November 30, 2020

The Vice President for Research Office announces the Fall 2020 REF awards. Thanks to the individual REF reviewers and the REF review panelists, as well as the deans and department chairs, for their time spent on this important internal research award process.

Research Seed Grants:

• Sajjad Bigham, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
• Bo Chen, Computer Science
• Daniel Dowden, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Ana Dyreson, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
• Hassan Masoud, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
• Xinyu Ye, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Today is the last day of the 2021 Benefits Open Enrollment. Open Enrollment ends at 5 p.m. today (Nov.30). Open Enrollment is on MyMichiganTech. Employees will use their ISO username and password to login to MyMichiganTech. Open Enrollment will be under the Employee Tab. Open Enrollment is your opportunity to :

• Enroll or change Medical, Dental, or Vision coverage for next year
• Contribute to or change contributions to a Health Savings Account or the Health Care Flexible Spending Account or Dependent Care Account. HSA and FSA elections from the previous year will not rollover to 2021
• Enroll or Change your optional employee life insurance, spouse and/or dependent life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, long-term disability buy-up coverage, or enroll in the new Critical Illness or Accident coverage
• Contribute to or change contributions to Retirement Accounts
• Earn Husky Health points for completing Open Enrollment via MyMichiganTech

More information about Open Enrollment and the Virtual Benefits Forum can be found online. If you have any questions please contact the Benefits Office at 906-487-2517 or benefits@mtu.edu.

The Forestry Club's Christmas Tree Sale fundraiser takes  place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m Sunday (Dec. 6) in the Forestry Building parking lot.

Balsam fir and black spruce Christmas trees are available. Trees are priced as follows:

• 3-5 ft. $25
• 5-6 ft. $33
• 6-7 ft. $36
• 7-8 ft. $39
• 8-9 ft. $48
• 9-10 ft. $58
• 10-12 ft. $65
• 12-14 ft. $77

It is highly recommended that you pre-order a tree by Wednesday (Dec. 2). Contact Greg Horton or Dan Barker with preferred species and height. The sale will run as advertised or until supplies last. Cash and check only.

Nominations are now open for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Excellence in Teaching Awards.  Michigan Tech may nominate one student at the MS and PhD level. Each graduate program may nominate one student at the MS and PhD level. Nominations are due to the Graduate School no later than 4pm, January 7, 2021.

Eligible students:

• will have been enrolled at Michigan Tech during the 2020-21 calendar year and have a teaching appointment
• will have earned the Michigan Tech Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
• will have an excellent teaching portfolio and student evaluations

See the application page for complete details on what is required for a nomination.

Please join the Committee on Promoting and Facilitating Equity and Understanding in our first Town Hall at 6 p.m. Wednesday (Dec. 2) via Zoom.

As the University Senate's newest standing committee we would like to formally introduce our mission, vision, and members to our campus constituents. We will be taking questions via this anonymous google form.

The deadline for questions is noon Wednesday, (Dec. 2nd).

Caryn Heldt, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Health Research Institute, has been selected to give the 2020 Michigan Tech Research Forum (MTRF) Distinguished Lecture. She will be featured at the MTRF which will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 9. Heldt’s presentation is titled "Turning Viruses into Therapies." Additional details can be found on the MTRF website. The presentation will be available via Zoom.

The MTRF is presented by the Office of the Provost in coordination with the Office of the Vice President for Research. The forum showcases and celebrates the work of Michigan Tech researchers and aims to strengthen discussions in our community. All are welcome, including the general public.

 Jessica Pitts will present her master's thesis proposal, "The Influence of Decreased Ambient Lighting on Balance Recovery in Middle-Aged Adults", at 2 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 3) via Zoom.

All are welcome and please contact kip@mtu.edu for Zoom link prior to the presentation.

Materials Science and Engineering doctoral candidate, Yang Yang, will defend his dissertation at 2 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 4), via Zoom.

The title of his defense is "Influence of Rapid Solidification and Wrought Processing on Precipitation Strengthening and Deformation Mechanisms in Al-Sc-Zr alloys."

Yang is advised by Paul Sanders (MSE).

Robert Larson (BioSci), director of the Medical Laboratory Science Program in the Department of Biological Sciences here at Michigan Tech University, will present at the KIP December Seminar at 3 p.m. Friday (Dec. 4).

Larson's presentation is titled "Back to the Future: Career Experiences in Research and Medical Lab Science". All are welcome and please email kip@mtu.edu for the Zoom link before noon on Friday.

Electrical and Computer Engineering MS student Adesoji Tolulope Bello will defend at 2 p.m. Thursday (Dec 3) via Zoom.

The title of his presentation is “Implementation of the Channel-Aware Routing Protocol in the Network Simulator for Underwater Acoustic Communication Networking.”

Bello's advisor is Zhaohui Wang (ECE).

Michelle Banonis, assistant chief deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources, and Environmental Engineering alumna and member of CEEPAC will present "Oroville Spillway Recovery Effort" via Zoom as part of the CEEPAC/Alumni Presentation series at 1 p.m. Tuesday Dec. 8.

Congratulations to civil engineering student Erik Oshaben for being awarded the 2020 WAPA Engineering Technician Scholarship.

Oshaben is applauded for his dedication and commitment to the construction industry. He will be recognized at WAPA's 61st Annual Conference held virtually this year tomorrow (Dec. 1).

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 Five, 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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Chemical Engineering PhD Defense Today

Chemical Engineering PhD candidate Yuesheng Gao will defend at 11 a.m.today (Nov. 30) via Zoom (meeting ID: 833 1917 7716, passcode: 827745). His presentation is titled, "Investigation of the stability of liquid and air films by synchronized tri-wavelength reflection interferometry microscopy," advisor is Lei Pan (ChE).

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ECE PhD Defense Today

Electrical Engineering doctoral candidate Koji Yamashita will defend at 4 p.m. on today, Nov. 30 via Zoom. The title of his presentation is “Establishment of cyber-physical impacts and system dynamic modeling based on hypothesized attack scenarios.” Yamashita is advised by Chee-Wooi Ten.

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Testing Center Assisting with online Testing Needs

The Testing Center will be closed for in-person exams through the end of the fall 2020 semester. We look forward to seeing you and your student back in the Testing Center in the Spring. In the meantime, the Testing Center will continue to help in these ways:

• Transcribing exams. The Testing Center staff can transcribe exams from paper-pencil to canvas. Question banks, images, multiple choice, T/F are all things they are familiar with.
• Zoom proctoring. The Testing Center staff and proctors are available to assist with zoom proctoring. A single proctor can watch up to 20 students in a single room.

If you need more than one proctor, contact the Testing Center for more details. Any questions, the staff will be monitoring the email address techtesting-l@mtu.edu.

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WebFOCUS System Maintenence Saturday

A production system maintenance window will be taking place on Saturday (Dec. 5) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. During that time, WebFOCUS will be unavailable. If you have any questions or concerns, we can help. Contact us at it-help@mtu.edu or call 7-1111.

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ECE PhD Defense, Tomorrow

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

Master's Defense: Jonathon Lindfors

Monday, November 30, 8–9 a.m.

Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Jeremy Worm Impact of Water Ingestion on Combustion Performance in a Spark Ignited Internal Combustion Engine Attend Virtually:...

Master's Defense: Tyler Miller

Monday, November 30, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.

Mechanical Engineering Co-advisors: Jeffrey Naber and Jeremy Worm Design, Build, and Analysis of a Compressed Natural Gas Direct Injection Compression Ignition Single...

Master's Defense: Veronica Porter

Monday, November 30, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.

Forest Ecology and Management Advisor: Fengjing Liu Understanding the Mechanisms Controlling Concentration- Discharge Relationships of Streams in Northern and Midwestern...

Master's Defense: Rukayat Bukola Adeosun

Monday, November 30, 12 p.m.–1 p.m.

Health Informatics Advisor: Weihua Zhou Hierarchical Clustering to Predict the Response of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Patients with Heart Failure Attend Virtually:...

PhD Defense: Yuesheng Gao

Monday, November 30, 1 p.m.–2 p.m.

Chemical Engineering Advisor: Lei Pan Investigation of the Stability of Liquid and Air Films by Synchronized Tri-Wavelength Reflection Interferometry Microscopy Attend...

PhD Defense: FNU Chandan Kumar

Monday, November 30, 3 p.m.–4 p.m.

Geological Engineering Co-advisors: Snehamoy Chatterjee and Thomas Oommen Developing Innovative Spectral and Machine Learning Methods for Mineral and Lithological...

Virtual Study Abroad 101

Monday, November 30, 3 p.m.–4 p.m.

Attend a virtual Study Abroad 101, hosted by study abroad professionals, to learn where you can study abroad, how to make it happen, and how to fund it. You will also learn...

PhD Defense: Koji Yamashita

Monday, November 30, 4 p.m.–5 p.m. | Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC), 501

Electrical Engineering Advisor: Chee-Wooi Ten Establishment of Cyber-Physical Impacts and System Dynamic Modeling Based on Hypothesized Attack Scenarios Attend Virtually:...

Severe to Extreme: Modeling Climate Change and Coastal Hazards on the Great Lakes

Monday, November 30, 6 p.m.

Husky Bites presents Special Guest Pengfei Xue Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Director, Numerical Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Great Lakes...