February 17, 2020

The Impact Scholarship, organized by Michigan Tech’s Admissions Office, Financial Aid Office and College of Business, is an annual competitive award recognizing incoming business majors.

This year, 25 high school senior finalists from four states participated in leadership activities on campus and received renewable awards ranging from $1,000 to full in-state tuition. Each year, dozens of faculty and staff across campus evaluate and engage Impact finalists. Learn more about the recipient of the full Impact award.

Read the full story at mtu.edu/news

The Michigan Tech online Master's in Health Informatics has been ranked best in the Midwest and 11th nationally by Intelligent.com, ahead of universities such as Stanford, Northwestern, and Boston University. Michigan Tech's 2020 ranking rose from 17th nationally in 2019.

Read the blog post here.

Michigan Tech alumnus Hussein M. Zbib passed away Feb. 10 at his home in Pullman, Washington, apparently as a result of injuries he sustained in a September traffic accident. He was 61 years old.

Zbib earned his bachelor's, master's and PhD in mechanical engineering from Michigan Tech. He was a member of the ME-EM External Advisory Board and a ME-EM Academy inductee. He joined the faculty of Washington State University in 1987 as a professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. He also served as director of WSU's School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering for 11 years

William Predebon, chair of MTU's Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics said "Hussein was personally a dear friend and colleague. His death is a loss to all of us and to the engineering community."

Funeral services will be held at a later date and a full obituary will be available at the website of the Kimball Funeral Home in Pullman.

The Graduate Student Government is seeking judges for this years Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC).

GRC is an annual event where graduate students from all departments on campus present their research in either an oral or poster presentation. These presentations are judged by two faculty who's field of expertise matches the research topic. This is a great opportunity for Graduate Students to get feedback on their presentations from someone other than their advisor, and helps them prepare for a conference.

This years GRC will be held on Tuesday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 1, with oral sessions going on throughout both days. The poster session will be held from 4-6 p.m. on March 31 in the MUB Ballroom. At the close of GRC we have our annual awards banquet, on April 1 from 5-7 p.m. which all judges are invited to attend.

Please help us in making this event as great as it can be. If you have any questions please contact Nathan Ford at gsg-research@mtu.edu. Register using the following form.

The University Senate's evaluation of the University President will close on Friday (Feb. 21). If you are a non-student employee, please check your email for the survey invitation.

If you have not received the survey and believe you should, please contact the Senate office at senate-office-l@mtu.edu.

The College of Computing welcomes Kathryn (Kay) Oliver as the newest academic advisor. Oliver began her duties last Monday (Feb. 10). Her primary responsibility is advising undergraduate students in the CNSA, EET, and Cybersecurity programs. She'll also assist in managing the graduate programs in Mechatronics and Health Informatics, and the advising of other undergraduate students in the College of Computing, as needed.

Oliver has an MA in educational technology from Michigan State University and a BS in physics from Western Michigan University. For more than 20 years she worked with the Department of Defense Education Activity, a government agency responsible for K-12 education of children of American citizens working internationally for the DoD. For most of that time she was responsible for the professional development of teachers with education technology; the past two years she taught AP Computer Science to American high school students in South Korea.

“The search committee was very impressed with Kay’s background and her communication skills,” said Dan Fuhrmann, director of the CMH Division. “She is going to do an outstanding job, connecting with our students and providing information and support. It’s great to have her on board.”

Link to the blog post here.

Registration for all Summer 2020 Sports and Adventure Camps is now open. Camps for boys and girls of all ages include:

• Basketball
• Hockey
• Soccer
• Volleyball
• Cross country running
• Junior mountain biking
• Figure skating

For information on individual camps and to register, visit Summer 2020 Sports & Adventure Camps.

Matthew Songer, (Biological Sciences '79) and Laura Songer (Biological Sciences '80) have generously donated funds to the College of Sciences and Arts (CSA) to support a research project competition for undergraduate and graduate students.

Remembering their own eagerness to engage in research during their undergraduate years, the Songers established these awards to stimulate and encourage opportunities for original research by current Michigan Tech students. The College is extremely grateful for the Songers' continuing interest in, and support of, Michigan Tech's programs in human health and medicine.

This is the third year of the competition. Students may propose an innovative medically-oriented research project in any area of human health. The best projects will demonstrate the potential to have broad impact on improving human life. This research will be pursued in consultation with faculty members within the College of Sciences and Arts. Awarded in the Spring of 2020, the Songers' gift will support one award for undergraduate research ($4,000) and a second award for graduate research ($6,000). Matching funds from the College may allow two additional awards. The research will be conducted over the Summer of 2020 and/or the following academic year.

Any Michigan Tech student interested in exploring a medically related question under the guidance of faculty in the College of Sciences and Arts may apply. Students majoring in any degree program in the college, including both traditional (i.e., biological sciences, kinesiology, chemistry) and nontraditional (i.e., physics, psychology, social science, bioethics, computer science, mathematics) programs related to human health may propose research projects connected to human health. Students are encouraged to propose original, stand-alone projects with expected durations of 6 - 12 months. The committee also encourages applications from CSA students who seek to continue research projects initiated through other campus mechanisms, such as the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, Pavlis Honors College activities or the Graduate Research Forum (GRF).

Funds from a Songer Award may be used to purchase or acquire research materials and equipment needed to perform the proposed research project. Access to and research time utilizing University core research facilities, including computing, may be supported. Requests to acquire a personal computer will be scrutinized and must be fully justified. Page charges for publications also may be covered with award funds, as will travel to appropriate academic meetings. This award may not be used for salary or compensation for the student or consulting faculty.

To apply, students should prepare a research project statement (up to five pages in length) that describes the background, methods to be used, and research objectives. The statement also should provide a detailed description of the experiments planned and expected outcomes. Students must indicate where they will carry out their project and attach a separate list of references/citations to relevant scientific literature. The application package also should provide a concise title and brief summary (1 page) written for lay audiences. A separate budget page should indicate how funds will be used. Finally, a short letter from a consulting faculty member must verify that the student defined an original project and was the primary author of the proposal. The faculty member should also confirm her/his willingness to oversee the project. This faculty letter is not intended to serve as a recommendation on behalf of the student's project.

Submit applications as a single PDF file to the Office of the College of Sciences and Arts by 4 p.m. Monday, March 30. Applications may be emailed to djhemmer@mtu.edu.

Do you ever suspect that you may be a poor sleeper? Do you have trouble maintaining or falling asleep?

A multitude of factors may be impacting your sleep. One of the potential culprits is temperature control at night. Core body temperature dropping at night is essential for sleep efficiency, but when abnormalities in body temperature occur, it can be detrimental to your sleep.

Help us to study the effects of a thermal heating and gradual cooling feature within a mattress that may improve sleep quality. We are currently recruiting participants. The time commitment includes three overnight stays in the MTU Sleep laboratory, one for familiarization and two for testing which are separated by a week.

Please read the attached flyer for additional information regarding the screening process as well as participation.

Register now for the William Gleason Shihan Aikido Seminar to be held Feb. 28 through March 1 in the SDC studio. This is a rare opportunity to train with a world-class Aikido instructor in a small intimate setting.

Gleason Shihan will focus on the internal applications of Aiki to one's Aikido practice. We encourage all of our Aikido brothers and sisters to join us in training.

The sessions offered are listed below: 

• Session 1: Friday, Feb. 28, 8 to 10 p.m.
• Session 2: Saturday, Feb. 29, 11:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
• Session 3: Saturday, Feb. 29, 4 to 6:30 p.m.
• Session 4: Sunday, March 1, 11:00am-2:00pm

The practice is open to all who are interested. You must be at least 16 years old or Level 4 (with permission of Sensei Campbell-Olszewski) to participate. Previous martial arts experience is helpful but not required. A full seminar (all 4 sessions) costs $120 and individual session are $40.

Registration for the full seminar closes Feb. 28. For more information or to register, visit Aikido Seminar.

Ben Dzikowicz will present "A Taste of Acoustics at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory" at 11 a.m. Thursday (Feb. 20) in GLRC 202.

In the New York Times Magazine in 1915, Thomas Edison wrote an editorial addressing concerns over US involvement in WWI stating "The Government should maintain a great research laboratory... In this could be developed...all the technique of military and naval progression without any vast expense." From this editorial, the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) was established in 1923.

Dzikowicz, a physicist in the NRL Acoustics Division, will provide a brief overview of NRL, followed by information on arctic-related programs and new navigation/sonar techniques he developed utilizing transducers capable of producing sound fields with spiral wavefronts.

The next MSE Seminar will take place at 11 a.m. tomorrow (Feb. 18) in M&M 610. Megan Frost will present "Development of Controlled Nitric Oxide Release Materials and Systematic Investigations of Cellular Response to Nitric Oxide."

Nitric oxide (NO) releasing polymeric materials have shown great promise in enhancing the biocompatibility of implanted biomedical devices. S-nitrosothiols (RSNOs) are a class of NO-donor of great interest due to their presence in biological systems and their physiological role in the storage, transport and release of NO. Light is known to decompose RSNOs to release NO. The light mediated NO generation from these molecules provides a means of precisely controlling spatial and temporal delivery of NO in biomaterials applications.

We are developing novel RSNOs containing polymers whose NO release can be controlled by using light as an external on/off trigger. These polymeric systems will be the first NO-releasing materials that can be applied to biomaterials research and development that offer the ability to variably control NO generation on-the-fly (increased power of light causes increased NO-release). A dual chamber measurement and delivery device has been developed that provides a broadly applicable platform for quantitatively investigating biological response to NO from a wide variety of cells (vascular endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and dorsal root ganglion cells).

The ultimate goal of this research is to understand how cells respond to precise surface fluxes and duration of NO release and to correlate these results to in vivo tissue/cell response to implanted medical device. This work will help increase our fundamental understanding of the cellular response to NO and accelerate the development tuned polymeric systems that generate NO locally to be used to actively mediate the biological response toward materials that are placed in contact with blood and tissue.

The next Chemical Engineering Candidate Seminar will take place at 2 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 20) in R. L. Smith (MEEM) 402. Bo Li will present "Single Molecule Charge Transport and Confined Self-Assembly of Electronically Active Biomolecules."

Li is the Shen post-doctoral fellow in Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working with Charles Schroeder. He received his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2015. Bo’s research integrates single molecule charge transport with controlled self-assembly of functional nanomaterials and bio-inspired materials to develop self-assembled molecular electronics. At UIUC, Bo is currently focusing on understanding the fundamental charge transport mechanisms at single molecule level in electronically active biomolecules using scanning tunneling microscopy. He is particularly interested in realization of artificial neuron network for information processing and sensing using “bottom-up” self-assembly. He has published 1 book and 34 peer-reviewed journal articles in Angew. Chem., ACS Nano, JACS, Nat. Commun. and many others.

Two Physics Graduate Students will be presenting their research at 4 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 20) in Fisher 139.

Tyler Capek (advisor Claudio Mazzoleni) will present "Measuring Humidification Effects on Atmospheric Particles Optical Properties with a Novel Humidity Controlled Albedometer."

Abu Sayeed Md Shawon (advisor Will Cantrell) will present "Laboratory Measurement of Aerosol Scavenging by Activation in a Cloudy, Turbulent Environment."

A social with refreshments will be held 30 minutes prior to the talk in the Fisher Hall lobby.

Join us from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28 for a brown-bag lunchtime talk in M&M 722 PHC Commons area. Bill Endres (ME-EM), author of "A Game Against Reality" will share insights gained as an entrepreneur within the field of engineering.

The focus of his talk will focus on the "Why" and "Who" of value creation and the mindset needed to approach these questions. This event is open to the community.

Please register in advance by Feb. 27.

CC and CoE Faculty Candidate Seminar Today

The Colleges of Computing and Engineering will hold a faculty candidate seminar at 3 p.m. today (Feb. 17) in Chem Sci 102. Cong (Callie) Hao will present "NAIS: neural architecture and implementation search."

Hao is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include high-performance reconfigurable computing, hardware-aware machine learning and acceleration, electronic design automation tools, and autonomous driving.

Read the blog post here.

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Career Basics at the Campus Store

Spring 2020 Career Fair is right around the corner, are you ready? Stop by the Campus Store for all of your last minute items such as ties, tie clips, belts, socks, pantyhose, shoe laces, shoe polish, lint rollers, sewing kits, padfolios, resume paper, folders, planners and pens.

Land that job by making sure you are perfectly polished.

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Graduate Research Colloquium Registration Open

GSG is thrilled to announce that registration for this years Graduate Research Colloquium is now open. This years GRC will be held on Tuesday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 1.

GRC is a great opportunity to work on your presentation skills and prepare for upcoming conferences. Students are free to give an oral presentation, a poster talk, or both. All talks will be scored by judges from the same field as the presenter, who will give valuable insight and feedback on how you can improve your talk. Cash prizes are available to the top 3 oral and poster presentations.

Registration closes at 11:59 p.m. on March 3 . Don't delay, register today.

As an added bonus, GSG will be covering the cost of printing posters this year. We don't want cost to be a barrier for anyone. If you have research to share, but not enough data for a full oral presentation, the poster session is perfect for you. With us picking up the bill, what have you got to lose? The poster session will be held on March 31, from 4 to 6 p.m. The event will be capped off with the annual GRC Awards Banquet. All participants and judges are invited to attend. The banquet will be held April 1, following the close of GRC.

Full information can be found on our website.

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Spring Career Fair 2020

The 2020 Spring Career Fair is fast approaching. This year's fair will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 19) in the SDC multipurpose room.

There are currently more than 180 companies signed up. To see the list of those registered so far, visit Handshake.

If you'd like a table at our Academic Information Fair that will be held during the After-Hours Reception, email Jodi Miller.

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Intermittent Fasting Research Study Seeking Participants

Alum Ben Savonen (ME) and visiting scholar Jennifer Bow (MSE) coauthored a paper with John Gershenson (ME) and Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) titled "Open-Source Three-Dimensional Printable Infant Clubfoot Brace" published in the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics.

Research by Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) on the sustainability of 3-D printing was highlighted in Spain's leading Industry publication Interempresas.

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Research at Michigan Tech was cited in the piece "Opinion: The movement to renewable energy is irreversible," in the Centre Daily Times.

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