November 11, 2025

On his first Veterans Day back on campus, Michigan Tech welcomes Husky alumnus Lt. Col. Hans Korth as the commander of the University's Air Force ROTC Detachment 400 Guardians of the North.

Korth, who graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, hopes the campus community will join him in honoring the men and women who have dedicated themselves to serving the United States.

Learn more about how Korth and his wife Nora ’09 (B.S. Environmental Engineering) found their way back to Tech on the College of Sciences and Arts Newsblog.

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

Setting up your SAP Concur Account

To all faculty and staff:

• Do you travel on behalf of the University?
• Do you have a University PCard?
• Are you a financial manager?
• Are you a supervisor?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will need to set up your account in SAP Concur — the University’s web-based system for processing international travel requests, travel advances, travel reimbursements, and purchasing card allocations.

Setting up your account ensures you’re ready to submit reports and receive notifications when action is required — such as reviewing or approving an expense report.

Visit the Concur webpage and click on Quick Set-Up Guide to get started. 

For questions, please email concur@mtu.edu.

The University Senate will convene Meeting 725 at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, in Chem Sci 102. 

Those within the University community unable to attend in person have the option to attend the University Senate meeting via Zoom. Please note: You will need to log in to your MTU Zoom account to join the virtual meeting. 

Senators are responsible for making their constituents aware of the agenda for this meeting. Senators who are unable to attend should arrange for their alternates to attend in their place. 

View the Meeting 725 Agenda.

Financial Services and Operations (FSO) invites the Michigan Tech community to an upcoming Lunch and Learn virtual session on finance-related topics, which will be held next Tuesday, Nov. 18, from noon to 1 p.m. ET.

We’ll be covering various topics related to Concur. The session will be hosted on Zoom and recorded for those unable to attend. When you sign up, you'll have the opportunity to share any questions in advance, and we’ll be sure to address them during the session.

Please register for the Lunch and Learn to receive the Zoom link. Please note: If you previously received the message "You've already responded" when signing up for the Concur Lunch and Learn, please try registering again.

Concur Topics:

1. Quick setup guide
2. Types of expense reports
3. Walkthrough requests (such as cash advances, travel requests, and creating and submitting reports)
4. Approver process
5. Quick tips

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jamie Meleen at jameleen@mtu.edu or 906-487-2122.

Take a break and join the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) this Thursday, Nov. 13, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Library 243 for our biweekly Coffee Chat!

Enjoy a complimentary beverage from Velodrome as you connect with colleagues from across campus in a relaxed, informal setting.

Nov. 13 Coffee Chat Topic: Lessons learned! What do I want to change next time I teach?

These sessions offer an open space to:

• Share teaching ideas
• Learn from one another
• Collaborate and build community

No agenda. No presentations. Just rich conversation and meaningful connections.

Come as you are — whether you’re looking for inspiration, support, good company or simply an afternoon break. We’d love to see you there!

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), a registered student organization at Michigan Tech, invites you to join us for "Noche de Baile," on Saturday, Nov. 15, from 6-10 p.m. in the DHH Ballroom. 

This free cultural event is a fun way for students to relax, meet new people, and learn about Latino culture. There will be music, food, games, prizes, karaoke, glow in the dark face painting, and plenty of dancing!

Check us out on Involvement Link for more details.

The ECE Seminar with Henry Louie, Ph.D., originally scheduled for tomorrow, Nov. 12, at 10 a.m. in EERC 103, has been canceled due to flight delays.

The Department of Psychology and Human Factors will host faculty candidate Alexandra Watral at the Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF) Forum tomorrow, Nov. 12 from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the M&M Third Floor Coworking Space.

Watral, assistant professor of health care systems engineering and data science analyst at the Mayo Clinic, will present "Designing for Resilience: Linking the Built Environment, Human Factors, and Psychological Safety in Healthcare Systems."

From the abstract:
Resilience in healthcare systems depends on more than clinical expertise or technical processes. It also emerges from the interplay between the physical, social, and psychological environments where care is delivered. This presentation highlights three projects that illustrate the connections between the built environment, human factors, and psychological safety in healthcare. The first explores how operating room design shapes teamwork and resilience. The second examines the impact of lighting and thermal conditions on cognitive performance. The third introduces BONE Break, a peer-led debriefing tool that fosters psychological safety after adverse events. Together, these projects demonstrate how resilient healthcare systems are built through the integration of space, culture, and human experience.

Caleb Stetson, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Michigan Technological University, will be presenting at this week's Chemistry Seminar. The seminar will be held in person at 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14th, in Chem Sci 101.

Stetson's presentation is titled "From Raw Materials to Modern End Products: Department of Energy Research Spanning Resource Extraction to Emerging Material Development."

From the abstract: 
The U.S. Department of Energy supports research across the country through academia, the National Laboratory complex, and private-sector industry. This research portfolio bridges the full rangeof research and development for technologies and resources essential for U.S. domestic energyindependence. In recent years, domestic material manufacturing and development has faced unique supply chain challenges. There are three general approaches to alleviate supply pressure and fosteradvanced material production domestically: i) supply intensification, bringing domestic primaryresources into production, ii) technological substitution, whereby new materials are developed to supplant existing materials with critical material requirements, and iii) secondary resource circularity,ensuring that domestic critical material products in use are recovered and reused. Domestic extraction oflithium-ion battery (LIB) metals is limited, despite significant private- and public-sector interest inmining investment; however, supply intensification is not the only path to domestic lithium-ion batteryproduction. Technological substitution, in the form of lithium iron phosphate (LFP, LiFePO4) cathodes,facilitates the deployment of abundant domestic iron and phosphate resources in battery supply chainsby supplanting critical material-rich lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC, LiNixMnyCozO2) cathode materials. Compared to LIBs, rare earth elements (REEs) are similarly essential in advanced materials for civilian and military applications. While the U.S. has significant REE resources, there is onlya single operating mine, with most of the mined resource exported for processing. REEs are challengingto separate from one another, and only a few elements of the lanthanide series are used in the fabrication of permanent magnets. This seminar will focus on lithium-ion batteries and REE-based permanent magnets, initially on their resources and supply chains, moving into extractive metallurgy R&D toimprove resource extraction, then touching on emerging material development and characterization ofthese materials. Lastly, opportunities to work with and within the National Laboratories will be discussed.

Stetson joined MTU’s Materials Science and Engineering Department as an Assistant Professor in August 2025. Previously, he was at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), completing a postdoctoral fellowship and working as a research scientist in the Mineral and Molecular Separations & Analysis Department. Stetson completed his Ph.D. in Materials Science at the Colorado School ofMines. His prior research experience includes characterization of next-generation electrodes at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and process optimization for electrowinning of copper cathode for Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. He holds a M.Sc. in nanotechnology from Tampere University of Technology in Finland and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Stetson’s research interests include mineral processing and hydrometallurgical separations of critical/strategic minerals and LIB electrode and electrolyte materials. He has coauthored 29 peer-reviewed publications and six patents.

Tuesday, Nov. 11
• Michigan Tech Hockey Radio Show, 10 a.m. on Mix 93 WKMJ
 
Friday, Nov. 14
• Men's Basketball vs. Missouri-St. Louis (Wisconsin Dells), 2 p.m.
• Volleyball vs. Saginaw Valley State, 5 p.m. at SDC Gym on 920 AM & 107.3 FM WMPL & FloCollege
• Hockey vs. Bemidji State, 7:07 p.m. at MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Mix 93 WKMJ & Midco Sports Plus
• Women's Basketball vs. Lewis (Wisconsin Dells), 8 p.m.
 
Saturday, Nov. 15
• Football vs. Saginaw Valley State, Noon at Kearly Stadium on Mix 93 WKMJ & FloCollege
• Men's Basketball vs. Maryville (Wisconsin Dells), 2 p.m.
• Volleyball vs. Lake Superior State, 2 p.m. at SDC Gym on FloCollege
• Hockey vs. Bemidji State, 6:07 p.m. at MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Mix 93 WKMJ & Midco Sports Plus
• Women's Basketball vs. Upper Iowa (Wisconsin Dells), 8 p.m.

*****

Athletics News
Read more in the MTU Athletics weekly update. 

WLUC TV6 quoted Erin Smith (HU) in coverage of the 11th annual 41 North Film Festival at the Rozsa Center. Smith discussed the festival’s documentary screenings, live music, panel discussions, and the event’s role in bringing broader film culture to the local community. 

The Daily Mining Gazette mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the Carnegie Museum’s new exhibit “World War I and Copper Country Home Front, 1917-1918.” The exhibit, which opened Nov. 11, was supported in part by the Department of Humanities at MTU and a Keweenaw Heritage Grant. 

The Keweenaw Report mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the HuskyFAN Pantry’s “Can the Citation” campaign, which allows students to donate food items in exchange for having parking tickets forgiven through Nov. 23. 

MLive mentioned Michigan Tech in a roundup of memorial events marking the 50th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking. The article noted that the Van Pelt and Opie Library will host maritime historian Fred Stonehouse for a commemorative program on Nov. 15. 

Carnegie Museum Exhibit: 'World War I & the Copper Country Home Front'

The Michigan Tech community is invited to commemorate Armistice Day and come see the WW1CC research team's exhibit, "World War I & the Copper Country Home Front, 1917-1918," at the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw.

Join us at the Carnegie Museum for the exhibit's public reception, starting at 6:30 p.m. today, Nov. 11. Enjoy WWI-era music and refreshments. Meet exhibit curators and researchers. Browse the 12-panel exhibit based on research as reported in the Daily Mining Gazette, 1917-1918, about the Copper Country home front. Free admission.

"WWI&CC Home Front" was funded by a Keweenaw Heritage Grant, the Department of Humanities at Michigan Tech, and a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council. WW1CC committee members include Sue Collins, Stefka Hristova and Patricia Sotirin (all HU), Steven Walton (SS), and museum director Elise Nelson.

About the Exhibit
World War I marks the first modern “total war." As millions of combatants were called to the battlefield, massive and rapid mobilization required civilians to reorganize their daily lives to wartime. Though less recognized, rural communities, such as the Copper Country, were integral to the war effort on the home front.

In April 1917, when the United States entered the war, Americans were soon overwhelmed by unrelenting government propaganda campaigns that pressured all residents to “Do Your Bit.” Over the next year and a half, as over 4,500 local men volunteered to join or were drafted into the American Expeditionary Forces, Copper Country towns were faced with novel wartime challenges. How did families support their fathers, sons, brothers, and sweethearts serving overseas? How did the community mobilize for absent friends and neighbors, employers and workers? 

Drawn primarily from the Daily Mining Gazette, the area’s largest circulating newspaper, this exhibit features 11 panels: Michigan College of Mines; Newspapers and Mobilization; 4-Minute Men; Funding the War; Food Will Win the War; Every Garden a Munition Plant; Advertising and War; Relief Volunteerism; Copper Country Children; Dear Mother; and Copper Country Mines: Boom to Bust.

*****

Final MTU AI Colloquium of the Fall Semester

The final MTU Artificial Intelligence Colloquium talk of the fall semester will be hosted by the Center for AI today, 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.

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

Women's Soccer at GLIAC Tournament

Tuesday, November 11, 12–3 a.m.

Women's Soccer at GLIAC Tournament

Master's Defense: Vincent Arohunmolase

Tuesday, November 11, 10–11 a.m. | Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building, 201

Chemical Engineering Advisor: Timothy Eisele Iron Ore Tailings Reprocessing by Electrostatic Separation Plus Two-Stage Froth Flotation Attend Virtually: https://michigantech.zoom.us/s/82732438749

Open Enrollment Informational Session

Tuesday, November 11, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. | MUB Ballroom A

Reading Group on Early Christian Thought: St. Augustine of Hippo’s Confessions

Tuesday, November 11, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. | Walker Arts and Humanities Center, Petersen Library (318)

Join us on Tuesdays at noon for the Fall 2025 reading group on early christian though! What? St. Augustine of Hippo’s Confessions Where? 3rd Floor of Walker, Peterson Library (120C on 9/16 during Peterson renovations) When? Tuesdays at Noon starting Sep 9, 2025 Who? You! No prior knowledge of Augustine, theology, ethics, or Christianity required– this reading group is open to all! This reading group is hosted by Dr. T rish Grosse Brewer (tgbrewer@mtu.edu, Humanities). Dr. Brewer’s educational background is in philosophy and religion and her research focuses on the thought of Augustine of Hippo. Augustine’s Confessions is considered to be the first autobiography. In it, a middle aged Bishop gives an account of his birth to his conversion to Christianity and the death of his mother. The book concludes with an exploration of the first three books of Genesis. W e will determine our reading pace together in the first meeting. We will use the Chadwick translation.

Let's Talk

Tuesday, November 11, 2 p.m.–4 p.m. | Hamar House

Not sure if counseling is right for you? Try Let’s Talk on Tuesday, November 11th from 2-4pm in the Hamar House Basement! This free, informal, and confidential service is a chance to chat with a Michigan Tech counselor about mental health questions or concerns. Available to all undergraduate and graduate MTU students—stop by and start the conversation! Let's Talk is not a substitute for formal counseling and does not constitute mental health treatment. Additionally, Let's Talk is not designed to provide emergency or crisis support. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or emergency, please contact emergency and crisis support at 1-877-376-7896.

Linux workshop

Tuesday, November 11, 5 p.m.–6 p.m. | Rekhi 112

This workshop will introduce you to the essentials of Linux, Git, and version control. You’ll learn how to set up and navigate a Linux environment, manage files and directories, and understand commonly used commands. The session will also cover the basics of Git, including creating repositories, committing changes, branching, and collaborating on projects through version control. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have a solid foundation to confidently use Linux and Git for coursework, research, or collaborative development projects.

Personal Branding: Building Your Career Foundation

Tuesday, November 11, 5 p.m.–6 p.m. | Douglass Houghton Hall (DHH, Building 31), 128

Note: this event is geared primarily toward 1st and 2nd year students Discover how to craft a personal brand that sets you apart! Learn how to communicate your strengths, values, and professional story across resumes, LinkedIn, and interviews to make a lasting impression.

Cummins - Co-op Positions Available

Tuesday, November 11, 6 p.m.–7 p.m. | Memorial Union Building (MUB, Building 34), Alumni Lounge B

Cummins has some great opportunities for our Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Robotics Engineering students. The specific opportunities are: Computing/IT Co-op Electronics Systems Co-op Students with Bachelor's Degrees are encouraged to attend to learn about these opportunies.

NCSA General Meeting

Tuesday, November 11, 6 p.m.–7 p.m. | Chem-Sci 211

NCSA's weekly meeting is where we cover what's going on in the organization, often followed by a guest presenter, then discussion of what's going on in the world of tech. Meeting time and location may be subject to changes (ex. room conflicts, guest availability). Announcements will be made in NCSA's Discord server, invite link available via our website.

Student Community Meal

Tuesday, November 11, 6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m. | Good Shepard

Join us for our weekly free student meal, held Tuesdays during the semester at Good Shepard Lutheran Church. Come to cook, serve, eat, clean up, or all of the above! Cooking begins at 5pm and anyone is welcome to help cook. The meal is served from 6:30pm-7:30pm and any students are welcome to eat at the church and visit with friends or take a to-go box! If you would like to help with the meal but can't be there at 5, we also welcome people to help clean up from around 6:30pm to about 8pm. To stay up to date on weekly menus, follow the LCM instagram @lcm.mtu

Questions About Christianity with Rick Mattson

Tuesday, November 11, 7 p.m.–8 p.m. | Wads G11W (Annex)

Join InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as we host a guest speaker: Rick Mattson. We will be hosting discussion on a variety of topics focused on general questions about Christianity and the Christian worldview. Open Q&A sessions will happening the second half of each of the scheduled times. TOPICS: Why does God allow suffering and evil? (11/11) Why does God call us to follow him? (11/12) Open Discussion (11/13)