buffering effect of various soils were quantified to estimate safe separation distances between RCA layers and groundwater. Sanchita Das, PhD Student, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Michigan Tech Internal Stress Estimation and Health Monitoring of Rail Tracks Using Vibroacoustics Abstract: Thermally induced rail defects—such as buckling during summer heat and pull-apart failures in extreme cold—remain major contributors to train derailments across the U.S.rail network. Current techniques for estimating rail neutral temperature (RNT)and internal stress are often intrusive, localized, or reliant on uncertain installation data, limiting their practicality for widespread deployment over more than 280,000 miles of track. This research presents a non-contact vibroacoustic approach for estimating internal rail stress and detecting discontinuities or damage using an acoustoelastic framework. The method exploits the sensitivity of guided Lamb waves to longitudinal stress in rail steel and employs the Spectral Element Method (SEM), which offers superior accuracy and computational efficiency compared to traditional analytical and finite element approaches. Dynamic vibration responses are analyzed to monitor stress variations and structural integrity, enabling early detection and proactive replacement of rails before failure. The ongoing work begins with simplified bar and Timoshenko beam models to establish the foundation for full 3D track simulations. In parallel, experimental validation under controlled thermal and boundary conditions will be conducted to support the computational findings.

EPSSI Seminar: Prof. Manel Errando

Monday, November 10, 3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), First floor lobby (social) and Room 202 (lecture)

This event will be held in the GLRC. Refreshments and a social will be held at 3:30pm in the GLRC Lobby on the first floor, with the lecture to follow at 4:00pm in GLRC 202. Prof. Manel Errando, Associate Professor of Physics, Washington Univ. in Saint Louis will give a talk on Monday, November 10th. The title of the talk is "Relativistic Jets: What Happens When Black Holes Reveal Their Cosmic Appetite?" Abstract: Supermassive black holes, weighing millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, lie at the centers of most galaxies, including our own. When these black holes feed on surrounding gas, they release enormous amounts of energy through bright accretion disks, powerful winds, and relativistic jets that propel particles at nearly the speed of light. These jets are among the most powerful particle accelerators in the Universe and play a key role in shaping their galactic environments. In this talk, I will discuss how observations of high-energy gamma rays with facilities such as VERITAS are used to probe the extreme physical conditions near supermassive black holes. I will also highlight how the next generation of observatories, the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) and the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), will transform our ability to study these relativistic jets and reveal how black holes influence their host galaxies and evolve across cosmic time. Bio: Dr. Manel Errando is an associate Professor of Physics at Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO. He is an astrophysicist whose research focuses on high-energy phenomena in the Universe, including black holes, active galactic nuclei, and relativistic jets. He uses X-ray and gamma-ray observations to study how these extreme environments accelerate particles to the highest detectable energies. His group also develops advanced detector technologies and X-ray optics for current and future gamma-ray and X-ray observatories on the ground and in space. ACADEMIC POSITIONS: Since 2025: Associate Professor of Physics, Washington University in St Louis, 2019 -- 2025: Assistant Professor of Physics, Washington University in St Louis, 2015 – 2019: Research Scientist & Lecturer, Washington University in St Louis, 2009 – 2015: Postdoctoral Fellow, Barnard College, Columbia University EDUCATION: 2009: Ph.D in Physics, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 2004: B.Sc. in Physics, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona AWARDS: 2018: ArtSci Council Excellence in Teaching Award in Science (Washington University), 2017: Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship for Early Career Researchers (NASA), 2009: Outstanding PhD Thesis Prize (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

CommUNITY Conversations: Being a Veteran on Campus

Monday, November 10, 4:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m. | Rekhi Hall G005

In recognition of Veteran’s Day, join us for a CommUnity Conversation featuring a panel of faculty, staff, students, and retirees who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. This event invites our campus community to come together to listen, learn, and reflect on the experiences of veterans within and beyond Michigan Technological University. Through personal stories and open dialogue, our panelists will share insights about their time in service, the transition to civilian and academic life, and what it means to build supportive communities for veterans on campus. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in meaningful discussion. Whether you’re a veteran, a supporter, or simply interested in learning more, this event offers a chance to deepen understanding, express gratitude, and strengthen our community connections. All are welcome.

Keweenaw Socialists - General Meeting

Monday, November 10, 7 p.m.–8 p.m. | Fisher 101

KS at MTU weekly general meeting.

REAC - November General Meeting Featuring Canadian National

Monday, November 10, 7 p.m.–8 p.m. | Fisher 125

Join us next Monday to hear from Canadian National's Director of Reliability and Engineering in Mechanical Function: Gerardo Ramiro! He has extensive experience in CN's Mechanical Department as well as operations and plant management at GE Transportation. Free food will be provided.