Silver Medal Recipient, Honorary Alum Ross Roeder Remembered

Ross Roeder, a Michigan Tech Board of Trustees Silver Medal recipient and an Alumni Association Honorary Alumnus, passed away May 11 in St. Petersburg, Florida, after being injured in a car accident. He was 83.

Roeder was a charter member of the McNair Society of planned givers and a past president and life trustee of the Michigan Tech Fund. He served on the National Advisory Board of the School of Business and Economics from 1996 to 2009 and was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the College of Business (COB) for many years.

“We are indebted for Ross’s leadership and service to Michigan Tech,” said Rick Koubek, president. “His passion for Michigan Tech was unrivaled and we are a better institution because of his goodwill.” 

“Ross was a true Husky dedicated to helping ensure that deserving Tech students could afford to attend and had the best education possible to help them be successful in their future lives,” said Gary Anderson ’67, former Michigan Tech Fund board president and life trustee. 

Anderson called Roeder “a great team member and a leader” on the Tech Fund trustee board. “His outgoing positive personality and benevolence rubbed off on all of us, which helped lead us on a very successful fundraising campaign,” he said. “He will be missed by all of us and our sincerest condolences go out to (his wife) Mary Anne and the rest of his family.”

Roeder did attend Michigan Tech — but as his obituary notes, he was not destined to be an engineer. He graduated instead from Michigan State University, and then earned his M.B.A. at UCLA in Los Angeles, where he joined Army ROTC. He served in Army Intelligence and went on to hold executive positions and serve on boards at companies such as Baskin-Robbins, Denny's and the NBA.

He was also a fervent fan and financial supporter of Michigan Tech's football program, and was a founding member of Tech's chapter of Phi Kappa Tau.

“Ross rubbed shoulders with leaders in business, government and sports, yet he was genuinely interested and perceptive to the common person,” said Dean Johnson, dean of the COB.

Although Roeder graduated from larger institutions, he maintained close ties with Michigan Tech throughout his career. And Johnson said the Michigan Tech College of Business held a special place in his heart. “He and Mary Anne quietly supported COB students with scholarships,” he said. “Within the last few months, Ross and Mary Anne actively assisted three COB students seeking employment.”

Roeder also established an endowed scholarship for the College to encourage entrepreneurship and leadership. 

“Ross had all of the traits of a successful leader, but his uncanny perception stood out,” Johnson stated. “Ross could quickly and accurately understand a complex decision facing the College, and then provide sound advice to the COB. I believe his perceptiveness was a key factor in his selection as chairman in many successful firms and organizations, including MTU.”

“After meeting with some COB students, Ross told me that if a special situation arose, say a student struggling to make a tuition payment, to just let him know and he and Mary Anne would take care of it,” he continued. 

“As a role model, Ross demonstrated that hard work can bring massive success — but it doesn't mean a loss of humility and genuine connection with people to make their lives better.”

Michigan Tech Ranks Third in Spring 2021 NCL Power Rankings

Michigan Tech has ranked No. 3 of 100 in the Spring 2021 National Cyber League's Cyber Power Rankings, rising 12 points from a fall 2020 ranking of No. 15.

Schools were ranked based on their top team performance, their top student's individual performance and the aggregate individual performance of their students. The rankings represent the ability of students from these schools to perform real-world cybersecurity tasks on the Cyber Skyline platform.

Read the full story on the Computing News Blog.

MTU Team Among 17 Selected for Marine Energy Competition

A Michigan Tech team is among 17 teams from top colleges and universities nationwide selected to compete in the 2021-22 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition: Powering the Blue Economy.

The event is hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

These student competitors are poised to be the next blue economy innovators as they gain real-world experience and make industry connections to prepare for future careers in marine energy, according to the competition website.

The team’s faculty advisors are Andrew Barnard (ME-EM/GLRC), Gordon Parker and Timothy Havens (CC/ICC).

Read the story on the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems Blog.

Library Search and Online Circulation Services Planned Downtime

The search tools and online circulation tools for the Van Pelt and Opie Library will be unavailable from 6 p.m. on Saturday (May 29) through 6 p.m. Sunday (May 30).

During this time, the vendor of these services will be performing extensive planned maintenance. Circulation services will still be available at the circulation desk during the outage.

No Tech Today Monday

Tech Today will not publish on Monday (May 31), in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. 

Submissions for the Tuesday (June 1) issue of Tech Today are due by noon on Friday (May 28).

A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum Closed Memorial Day

The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum will be closed on Monday (May 31) for Memorial Day.

We will be open the rest of the week, Tuesday–Saturday (June 1-5), from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

GSG Softball League Updates

Per the availability of the currently registered players, and to encourage more members to register, the Summer Softball League is having its schedule moved from the weekends to the traditional league time of Thursdays from 5-9 p.m.

With this comes a couple of changes:

  • Registration for both teams and individual players will be extended until Thursday (June 3).
  • The clinic will be moved to the newly scheduled time slot — Thursday (June 3) from 5-7 p.m. If you would like to attend the clinic to brush up on your skills and get acquainted with your teammates, you can register for the clinic online
    • It is compulsory for team managers to register and attend the clinic so they can be familiar with the rules and regulations.
    • The league coordinator is looking for a few seasoned players to volunteer in running a few drills at the clinic. If you are interested, please email the coordinator at gsg-softball@mtu.edu by Sunday (May 30).
  • The first games of the season will be played June 10, and the championship game will be played Aug. 6.

Email the coordinator at gsg-softball@mtu.edu if you have any questions about the league. See you on the diamond!

Job Postings

Job Postings for Thursday, May 27, 2021  

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available on the Human Resources website. For more information regarding staff positions, call 906-487-2280 or email mtujobs@mtu.edu.

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

Deputy Director/Chief of Public Safety and Police Services, Public Safety and Police Services. Apply online.

Programmer/Analyst, Information Technology. Apply online

Equipment Operator I (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #21116, Facilities (AFSCME posting May 27 to June 3, 2021 — external applications will only be reviewed after internal applications). Apply online.

Office Assistant 5, Biological Sciences (UAW internal and external posting May 27 to June 3, 2021 — external applications will only be reviewed after internal applications). 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 an interview at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or mtujobs@mtu.edu.

New Funding

Soner Onder (CS) has been awarded $150,000 by the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) programs, both units of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Another $150,000 share in the project, which totals $300,000, was awarded to Florida State University.

The project provides international research experiences for eight Michigan Tech Ph.D. students (and eight FSU students), providing a stipend, travel expenses and living expenses while they pursue research in Norway for 10 weeks over three summers.

The students will work with Onder’s collaborators at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The two institutions are pursuing joint interdisciplinary work involving compilers and architecture, which is expected to result in several joint research publications.

Onder expects the project to help improve Michigan Tech's international recognition and stature as a major research institution.

In the News

 

Michigan Tech football defensive coordinator Bryan Thomas was the subject of a feature story by ABC 10. Thomas discussed recruiting, player development and the future of Huskies football.

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The MTU Football Huskies “prospect camps” in downstate Michigan and Wisconsin were covered by WLUC TV6.

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Maria Bergstrom (HU) was interviewed by the career networking site Zippia for a piece on predicting the future job market.

Reminders

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

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

Employees are required to monitor for symptoms daily before coming to campus using the Daily Symptom Monitoring Form.

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Bill Sproule to Present Talk on Copper Country Railroads Tonight

Professor emeritus Bill Sproule (CEGE) will lead an online talk titled "Copper Country Railroads," a Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw virtual presentation, today (May 27) from 7-8:30 p.m.

When the copper rush arrived in the Keweenaw Peninsula, it also saw the start of the development of an extensive rail network. In this livestream Zoom presentation, Sproule introduces and explores the history of the many railroad companies that operated in the Copper Country and linked the area to the rest of the United States.

Join this live presentation on Zoom up to 10 minutes before 7 p.m. You will be prompted to download the free Zoom app if you do not already have it. For those with a Zoom app, the Meeting ID is: 816 0900 9014.

Questions and/or comments will be accepted during the talk through Zoom chat, and will be addressed after the presentation. You'll also have the opportunity at this time to ask questions directly.

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COVID-19 Town Hall Tonight

Join us tonight (May 27) from 7-8 p.m. for the COVID-19 Community Town Hall. The topic will be “Health and Well Being During the Pandemic and Beyond.”

Organized by the Health Research Institute at Michigan Tech, the 60-minute town hall broadcast can be heard live at 7 p.m. on radio stations 97.7 The Wolf (WOLV-FM) and 99.1 (WIKB-FM) and viewed through a Zoom webinar and Facebook Live. The town hall can also be viewed on ABC 10 Sunday (May 30) at 12 p.m.

Town hall moderators Steven Elmer and Kelly Kamm (HRI/KIP) will be joined by: 

  • Kate Beer (health officer/chief executive) — Western Upper Peninsula Health Department
  • Heather Grundy (pharmacist) — UP Health System-Portage
  • Dr. Zachariah DeYong (family/sports medicine) — Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center
  • Dr. Jason Bombard (psychiatry) — Aspirus
  • Jeremy Bigalke (doctoral student, psychology) — Montana State University
  • Isaac Wedig (doctoral student, integrative physiology) — Michigan Tech

For more information and past broadcasts, visit the COVID-19 Town Hall Series website.

Today's Campus Events

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UP & Moving Aerobic Exercise, Agility, and Balance Workout

We are a group of Michigan Tech graduate students who are focused on improving the health of our community. We are contributing to the COVID-19 response by providing health...

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PhD Defense: Stacy Cotey

Forest Science Advisor: Audrey Mayer Landscape Ecology of North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Attend Virtually:...

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Men's League Kickoff Party/ABC Scramble

Men's League Kickoff Party/ABC Scramble

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Copper Country Railroads

A CARNEGIE MUSEUM of the KEWEENAW VIRTUAL PRESENTATION Bill Sproule Professor Emeritus, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Michigan Technological...

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COVID-19 Town Hall Series

Join us Thursday (May 27) from 7-8 p.m. for the COVID-19 Community Town Hall. The topic will be “Health and Well Being During the Pandemic and Beyond.” Organized by the...

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Music in Sacred Spaces: conScience

conScience: Michigan Tech Chamber Singers, under the direction of Dr. Jared Anderson, present a series of three recorded mini-concerts in historic sacred spaces in the Copper...

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Superior Wind Symphony: Reparations

The Superior Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Michael Christianson, use the unique setting of the 2020-21 academic year to explore the music of Black composers in a...