June 1, 2021

A major challenge for fully autonomous vehicles is navigating bad weather. Snow especially confounds crucial sensor data that helps a vehicle gauge depth, find obstacles and keep on the correct side of the yellow line, assuming it is visible. Averaging more than 200 inches of snow every winter, Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula is the perfect place to push autonomous vehicle tech to its limits. In two papers presented at SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2021, researchers from Michigan Technological University discuss solutions for snowy driving scenarios that could help bring self-driving options to snowy cities like Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and Toronto.

The team includes Nathir Rawashdeh and doctoral student Abu-Alrub (CC) as well as Jeremy Bos and student researchers Akhil Kurup, Derek Chopp and Zach Jeffries (ECE).

Read more about their collaborative mobility research on mtu.edu/news.

Diversity Literacy training for the 2021-2022 academic year is open for registration. This year we have changed the registration process to an online registration form.

The Diversity Literacy Online Workshop (DLOW) is part of Michigan Tech's ongoing commitment to faculty diversity in building a supportive campus climate. Successful completion of the DLOW is required to serve on faculty hiring and tenure promotion committees. The full workshop is organized as a three-week asynchronous online course in Canvas (with two to three hours of work per week) building literacy in recognizing unconscious bias, and culminates with a one-week seminar on the legal aspects of diversity-centered hiring practices.

For those who have already taken the full three-week diversity literacy course, a one-week refresher course is required every four years. See the Diversity Training Status page for more information and a list of current training status for all faculty.

The workshop dates are listed below and can also be found on the training website. Please note that legal aspects training will immediately follow the diversity literacy training, and faculty will be registered for them both at the same time. We suggest that individuals register early for fall workshop dates if they are serving on faculty search or promotion and tenure committees in the coming year. If your certification is expiring but you don't need it for immediate service, we would appreciate if you register for a spring workshop instead, as the fall enrollments can get high.

If you have any questions about the DLOW and training, contact workshop administrator Amy Marcarelli at ammarcar@mtu.edu.

Full course and refresher dates for academic year 2021-22:

Fall Refresher 1: 
Sept. 13-17 — Diversity Literacy Refresher Workshop
Sept. 20-24 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Fall Full Course: 
Oct. 4–22 — Diversity Literacy Full Course
Oct. 25-29 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Fall Refresher 2: 
Nov. 8-12 — Diversity Literacy Refresher Workshop
Nov. 15-19 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Spring Refresher 1: 
Jan. 17–21 — Diversity Literacy Refresher Workshop
Jan. 24-28 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Spring Full Course: 
Feb. 7-25 — Diversity Literacy Full Course
Feb. 28-March 4 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Spring Refresher 2: 
March 21-25 — Diversity Literacy Refresher Workshop
March 28-April 1 — Legal Aspects of Hiring – Online Course

Michigan Tech men's basketball guard Owen White was selected to the 2020-21 Academic All-America Third Team in an announcement made by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday.

White was recognized as one of the nation's top student-athletes for his combined performances on the court and in the classroom. White was the only player in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to be named. He previously earned Academic All-District on May 10. 

The CoSIDA Academic All-America program separately recognizes basketball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA. 

Read more on the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Job Postings for Tuesday, June 1, 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. 

Assistant Director of Athletic Marketing and Communications, Athletics. Apply online.

Custodian (12 months/ part-time, no base/ shift varies), Facilities (AFSCME posting June 1 to June 7, 2021 — external applications will only be reviewed after internal applications). Apply online.

Office Assistant 5 (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #21079, Merchandising Operations (UAW posting June 1 to June 7, 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.

Child Care Availability: An Ongoing Challenge Heightened by the Pandemic

The pandemic has heightened awareness of the challenges of access to quality child care at campuses around the country and the inequities that result when this child care is not available. This is not a new challenge, but it is one that universities are clearly going to need to help address to retain quality faculty, staff and students.

For this weekly roundup, we are drawing attention to the Graduate Student Government report on child care needs at Michigan Tech that was shared recently in Tech Today. Since it was shared during a busy week at the end of the semester, we wanted to be sure to give people a second opportunity to review it.

The ADVANCE Weekly Roundup is brought to you by ADVANCE at Michigan Tech, an NSF-funded initiative dedicated to improving faculty career success, retention, diversity, equity and inclusion. Past articles are available on the ADVANCE Newsblog.

To learn more about this week’s topic, our mission, programming efforts, and to check out our growing collection of resources, contact us or visit our website.

Today’s feature was shared with us by the ADVANCE PI Team. If you have an article you think we should feature, please email it to advance-mtu@mtu.edu and we will consider adding it to the ADVANCE Weekly Roundup.

Chem Stores has the following surplus items available to give away to another department on a first-come, first-serve basis:

• Wooden base cabinet with countertop
  Approx. 36"H x 47"W x 24"D.
  Has nine removable drawers and one taller cabinet door (countertop is sturdy but isn't as wide as the base).
• Metal shelf
  Approx. 31"H x 18"W x 17"D. 
  Entirely made of metal. Has adjustable supports for changing the height of the middle shelf. Bottom shelf has a deep lip.
• Metal cabinet on wheels
  Approx. 23"H x 25"W x 24"D.
  Double doors open up to two shelves. Top shelf has a divider with uncovered side opening.
• Office chair
  Backrest is approx. 20"H. 
  Wheels are a little stiff.
• Wheeled metal shelving unit with drawer
  Approx. 31"H x 18"W x 17"D. 
  Two fixed shelves and one latched drawer. Top of unit and middle shelf have an approx. 1" lip on sides and back.
• Compact microwave
  Approx. 13" on all outer sides. 
  Up to 15-minute timer activated by dial. List of some recommended cook times printed on front.
• Office desk
  Approx. 30"H x 60"W x 30"D. 
  Heavy metal base with five side drawers and one thin middle drawer (top veneer is cracked and has been taped down).

Contact Joel Smith at joels@mtu.edu if you are interested or to request pictures of the available items. 

As always, University property may only be transferred to other University departments. It may not be given away or sold to individuals.

An MTU news story on University research that is making self-driving cars safer on snowy roads was picked up by Science Daily, Tech Xplore, Knowridge Science Report and other research news aggregators.

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Michigan Tech’s successful bid to host the 2023 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships was covered by WLUC TV6.

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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Author/Alum Michael Paddock to Present His Book Today

The Office of Alumni Engagement invites you to join author and alum Michael Paddock '87 '88 as he presents his book: "Bridging Barriers: How a Community Changes Its Future with Help from Engineers Without Borders USA Volunteers."

Paddock brings to us a true story about “the trials, tribulations and successes of the engineers and community members who gave new hope to La Garrucha." The book details the work that students from Milwaukee’s Marquette University Engineers Without Borders (EWD) program used to construct two life-changing projects, a bridge and a water project, for the rural community of La Garrucha, Guatemala.

Learn about what drives Paddock to focus on a life of service, lessons on community building, and important insights as to what it takes for a project to be sustainable. The invaluable takeaways can be applied to everyone’s personal and professional lives.

Paddock’s service to others earned him the honor of being selected as the recipient of the 2020 Humanitarian Award by the Alumni Board of Directors.

Learn more about Michael Paddock and his book — tune in via Zoom today (June 1) at 2 p.m. for the live presentation and Q&A.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Heather Sander, assistant director - alumni programming, at hesander@mtu.edu or 906-487-2466.

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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!

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

PhD Defense: Subin Thomas

Tuesday, June 1, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.

Atmospheric Sciences Advisor: Raymond Shaw Modeling and Numerical Simulations of The Michigan Tech Convection Cloud Chamber Attend Virtually:...

Alumni Virtual Book Club Author Presentation

Tuesday, June 1, 2 p.m.–3 p.m.

Join "Bridging Barriers" author, Michael Paddock '87, '88 for a presentation and Q&A! Whether you have attended any of the weekly discussion sessions or not - you will not...

Women's League Fun Day

Tuesday, June 1, 5:30 p.m. | Portage Lake Golf Course

Women's League Fun Day

Music in Sacred Spaces: conScience

June 1, all day

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...

Superior Wind Symphony: Reparations

June 1, all day

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...