September 28, 2020

Thanks to the collective work of our employees and students, detected cases of COVID-19 in our student population continue to decline. But, as we work to satisfy our mission as an educational institution, we remain mindful of our commitment to the community. 

The Copper Country has seen a recent surge in COVID-19 cases. Given the seriousness of the situation, Michigan Tech has transitioned to Health and Safety Level Four for a period of two weeks (through Oct. 12) effective today (Sept. 28). This transition is a targeted effort to mitigate further spread among our community at large by temporarily reducing the density of people on campus.

During this time, lecture-based classes will move to an entirely remote format, starting no later than Wednesday, Sept. 30 (faculty who are able to make the shift earlier should communicate with their students). Instructors are asked to inform students regarding the modality of their lab, Senior Design, Enterprise, and other experiential-based courses no later than Tuesday afternoon. 

We ask students to remain vigilant in practicing personal safety measures, completing the Daily Symptom Monitoring Form, and avoiding group gatherings in the larger community— particularly indoors—over the next two weeks. On-campus, indoor gatherings remain limited to no more than 10 people; however, outdoor gatherings are now limited to no more than 25 people, which may affect planned student activities. The library, SDC, dining halls, transportation services and other student support offices will remain operational. 

Research activities on campus will continue with slight modifications. Information will be posted on the COVID-19 Research Information web page later today.

With this shift, we ask supervisors to accommodate employees who are able to work from home or those impacted by local K-12 schools’ pause in in-person instruction. Supervisors will receive further instructions later today. 

Additionally, the COVID-19 Testing Lab will temporarily allocate 30% more of its surveillance testing capacity for public testing. During September, the lab has processed nearly 2,000 tests for the community. 

For 135 years, Michigan Tech has been proud to call Houghton home. Now, more than ever, we must stand united in support of our neighbors and friends. The community is counting on us to be as vigilant as ever. I know we will do our part to help mitigate the spread of the virus. By working together, we will get through this.

Last week's Fall 2020 Career Fair- Forged by Nucor, was a success. While it may not have been the in-person fair we are all used to, we still had a great turnout.

In excess of 250 companies met with more than 2,000 Michigan Tech Students via our Career Fair Plus Platform.

There were more than 11,000 individual appointments that occurred over the 18 hours of the career fair. Thank you for your help and support in launching our students into their future careers.

The next meeting of the University Senate (#645) will convene at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 30) via Zoom.  

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.

You can view the agenda for meeting #645 as well as the minutes of meeting #643.

The Husky Emergency Assistance Fund (HEAF) was established to help members of our campus community who are experiencing financial hardship, especially during the current COVID-19 crisis. The fund is supported by the generous donations of Michigan Tech alumni and friends. All current students, faculty, and staff who have incurred emergency-related expenses, and can demonstrate need, are welcome to apply.

To donate to the fund, get more information, or complete an application for financial assistance, visit the Husky Emergency Assistance Fund website, email or call 7-1567.

On Satruday, Dec. 19, Michigan Tech IT will remove all Mac computers from the network that are not running macOS High Sierra (10.13.6) or higher. Apple is no longer supporting operating systems older than 10.13.6, making those computers vulnerable to security risk on our network.

If your Mac falls in this category, you will need to upgrade your operating system. If your computer is unable to meet the hardware requirements for the upgrade, our IT procurement staff can help you explore other options. For more information, please review our KB article on minimum supported version of macOS. If you have any questions, we can help. Contact us at it-help@mtu.edu or call 7-1111.

What are you doing for supper tonight? How about grabbing a bite with Sarah Ye Sun (ME-EM) and Michigan Tech student George Ochieze.

Join Dean Janet Callahan at 6 p.m. tonight for Husky Bites, a free interactive Zoom webinar. Tonight's topic is "Nice Shirt! Embroidered Electronics and Motion-Powered Devices." The 20-minute interactive presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

Get the full scoop and register at mtu.edu/huskybites, or catch it on the College of Engineering Facebook page. 

The next Physics Colloquium will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 1) via Zoom. Steve Fetter will present "Reducing Nuclear War."

Fetter is a professor and Graduate School dean at the University of Maryland.

Husky Innovate is hosting a lunchtime talk with Michigan Tech Computer Engineering Ph.D. candidate Ranit Karmakar who will share his innovation journey.

Through his research, Ranit developed robust algorithms to analyze corneal images. This work led him to discover an opportunity for a new venture within the eye care industry. Ranit explored and developed his concept through a variety of opportunities including: Husky Innovate workshops, Houghton business incubator, the MTEC SmartZone, the Superior Ideas platform and the NSF sponsored Michigan Tech I-Corps Site program.

Ranit has pitched his idea at the Bob Mark Business Model Competition, the New Venture Competition and TC NewTech, winning top prizes at all venues. He will share how feedback and research through customer discovery have led to new insights and unexpected pivots informing decisions about his value proposition and customer segments. Ranit is at the beginning of his startup path but it has already been an amazing journey.

Join us on zoom for this lunchtime talk. We will meet virtually from noon - 1 p.m.Friday (Oct. 2). Please register here

The Michigan Tech soccer team is a recipient of a United Soccer Coaches (USC) Team Academic Award, announced this week by the national office. The award recognizes the academic achievements by the Huskies for the 2019-20 academic year.

This year marks the 10^th time the Husky soccer program has been recognized for the distinction and the third straight season.

To qualify for the award, the team must possess a minimum grade point average of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by compiling every player's GPA, then dividing by the number of players. Michigan Tech earned the award with a team GPA of 3.63.

"I'm very proud of our team for earning the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award this year," said Michigan Tech Assistant Soccer Coach Chuck Coan. "This is an award that players really have to put in the work to make it happen. Each year, we emphasize the primacy of academics within our program and encourage our student-athletes to use every resource MTU makes available to them."

A total of 889 college teams (333 men, 556 women) earned the Team Academic Award, including 28 schools who had both their men's and women's programs recognized. The Huskies were one of four women's soccer Team Academic Award recipients from the GLIAC.

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

A reminder that no one is permitted to come to campus with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. All 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. 

 In addition, all visitors must fill out the Visitor Symptom Tracking Form each day before coming on campus. 

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Banner 9 Admin Pages System Maintenance Tonight

Several Michigan Tech students contributed to the story "Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: First-generational Michigan Technological University students share their experience," on WJMN TV3.

International Forestry Review Article Published

Tara Bal (CFRES), Mark Rouleau (SS), Terry Sharik (CFRES), and Adam Wellstead (SS), published the paper titled "Enrollment decision-making by students in forestry and related natural resource degree programmes globally" in International Forestry Review.

Their findings represent one of the largest global surveys published to date of forestry and natural resources related undergraduate and graduate students, exploring decision-making factors in deciding to pursue these fields of study.

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Walking Gallery Tour: Hero City: Documentary Photography by Meghan Kirkwood

Monday, September 28, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Gallery A-Space

Hero City: Documentary Photography by Meghan Kirkwood features a collection of silver gelatin and inkjet photographs made as part of a documentary project about modern...

Finding an Undergraduate Research Mentor Info Session

Monday, September 28, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.

Are you an undergraduate student interested in research, but unsure how to get started? Learn more in two steps: 1). Watch our introductory video on your own time. 2). If...

PhD Defense: Hongmei Lu

Monday, September 28, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Environmental & Energy Policy Advisor: Audrey Mayer From Garden City to Sponge City: Urban Green Infrastructure Policy Development in China Attend Virtually:...

Urban Stormwater Runoff Research: Innovating Practice to Improve Water Quality

Monday, September 28, 3 p.m.

Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar Andy Erickson, Ph.D., P.E., Research Associate, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, University of...

Nice Shirt! Embroidered Electronics and Motion-Powered Devices

Monday, September 28, 6 p.m.

Husky Bites presents Special Guest Sarah Sun Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering—Engineering Mechanics Affiliated Associate Professor, Biomedical...