February 7, 2020

The winners have been announced in the Winter Carnival Snow Statue Competition. This year’s theme is “Discover What Shines from Prehistoric Times.”

For the third time in the past four years, Phi Kappa Tau was the overall winner of the month-long snow statue competition. Their statue "Dongson Fishing Village" is located outside of the fraternity house in Hancock.

There were three divisions in the month-long competition—men, women and co-ed. Prizes were awarded to the top three statues in each division. The top three scores among all the statues were placed in the overall month-long category.

Second place in the overall division went to Tau Kappa Epsilon for their statue entitled “Stone Age.” Third place went to the co-ed team of Sigma Tau Gamma and Alpha Gamma Delta for “Wooly Mammoth Surrounded by Saber Tooth Tigers.”

Read the full story on mtu.edu/news

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released the new Form I-9 along with the updated instructions. Employers must begin using the new version of the Form I-9 (dated 10/21/2019) by April 30, 2020. The new version of the Form I-9 is currently available via the MTU Human Resources Website.

The current instructions will remain the same, with updated FAQ's available on the USCIS website.

In the upcoming weeks, Human Resources will host, two Form I-9 Workshops to help you become familiar with the form and the current process on how to properly manage the form. The topics covered in the workshop will include:

• Guidance on Federal Government regulations
• Using international and domestic documents
• The correct way to complete the I-9
• And more
  

Registration for Naturally Slim ends today. Employee Wellness is offering active, benefits-eligible employees an opportunity to lose weight with Naturally Slim.

The Naturally Slim program has the secret to lasting weight loss and it doesn’t include counting calories or eating diet food. It's an online program with yearlong support that helps you learn how to eat, to reduce your chance of getting a serious disease, like diabetes or heart disease, and increase your chances at living a longer, healthier life — at no employee cost. Lose weight, plus improve your overall health — all while eating the foods you love. Naturally Slim offers an evidence-based curriculum with the latest behavioral science and is grounded in the principles of the most effective behavioral weight loss programs.

Space is limited and applicants are selected on a first come first serve basis. Today is the last day to apply and the program will start February 24. Completion of the 10-week core program counts toward Husky Health Option 3. Please contact the benefits@mtu.edu">Benefits Office with questions 7-2517.

The semi-annual Career Closet is in desperate need of clothing. We give away clothing for all genders free to all MTU students for career fair, interviews, etc.

Last fall we saw a huge increase in student attendance, at more than 300, which almost wiped out our inventory. We are seeking gently used professional attire, including pants, shirts, suits, belts, dress shoes, scarves and jewelry. Consider cleaning out your closet, your neighbor's closets, and your family's closets!

Donations can be dropped off now through Friday (Feb. 14). The Career Closet event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 in the Meese Building.

Donations can be dropped off at the Meese Center, Library, MTU Campus Store, University Images, or at 108A Dilman, 128 AOB, and 218 Library. We are also seeking volunteers to assist during set-up on Friday, and the event on Saturday.

Contact Susie Amato-Henderson if interested.

Do you like to draw? Put your creative graphics hat on, the Parade of Nations is sponsoring a logo contest and seeking an eye-catching, colorful logo for T-shirts, posters and other publicity for the 2020 Parade of Nations.

The winner will receive a $200 Amazon gift card. The 2020 Parade of Nations theme is One World, Our World. The graphic should be a maximum of six colors with no shading. The drawing should be on smooth white paper, and the art should be kept within a 10 inch wide by 12 inch high area. It does not have to fill those dimensions; they just represent the maximums. Be aware that there may be some changes to the artwork to make it suitable for silkscreening.

Submit your logo to International Programs and Services, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931.

To submit your graphic digitally, please use Illustrator vector art. Email it to ips@mtu.edu.

The HuskiesFit Ultimate Punch Card is a premium card that allows you to experience a variety of HuskiesFit classes without having to commit to one particular type. The Ultimate is available in eight or 16-punch versions and is good for one year from the date of purchase. Get one today and enjoy popular group fitness classes such as Metabolic Conditioning, POUND, Spin Strong and more.

For more information or to purchase the HuskiesFit Ultimate Punch Card, visit HuskiesFit Programs.

Husky Innovate is hosting Finance Your Innovation, a panel discussion with Patrick Visser, chief commercial officer at the MTEC SmartZone Nathan Sturos, a Michigan Tech alumnus and principal at Sturos CPA, a full-service accounting firm based Calumet. Both bring a broad range of finance experience.

Visser and Sturos will cover the following topics:

• Fundamentals of small company finance including using balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and pro-forma financial statements to make financially conservative projections emphasizing the importance of vetting financial documents with data gathered during customer discovery and market research
• Founder capital fundraising strategies and choices including bootstrapping, angel investment, venture capital investment, and growth capital financing

This workshop will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 13) in M&M U113. Please register in advance. 

Job Posting for Friday, February 7, 2020

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available in Human Resources. For more information regarding staff positions, call 7-2280 or email jobs@mtu.edu. For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.

Assistant Professor in Wildlife Ecology, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. Apply online.

Assistant Professor in Forest Health, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. Apply online.

Assistant Professor in Forest Molecular Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. Apply online.

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer, which includes providing equal opportunity for 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 mtujobs@mtu.edu.

Members of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI) were active at the 2020 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting held recently in Washington, DC.

• Tim Colling (CTT) organized and presented at the TRB half day workshop titled “Developments in Low-Volume Road Management”. The presentation was “Asset Management Plans for Low Volume Roads – Why Should I Bother?” Colling also attended the committee meeting ANB25: “Highway Safety Performance”, of which he is a member.
• Jake Hiller (CEE) attended the International Society for Concrete Pavement's (ISCP) Open Membership and Board meeting as Vice-President and President-Elect on Sunday evening of TRB.
• Sangpil Ko (CEE) gave a presentation on his research "Data-driven Study on the Log Movements for the Upper Midwest: Impact of Rail Car Fleet Size" at the lectern session that discussed on the current research in Agriculture and Food Transportation. He also participated in several poster/lectern sessions including the AR040 Freight Rail Transportation Committee meeting.
• Pasi Lautala (CEE) chaired a meeting by the AR040 Freight Rail Transportation Committee. He also participated in the meetings of the Freight Transportation Group Executive Board and Rail Transportation Group Executive Board and presided over two sessions by AR040.
• Amlan Mukherjee (CEE) presented on “Best Practices in Life-cycle Assessment of Asphalt Mixtures”, at the International Society of Asphalt Pavements meeting, participated in a collaboration meeting with construction equipment manufacturers hosted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on their ongoing research effort, co-chaired a workshop titled “Evolution of Project Delivery Information Systems: Where We Were and Where We Are Headed”. Mukherjee also serves on standing committee on Construction Management (AFH10), and is a secretary for the sub-committee on Information Systems in Construction Management (AFH10(1)).
• PhD student Chaitanya G. Bhat presented two posters co-authored by Amlan Mukherjee at the session Life-Cycle Assessment and Climate Resilience of Pavements. The posters were titled “Technical and Organizational Challenges for the Use of Environmental Product Declarations in Public Procurement” and “Technical and Organizational Challenges to Developing Product Category Rules for Asphalt Pavement Construction”.
• Dave Nelson (RTP) attended the AR080, Standing Committee on Highway-Rail Grade Crossings meeting.
• A lectern lecture was given by Thomas Oommen (GMES) on “Remote terrain Strength for Mobility Characterization” at lectern Session 1384: Integration of Remote Sensing Techniques and Classical Instrumentation.
• CEE student Reihaneh Samsami attended several technical committee meetings and technical sessions.
• Eric Seagren (CEE) participated as the session chair of the lectern session 1116 on "Bio-mediated Enhancement of Transportation Materials and Infrastructure," which was sponsored by the Standing Committee on Geo-Environmental Processes (AFP40). Seagren also participated as a member of the AFP40 Committee at their meeting at which he gave a presentation entitled, "Laboratory Simulation of Cold-Weather Fugitive Dust Events at Mine Tailings Impoundments and Mitigation Methods," co-authored by Bonnie Zwissler (CEE), Stanley Vitton (CEE), and Thomas Oommen (GMES).
• Zhanping You (CEE) served as a moderator of a lectern session on “The Science of Snowfighting” and a poster session on asphalt binders. He also moderated the ASCE Bituminous Materials Committee (BMC). You accepted a new role as the Vice President of the International Association of Chinese Infrastructure Professionals (IACIP). He co-presented a number of papers and posters such as “Measurement and Modeling of Skid Resistance of Asphalt Pavement: A Review”, “Development of a Tire-Pavement Dynamic Friction Analyzer for Investigation of the Dynamic Friction Coefficient Between Tire and Pavement” and “Fourier Transformation Infra-Red Spectroscopic Analyses of Modified Asphalt Binders.”
• Two of You’s students, Jiaqing Wang (CEE) and Dongdong Ge (CEE) were awarded the “2019 IACIP outstanding graduate student award”, which provided a cash reward to the students for outstanding achievements during the past year.

CEE students were also very active in presentations:

• Siyu Chen presented a poster on “Laboratory Investigation of High Rubber Content in Hot Mix Asphalt Mixtures” and an invited presentation on “Prediction of the Coefficient of Permeability of Asphalt Mixtures Using the Lattice Boltzmann Method” for the ASCE Bituminous Materials Committee.
• Dongdong Ge presented a poster “The Influence of Aging on the Rutting and Low Temperature Cracking Performance of Rubberized Asphalt Mixture Using the Dry Process” and a TRB presentation on “Consumption of Scrap Tire with Eco-friendly Way.”
• Lingyun You gave an invited ASCE Bituminous Materials Committee presentation on “Advance Chip Seal Tests: Michigan Tech’s Interface and Shear Bond Tests” and an oral presentation on “Feasibility Study of Recycling CRT Glass in Water-Foamed Asphalt Mixtures in Low Volume Roads” to the TRB ADC60 Committee.
• Xiaodong Zhou presented two posters titled “Discrete Element Simulation of the Internal-structure of Asphalt Mixtures with High Contents of Reacted and Active Rubber” and “Discrete Element Modeling Speedup of Asphalt Mixture Compaction: Effects of the Reduced Material Moduli.”
• Dongzhao Jin presented a poster named “DEM-Based on Asphalt Film Thickness vs. Seal Coat Performance” in the 10th IACIP Annual Workshop organized by the International Association of Chinese Infrastructure Professionals (IACIP).
• Ruizhe Si had a poster presentation on “Shrinkage Behavior of Glass Powder-Metakaolin-Based Geopolymer Under Different Relative Humidity Conditions.”
• Tiankai Che presented his research by a poster on “An Erosion Test to Evaluate Moisture Damage of Cement-Treated Base Under Dynamic Water Pressure” in the 10th IACIP Annual Workshop organized by the International Association of Chinese Infrastructure Professionals (IACIP) and an invited presentation of “A New Method for Evaluating Moisture Damage of Asphalt Mixture Under Dynamic Water Pressure.”

Get the complete story here.

Michigan Tech alumnus Robert Doyle was appointed as the new president and CEP of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA). The story was covered in the Oakland Press. 

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Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival was covered by WJMN TV3.

Design Expo Registration Now Open

Michigan Tech's 20th annual Design Expo will highlight hands-on, discovery-based learning. More than 1,000 students on Enterprise and Senior Design teams will showcase their work and compete for awards.

Student registration is now open. Senior Design and Enterprise teams must visit the Design Expo website to register and review important instructions, deadlines and poster criteria. All teams must register by Monday, Feb. 10.

The Design Expo takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 16 in the MUB Ballroom and all are welcome to attend.

A panel of judges made up of distinguished corporate representatives and Michigan Tech staff and faculty will critique the projects at Design Expo. Interested in judging at Design Expo? Sign up here.

Design Expo is co-hosted by the College of Engineering and the Pavlis Honors College. Learn more at mtu.edu/expo.

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LGBTQIA+ Issues and Opportunities in the Keweenaw

The Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) at Michigan Tech will discuss LGBTQIA+ issues, challenges, and opportunities in the Keweenaw at the public forum held by the Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (KUUF).

The KUUF program and service will be held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sunday (Feb. 9) in the community conference room at the BHK Center, Waterworks St. entrance, in Houghton.

More information about KUUF is available at 2-5586 and on the web.

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Winter Carnival Book Sale Tomorrow

The Friends of the Michigan Tech Library (FMTL) will hold a Winter Carnival book sale from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow (Feb. 8) in the lobby of the Library. Hundreds of used books for students, parents and kids will be available with prices ranging from $0.25 to $2 per book. Free hot chocolate and cookies will be provided (gluten free too!).

Michigan Tech heritage souvenir blankets and Copper Country historic photo note cards will also be for sale. Take a break from the wind chill and enjoy the library—and pick up a book or two. All proceeds will go to support the Michigan Tech Library. 

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Last Call for Mid-Career Peer Group Signup

The Deans’ Teaching Showcase returns to the College of Sciences and Arts this week, where Dean David Hemmer has selected Libby Meyer, lecturer in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), and director of the department’s Music Composition program.

Meyer received her DMA from Northwestern University in 1999, and first came to the Keweenaw as an artist-in-residence for Isle Royale National Park; she has been teaching at Michigan Tech since 2009. Meyer serves students from all campus disciplines and at all levels; she teaches introductory music courses and upper level students in courses such as Film Music, Composition, and World Music. She oversees the Music Theory curriculum, advises student composers who are developing compositions for Tech Theatre productions, and works closely with both students and community members to develop projects that enrich student learning and campus life. She is an active composer of theatrical music and has written music for several University Theatre productions, including Shakespeare’s "Twelfth Night," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Silent Sky" by Laura Gunderson.

This spring, Meyer redesigned her music theory course as a Competency-Based Learning course. She had noticed that students in this course often completed the first half successfully, but struggled with later material. She wanted to create a structure that allowed her to give feedback to her students early and often, and that required them to master specific skill sets before moving on to the next. Meyer worked closely with the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning to restructure her class and her Canvas course site, so that students now complete successive modules that build on previous skills they have mastered. Students may retake each module as many times as needed, and feedback is built into the structure so that students learn from mistakes that they make. After successfully completing all of the units in the course, students take a comprehensive exam. Like the modules, this exam can be taken more than once, and is offered in different formats so that neurodiverse are well-supported.

Meyer notes that she is most interested in students demonstrating clear understanding of course topics, and wants to develop a structure that is accessible to all students. Her focus on accessibility extends beyond her own teaching; Meyer serves on the Senate Committee on Online Teaching, where she advocates for accessibility within all courses. As a music instructor, she is keenly aware that accessibility comes in many formats, and that different disciplines share different struggles they must address when working to serve all students. She is a valued mentor for her department’s many female and non-binary students. Libby frequently develops professional programs that support her students’ learning while enriching the cultural offerings on campus and in the community.

She is a co-founder of the Keweenaw Soundscape Project established to document the Keweenaw and surrounding lands for ecological, social and artistic value. Meyer also created Michigan Tech’s Surround Sound Music Festival, an event that brings national composers to campus each semester. The January 2020 festival, UP-South: Music from Both Ends of 41, brought together the Keweenaw Composers Collective and Pulse, a group of musicians from Miami, Florida. Each festival not only includes a series of concerts but also workshops for students to have their music played by professionals and to receive feedback from professional composers. Every spring, Meyer hosts a concert called Newest of the New, in which her student composers present their most recent work to the public.

Jared Anderson, chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts says, “Meyer has been a great asset to the establishment and growth of our music theory curriculum and composition program at Michigan Tech. She is a committed pedagogue, always thinking of ways that she can improve learning in the classroom. She has brought world-class performers and composers to campus and created unique opportunities for our students to interact with them. We are so happy to have her as a part of the Visual and Performing Arts Department.”

In choosing Meyer Dean Hemmer echoes this sentiment, saying "Libby's talent and dedication as a teacher, composer and musician bring joy to so many of our students and community members in the classroom and on the concert stage. Our music program is fortunate to have her." He encourages anyone with interest to check out more of her work.

In summary, Meyer has recognized that broad cultural experiences, combined with clear and specific learning goals, build students’ abilities to access deeper material and to respond to the world around them. She is always researching new ways to deliver material to her students that will engage her classes deeply, richly, and effectively, and continually working to improve her teaching. Meyer will be recognized at an end-of-term luncheon with other showcase members, and is a candidate for the CTL Instructional Award Series (to be determined this summer) recognizing introductory or large-class teaching, innovative or outside the classroom teaching methods, or work in curriculum and assessment.

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Winter Carnival

February 7, all day | Michigan Tech Campus

Organized by Blue Key National Honor Society since 1934, Winter Carnival started in 1922 and has grown to become one of the largest annual winter festivals in the nation....

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Tug-o-War

February 7, 10:00 a.m–12:30 p.m | Recreational Sports Fields (Softball, Baseball)

Winter Carnival Special Event for participating organizations. Teams of eight (8) will compete at the SDC practice fields. There is a 5 minute time limit for each match and...

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C-Cubed Luncheon

February 7, 11:30 a.m–1:30 p.m | Memorial Union Building (MUB), Alumni Lounge, Room 107

This week's C3 luncheons take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge (#107). All faculty and staff, along with their...

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Horse -Drawn Sleigh Rides

February 7, 12:00 p.m–4:00 p.m | Walker Arts and Humanities Center, Outside

Enjoy a ride around campus looking at the statues. Sponsored by Blue Key.

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Downhill Skiing

February 7, 12:30 p.m–2:30 p.m | Mont Ripley Ski Area

Winter Carnival Special Event for participating organizations. Teams with a maximum of five participants will compete in this Giant Slalom style event. In Giant Slalom skiers...

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Cross-Country Skiing

February 7, 1:00 p.m–3:00 p.m | Recreational Sports Fields (Softball, Baseball)

Winter Carnival Special Event for participating organizations. Organizations will provide two or three member teams to compete in a roughly 2 kilometer cross country ski...

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Human Dog Sled Race

February 7, 1:00 p.m–4:00 p.m | Recreational Sports Fields (Softball, Baseball)

Winter Carnival Special Event for participating organizations. Race to the finish line in this 100 yard snowy sled dash! In this event there are six people pulling a sled...

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Dog Sled Rides

February 7, 2:00 p.m–5:00 p.m | Walker Arts and Humanities Center, Outside

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Snowboarding

February 7, 3:00 p.m–5:00 p.m | Mont Ripley Ski Area

Winter Carnival Special Event for participating organizations. This event will be conducted in the style of boarder cross where competitors race down a course to the finish...

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Family Ice Time - Houghton, MI

February 7, 3:30 p.m–5:00 p.m | MTU Broomball Rinks, 1400 Townsend Drive Houghton MI 49931, Walker Lawn, Outdoor Broomball Courts

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at broomball? Join us on Friday, February 7 for an afternoon of family-oriented fun! Gather with the Alumni House at the Broomball rinks...