April 20, 2021

Sarah Schulte, Michigan Tech's General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of  Trustees, has been named one of the "Notable Women in Law 2021" by Crain's Detroit Business Magazine.

In the issue published Monday, Crain's notes Schulte "educates on legal issues, helps assess risk and helps develop strategies to reach University goals."

The magazine also noted Schulte's role as chair of the University's pandemic response team. The magazine quoted University President Rick Koubek saying Schulte's "innate ability to lead teams and engage with University stakeholders through the lens of her legal training has been central to MTU's successful pandemic response."

On receiving the honor, Schulte called it a privilege to work with an "incredibly skilled and dedicated group of people at Michigan Tech." She said the collaborative and collegial environment at Michigan Tech allows the effective and efficient sharing of information to connect with those with the greatest expertise in the relevant area.

"The accomplishments of this institution are remarkable — launching satellites, standing up a COVID-19 lab, and establishing a varsity Esports team to name just a few.  As a team, when focused on the common purpose of our institutional mission and connected by the trust that working together brings, this university will continue to leave its mark through the extraordinary achievements of students and faculty," Schulte said. 

The Honorees of this year's Notable Women in Law were selected by a team of Crain's Detroit Business editors based on their career accomplishments, track record of success in the field and mentorship of others. 

A Michigan native, Schulte received her bachelor's in political science from Western Michigan University and her law degree from the University of Michigan. Prior to coming to Michigan Tech, she served in the University of Washington Division of the Washington State Office of the Attorney General. In private practice, she primarily engaged in civil defense litigation with a specific emphasis on school law, public entity defense, employment law, complex litigation and commercial defense.

The Western UP Food Systems Collaborative (WUPFSC) is proud to share its 2nd annual report. The report features artwork, photographs, and summaries celebrating the collective’s work in 2020.

Highlights include native plant restoration at Sand Point, creation of a seed library, educational and outreach efforts, networking for regional growers, support for new and continued community and school gardens, expansion of Double Up Food Bucks and SNAP access at the Calumet Farmers Market, a grassroots mutual aid food and knowledge sharing effort, and continued research and study of local food system needs. The new modes of connection and care prioritized in the past year have taught us a lot about health and justice in our food systems and inspired many creative and strategic local efforts.

Food is a powerful mode of connection, offering us a way to heal, share, and celebrate together the abundance of our region. As we begin to plan for the 2021 growing season, we look forward to another year of growing food and our network. We each have contributions to make to strengthen the health of our community food systems, and we look forward to continuing to build upon our shared work and to connect with new partners.

We thank the contributions of all our partners, including Western UP Food Systems Collaborative, Western UP Planning and Development Region, Michigan Technological University, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community - Natural Resources Department, Portage Health Foundation, Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Michigan State University Extension, Taste the Local Difference, Portage Lake Seed Library, Queen City Seed Library, University of Wisconsin Extension, Michigan Sea Grant, Keweenaw Co-op, U.P. Food Exchange, and the Michigan Local Food Council Network, and especially all of our local growers, gardeners, farmers, foragers, fishers, farmers markets, teachers, and local businesses whose work and support are essential to the health of our community food systems. Visit here for more information.

The Department of Engineering Fundamentals is conducting a faculty search.

The fifth candidate is Matthew Barron who will present an active and collaborative first-year engineering lesson at 2 p.m. Thursday (April 22) via Zoom. 

Mechanical Engineering - Engineering Mechanics PhD candidate Esmaeil Dehdashti (advisor, Hassan Masoud) will offer his PhD defense at 2 p.m. tomorrow (April 21) via Zoom.

His presentation is entitled "Mathematical Modeling and Numerical Simulation of the Heat Transfer from Isolated Objects."

Dominika Bobik clinched a 4-3 win for Michigan Tech women's tennis with a 3-set victory at No. 2 singles over Lake Superior State Monday morning at Gates Tennis Center. The Lakers dominated doubles, but the Huskies re-grouped to take singles positions 2-5, including a strong, consistent performance by Marina Fernandez at No. 5. Fernandez dismantled Keegan Malpass 6-2, 6-1 using shot variety and consistency. Lauren Opalewski dropped the first set but rallied back to take No. 3 singles 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 over Muskaan Ranjan.

Neva Manas beat Claudia Sole 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4, followed by Bobik's 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback at No. 2 against Milena Baigorria. Senior Mirna Golac fell in a third set super-tiebreak 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 and Ivona Gorgioski could not solve Nadege Koua at No. 1, falling 6-0, 6-2.

The Huskies improved to 4-4 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 4-8 overall. They are in fifth place in the standings and will likely qualify for the conference tournament, which includes the top-8 teams Friday in Midland, Michigan.

Job Postings for Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available in Human Resources. For more information regarding staff positions, call 487-2280 or email mtujobs@mtu.edu. 

For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted. 

Postdoctoral Scholar, Recycling of Li-ion batteries, Chemical Engineering. Apply online. 

Postdoctoral Scholar, Interfacial Wettability and Surface Force Measurements, Chemical Engineering. 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 mtujobs@mtu.edu.

Fill Out the COVID-19 Symptom Tracking Form Before Coming to Campus

If you are working on campus while the University is at Health Safety Level Three, remember that no one is permitted to come to campus with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

Employees are required to monitor their symptoms daily before coming to campus. The Daily Symptom Tracking Form is a short form that will help you determine if you have COVID-19 symptoms.

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Banner 9 Admin Pages System Maintence Today

A production system maintenance window will take place today (April 20) from 10 - 11 p.m.

During that time, Banner 9 Admin Pages will be unavailable. If you have any questions or concerns, we can help.

Contact IT at it-help@mtu.edu or call 7-1111. 

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MTU's First-ever Earth Day Dinner

Brought to you by the MTU Sustainability Demonstration House and McNair dining hall, join us for the first-ever Earth Day Special Dinner on Thursday (April 22).

The dinner will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. in McNair Dining Hall on Earth Day. Both on- and off-campus students and MTU faculty and staff are welcome to join. 

What makes this dinner unique?

• 90% of the food options will be fully plant-based
• All waste will be diverted from the landfill
• Compostable utensils and containers will be provided

Please refer to the flyer for our menu options. If you do not live on campus or do not have a meal plan, single meal passes can be purchased for this dinner at the McNair front desk for $12.95.

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Parenting All Rainbow Kids

Parenting All Rainbow Kids (PARK) is a faculty/staff-led group for the parents/guardians of LGBTQIA* youth. PARK aims to offer group members a confidential, supportive community where we can learn and grow as parents/guardians together.

Community members are welcome. During the spring semester meetings will be held at 10 a.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. Our next meeting is at 10 a.m. today (April 20) via Zoom. Everyone is welcome.

For questions or concerns, contact Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, Amber Kemppainen, or Amy Howard.

The Second Annual Waste Reduction Drive, sponsored by Michigan Tech's Sustainability Demonstration House was covered by the Daily Mining Gazette.

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A story that first appeared in the Daily Mining Gazette on Michigan Tech's internship program aimed at promoting Native American interest in STEM fields was picked up by the Associated Press and appears in newspapers across Michigan including The Detroit News, the Titusville Herald and the Escanaba Daily Press. The story also ran in newspapers outside of Michigan including Mid Florida Newspapers.

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Simon Carn (GMES) was quoted in the story "Sulpher dioxide from Caribbean volcano reaches India, WMO confirms," in Down to Earth.

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Michigan Tech alumnus Jacob Soter was quoted in the story "Rip current forecast skips Great Lakes for now," in the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

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Michigan Tech's two-day Spring Fling was covered by the Daily Mining Gazette.

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The Virtual 5K event sponsored by the UP and Moving initiative started in the Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Department (KIP) was covered by WLUC TV6.

An article by Sidike Paheding (AC), has been accepted for publication in the Elsevier journal, Remote Sensing of Environment, a top journal with an impact factor of 9.085. The journal is ranked #1 in the field of remote sensing, according to Google Scholar.

The paper, “Estimation of root zone soil moisture from ground and remotely sensed soil information with multisensor data fusion and automated machine learning,” will be published in Volume 260, July 2021 of the journal.

Article Highlights

• A machine learning approach to estimation of root zone soil moisture is introduced
• Remotely sensed optical reflectance is fused with physical soil properties
• The machine learning models well capture in situ measured root zone soil moisture
• Model estimates improve when measured near-surface soil moisture is used as input

Read the blog post here.

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Teal Ribbons

Tuesday, April 20, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. | Michigan Tech Campus

All month there will be Teal Ribbons on Trees. These ribbons symbolize solidarity with victims of sexual violence and are meant to create conversation on campus about how we...

CEE Alumni Speaker Series - Noah Mundt

Tuesday, April 20, 1 p.m.

Noah Mundt, Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Nexus Integrated Solutions Bio Noah Mundt is the founder and Chief Operating Officer for Nexus Integrated Solutions, focusing...

Youth Huskies Group Tennis Lessons Spring Session 3

Tuesday, April 20, 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. | Gates Tennis Center

Youth Huskies Group Tennis Lessons are now being offered all spring. The third session is 6 weeks, April 6 - May 15. Options for participating 1 or 2 days a week. Our youth...

Candle & Wax Melt Making Night

Tuesday, April 20, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. | MUB Commons & The Makerspace

Create your unique candles or wax melts at this fun DIY style event! Choose between different essential oils and dyes to make candles and wax melts that suit you. This is an...

UP and Moving - High Intensity Interval Training "HIIT"

Tuesday, April 20, 6 p.m.–7 p.m.

Michigan Tech students in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology are offering an "UP and Moving" initiative for campus and community members. UP and Moving...

Adult Huskies Swim Clinic Spring Session 4

Tuesday, April 20, 7:00 p.m.–7:50 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Adult Huskies Swim Clinic provides additional attention and competitive guidance to swimmers ages 18 and older who are looking to improve their swimming skills and fitness...

Open Log Rolling

Tuesday, April 20, 8 p.m.–10 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Looking for something new to stay active? Sign up now for the OAP Open Log Rolling and test your skills on the log! Instruction and materials provided. We will be in the...

Teal Ribbons for Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April 20, all day | Outdoors

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. During the Month of April there will be Teal Ribbons displayed throughout campus. Teal has become the signature color for sexual...