March 3, 2021

Pass the (welding) torch. For MTU’s Supermileage Systems Enterprise Team, handing down knowledge while handing off projects is key to winning designs on and off the track. Tasked with building a nationally competitive, single-person, fuel-efficient vehicle, the team loses members nearly every semester. It’s all good — graduates are leaving for careers where their Enterprise experience working on complex, multi-year team projects will serve them well. 
Our regular Be Brief series on Michigan Tech Unscripted features a short take on a highly successful team and includes ways to get involved with the Enterprise program, from the Superior Ideas Advanced Motorsports Challenge to proposing a project.  

Unfortunately, there are myths surrounding Open Educational Resources (OER) that may prevent faculty from considering the benefits of OERs. Check out these three busted myths:

• OERs are lower quality than traditional textbooks. Not true. Most OERs are either peer-reviewed or undergo an editorial review process. In addition, many OER repositories allow for open faculty reviews, ensuring an ongoing quality check of works as they are modified or updated. Understanding their students’ needs, faculty are the best judges of an OERs sustained quality.
• OERs are time-consuming. Not always. Many faculty start by adopting a resource that’s a good fit for their course and then making small changes to better fit their students’ needs. While creating an OER from scratch can take time, reviewing and adopting an OER takes the same time as reviewing and deciding on a traditional textbook.
• OERs are hard to find. They don’t have to be. There are search engines that discover OERs published across multiple platforms, including OASIS.

The library can also help you find what you need. See our guide or contact us.

Michigan Tech's University Senate includes both faculty and staff representatives across units and departments who are active partners in University decisions that affect both academic and administrative affairs, from teaching quality to fringe benefits. There are currently several professional staff Senator and Alternate positions vacant including:

• Academic Services A: Representing professional staff of Biological Sciences; Biomedical Engineering; Center for Teaching and Learning; Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics; Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs; Registrar's Office
• Academic Services B: Representing professional staff of Civil and Environmental Engineering; College of Engineering; Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences; Materials Science and Engineering; Michigan Tech Transportation Institute
• Administration A: Representing professional staff of Associate Vice President for Administration; Budget and Planning; Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Administration; Financial Services and Operations; Human Resources; Institutional Research; Internal Audit; Vice President for Finance
• Auxiliaries and Athletics: Representing professional staff of A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum; Athletics; Business Support Center; General Recreation; Memorial Union; Mont Ripley; Portage Lake Golf Course; Residential Dining; Rozsa Center
• Research 1: Representing professional staff of Innovation and Industry Engagement; Keweenaw Research Center; Michigan Tech Research Institute; Sponsored Programs Office; Vice President for Research
• Research 2: Representing professional staff of Innovation and Industry Engagement; Keweenaw Research Center; Michigan Tech Research Institute; Sponsored Programs Office; Vice President for Research

Senators serve three-year terms, with the obligation of meeting every other week and participating in at least one Senate committee. Alternates also serve on committees but are not required to attend meetings except in the absence of their unit’s Senator.

Terms begin this summer and run through July 2024. If you are considering making this commitment to Michigan Tech’s community or wish to nominate a representative, you can get more details by emailing Senate Assistant Ashley Buchanan.

Central Receiving reminds the campus community to include as much information as possible on the shipping label when shipping University purchases to campus. To ensure timely delivery of purchases directly to your department by the shipper, please be sure to provide the vendor with the following information to be included on the shipping label:

• Your Complete Name
• Building Name
• Room number
• 1400 Townsend Drive
• Houghton, MI 49931

Please recall that Central Receiving does not ship or receive personal packages. Visit our website for additional shipping and receiving information.

For questions or assistance with special receiving or shipping needs, please contact Central Receiving at 7-2701.

The SDC will observe reduced hours over spring break Friday, March 5, through Sunday, March 14.

Regular building hours will resume Monday, March 15.

View the SDC Spring Break Schedule.

During spring 2017, academic deans were asked to begin recognizing instructors making contributions in these areas as part of the Deans’ Teaching Showcase, effectively nominating them for instructional awards.

CTL and Provost’s office members along with previous awardees then select one individual in each category from a pool composed of the Showcase and those nominated to the Academy of Teaching Excellence.

The 2020-2021 CTL instructional Award for large class teaching will be presented via a zoom session at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 30. Kette Thomas will give a presentation titled "Empathic Instruction: The Power and Limits of Making it Personal."

To register for this event, please use this link.

The next virtual Graduate Seminar Speaker will be held at 4 p.m. tomorrow, (March 4) via Zoom.

Patrick Musgrave will present “Bio-inspired propulsion using traveling waves: The development and implementation of Structure-Borne Traveling Waves.”

Musgrave is a research scientist within the Naval Center for Space Technology at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC.

Most international students plan their OPT when they get closer to graduation. Some graduate international students are aware of how OPT/ CPT works, while many have questions about it.

The Graduate Student Government decided to create a platform for international students to discuss their Visa issues and OPT/CPT issues with IPS and Career services. A webinar will be hosted at 4 p.m. tomorrow (March 4) via Zoom.

Machel Borsum from IPS and Beth Williams from Career Services will lead the discussion and answer your questions. 

Attendance is not limited, but please register.

Mid-career mentoring is important for career advancement. Associate level faculty are invited to an open “social hour” with volunteer senior faculty mentors to talk about career issues and opportunities.

The Advanced Career Management (ACM) Mentoring Support Guides will be facilitating Zoom breakout room discussions from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 16.

This event is open to all mid-career faculty; you do not have to have participated in the ACM groups to attend this event. Topics for discussion include leveraging opportunities; making the most of sabbaticals; applying for fellowships or grants; research with undergraduate and graduate students; commercializing your research; and managing stress and work/life demands.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own topics to the discussion as well. The ACM Mentoring Guides are professors Will Cantrell, Rupali Datta, Shiyue Fang, Hugh Gorman, Judith Perlinger, and Raymond Shaw.

Registration is required: pjsotiri@mtu.edu">email pjsotiri@mtu.edu for the Zoom meeting ID.

ACM is one of three initiatives managed by ADVANCE at Michigan Tech, an NSF-funded project dedicated to improving faculty career success, retention, diversity, equity, and inclusion. See the ADVANCE ACM webpage for more information.

The Michigan Tech women's basketball team is ranked No. 9 in this week's WBCA National Top 25 Coaches' Poll. The Huskies are 17-1 heading into the GLIAC quarterfinals at noon (EST) Thursday.

Tech was ranked No. 10 last week and No. 19 on February 16. They have won 15 games in a row, including a pair of victories over fellow ranked foe Grand Valley State.

The Huskies are the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and received a first-round bye. The Huskies will play No. 10 seed Davenport tomorrow (March 4). The Panthers upset seventh-seeded Northern Michigan in the first round last night. The GLIAC semifinals are Friday (March 5) and the Championship is Sunday (March 7) in Westville, Indiana.

The Michigan Tech Nordic ski teams hosted the NCAA Central Regional Championships last weekend. Anabel Needham won Saturday's 5K classic and both teams finished second in the region.

"It was a really fun weekend of racing," Tom Monahan Smith said. "We're really grateful to have pulled off an awesome full season of racing and to finish it at home on the Tech Trails was great."

Needham won the classic for the second week in a row, covering the course in 15:04.4 and winning by six seconds. She added an eighth-place finish in Sunday's 15K freestyle.

"Anabel had another awesome classic race and continues to show her dominance in that technique," added Monahan Smith. "That was a great achievement.

Henriette Semb was fifth in the classic and sixth in the freestyle. Oda Hovland was sixth in the classic and 14th in the freestyle. Olivia Laven also had a top 10 with a seventh-place finish in the freestyle. Johanna Craig and Mary Lyon also scored for the Huskies.

Patrick Acton paced the men with a second-place finish in Sunday's 20K freestyle. He also led the squad in the 10K classic on Saturday with a sixth-place finish.

Also in the top 10 for the Huskies were Skylar Patten (6th), Cedric Keller (9th), and Reid Goble (10th) who placed seventh Saturday. Aleksi Leino also scored both days for the Huskies with an 11th place finish Sunday and 13th Saturday. Keller (14th) and Patten (16th) also scored for the men Saturday.

Seniors from all teams gave short speeches during the awards ceremony. Michigan Tech seniors are Reid Goble, Patrick Acton, Aleksi Leino, Tres Green, Mitch DeLong, Somer Schrock, Josh Albrecht, and Aiden Truettner.

Tech will send a full allotment of skiers to the NCAA Championships in Jackson, New Hampshire March 11 and 13.

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) has announced weekly awards following the eighth week of the Men's Basketball regular season. Michigan Tech junior guard Owen White claimed GLIAC North Division Player of the Week honors for the third time this year.

White led the Huskies with 21 points in Friday's 70-65 road win over Wisconsin-Parkside. On Saturday, White posted 20 points to bring his weekend total to 41.

White was Michigan Tech's leading scorer and rebounder at 21.2 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game. The Rhinelander, Wisconsin native has 10 games of 20 or more points and marked a season-high 30-point performance against Grand Valley State Feb. 20.

Tech men's basketball earned the No. 3 seed for the GLIAC Tournament this week and is scheduled to play tomorrow (March 4) against No. 6 seeded Purdue Northwest.

Three Michigan Tech hockey players earned WCHA Player of the Month honors for February. Colin Swoyer is the WCHA Defenseman of the Month, Blake Pietila is the WCHA Goaltender of the Month, and Arvid Caderoth is the WCHA Rookie of the Month the league announced on Tuesday (March 2).

Swoyer led WCHA defensemen in February with eight points, three goals, two power-play goals, five points on the power play, and 34 shots on goal. The Hinsdale, Illinois native had a point in seven games during the month and scored the game-winning goal against Ferris State on Feb. 13. He was twice named the WCHA Defenseman of the Week during February and ranks second in scoring amongst WCHA blueliners with three goals and 13 assists.

Pietila led WCHA goaltenders with eight wins and a 1.7 goals-against average in February. The Howell, Michigan native also ranked second with a .928 save percentage. Pietila made 12 saves against Ferris State on Feb. 12 for his third shutout of the season. His other highlight of the month was a 33-save performance in a 4-1 win over No. 18 Lake Superior State on Feb. 23. Pietila earned one WCHA Goaltender of the Week award in the month.

Caderoth led WCHA Rookies in February with seven assists, eight points, six points on the power play, 20 shots on goal, and 90 faceoff wins. The Gothenburg, Sweden native had a point in six games during the month. He leads WCHA Rookies with 16 points this season and was named WCHA Rookie of the Week once in February.

Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) coauthored a study "Reaction Induced Multifunctional TiO2 Rod/Spherical Nanostructured Materials for Screen Printed Dye Sensitized Solar Cells" in Ceramics International https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2020.11.164

 Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) was quoted in "The Surprising Source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions" in EOS

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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1010 with Sidike Paheding Today

You are invited to spend one-zero-one-zero—that is, ten—minutes with Sidike Paheding from 5:30 to 5:40 p.m. (EST) today (March 3). Paheding is an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Computing.

In this informal discussion, he will cover his research work in the areas of machine learning and computer vision. Join the Zoom meeting here. Read the blog post.

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

DENALI: Artists Respond to Music Inspired by Wilderness

Wednesday, March 3, 8 a.m.–8 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 22 - Saturday, April 17. Art and music inspired by Alaska's wild places. This gallery exhibit features new musical compositions and works created in response to...

UP and Moving - Lunchtime movement high noon

Wednesday, March 3, 12:00 p.m.–12:20 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...

UP and Moving - Lunchtime movement noon thirty

Wednesday, March 3, 12:30 p.m.–12:50 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...

Drop-In for Resumes, Interviews, Negotiations, and LinkedIn

Wednesday, March 3, 2:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Want some practice interviewing, feedback on your resume, help navigating a job offer, or help cleaning up your LinkedIn profile? Then drop in today to work with one of our...

Webinar 2.0: Digital Rhetoric, Precarity & Affect

Wednesday, March 3, 3 p.m.–4 p.m.

Join the Rhetoric Society of America @Michigan Tech for a discussion with Dr. Nathan R. Johnson and Dr. Meredith A. Johnson from the University of South Florida to talk about...

1010 Minutes with Sidike Paheding

Wednesday, March 3, 5:30 p.m.–5:40 p.m.

Dr. Paheding is an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Computing. In this informal discussion, he will cover his research work in the areas of machine learning...

1010 with Sidike Paheding

Wednesday, March 3, 5:30 p.m.–5:40 p.m.

You are invited to spend one-zero-one-zero—that is, ten—minutes with Sidike Paheding on Wednesday, March 3, from 5:30 to 5:40 p.m. EST. Dr. Paheding is an assistant professor...

Adult Huskies Group Tennis Lessons Spring Session 2

Wednesday, March 3, 7 p.m.–8 p.m.

Adult Huskies Tennis Lessons are now being offered for ages 17 and up who are looking to learn more about the game of tennis! Each class will include technique and games to...

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Overview

Wednesday, March 3, 7 p.m.–8 p.m.

Want to learn to design components, devices, systems, and processes that will help solve today’s most significant challenges in health care, transportation, climate change,...

DENALI: Music and Art Inspired by Wilderness

March 3, all day

What do you get when you set nine composers loose in Denali National Park? You get nine great pieces of music! Give this music to artists as inspiration and you get eighteen...