August 6, 2021

When Mary Jennings decided to launch a geolocated app for people experiencing the Copper Country landscape, she knew she wanted to invite local musicians to compose the music. And as the director of programming at the Rozsa Center, she didn't have to go far to find them.

Adam Meckler (VPA) wrote music to accompany people on Houghton’s Waterfront Trail. Libby Meyer (VPA) composed the music for those experiencing the Quincy Mine site in Hancock.

Users of the LISTEN app, now available for iPhone and Android devices, will launch the app while strolling each trail. They’ll be treated to an experience similar to one that the Washington Post called “magical” when the technology debuted for visitors to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Read more at mtu.edu/news.

The Graduate School is seeking facilitators for our Orientation to Graduate Studies and Research online training. This training fulfills the basic responsible conduct of research (RCR) training required for all graduate students by the America Competes Acts.

Facilitators will interact online with a group of graduate students beginning Aug. 24 and ending approximately Sept. 1. These students have been accepted into research-based graduate programs, so this is an excellent opportunity for faculty to meet their new students or for senior Ph.D. students to welcome them into the program.

We will hold a Zoom orientation to highlight your responsibilities on Aug. 18 from 2-3 p.m. Please register online to participate.

Alumni Reunion 2021 is today (Aug. 6)!

To see a full schedule of events, visit the Alumni Reunion 2021 web page.

Thank you in advance for helping to make Reunion a memorable experience for our visitors!

The Michigan Eta Chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity is celebrating their 56th reunion this weekend.

Fun family events are planned to celebrate, including golf, picnic, hockey, biking and more. Welcome back, SigEps and Michigan Tech Alumni!

Adopting DEIA Values Adds Strength for the Future

This last month, President Biden signed an executive order advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) in the federal government.

The order's premise is based on public servants reflecting the communities they serve; this has parallels in academia as well. ADVANCE at Michigan Tech is very encouraged by these measures to assess DEIA in the workforce and will work with our Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion to support the development of strategic plans for our campus.

Biden's executive order expands learning opportunities, addresses harassment in the workplace and equity in professional development opportunities, and advances mechanisms for pay equity. The DEIA language is deliberately inclusive of individuals with disabilities and LGBTQA+ individuals, in addition to gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Adopting these foundational values into our DNA will strengthen Michigan Tech for the future.

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 Roundup.

The ADVANCE 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 our featured topic, our mission, programming efforts, and to check out our growing collection of resources, contact us or visit our website.

Congratulations to professor emerita Sheryl Sorby (ME-EM) for being named the ABET 2021 Claire L. Felbinger Award for Diversity and Inclusion recipient.

Sheryl received her B.S. in Civil Engineering, M.S. in Engineering Mechanics and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech.

Read the full announcement on the ABET website.

Doctoral candidate Joshua Chase (HU) will present his Ph.D. defense at 2 p.m. on Monday (Aug. 9). This will be an online defense. Virtual attendance is invited via Zoom.

Chase's defense is titled “‘Not to Sound like a Conspiracy Theorist, but…’: A Rhetorical-Cultural Analysis of the Conspiracy Theory Pejorative.”

From the abstract:
In the wake of recent high-profile events — from public health crises like COVID-19 to highly contentious elections in the United States — conspiracy theories are once again at the center of public debate. Through rhetorical-cultural analysis, this dissertation examines the “conspiracy theorist” pejorative as it circulates through public discussions about politics, science and technology, and entertainment.

In both the popular and scholarly media, much of the debate about conspiracy theories focuses on how to define, identify and ultimately eliminate conspiracy theories, or on determining cognitive and social factors that contribute to conspiracy belief. Less attention is paid to the ways in which terms like “conspiracy theory,” “conspiracy theorist,” or, alternatively, terms like “debunker,” “skeptic,” are used rhetorically. This project seeks a better understanding of how such terms establish and maintain boundaries between outlandish ideas and legitimated knowledge.

Pengfei Xue (CEGE/GLRC) is the principal investigator on a project that received a $25,000 other-student fellowship grant from the University of Michigan (Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research).

This one-year project is titled "Using Ensemble-based assimilation to improve hydrodynamic modeling for the Great Lakes."

Get Vaccinated, Continue Washing and Sanitizing Hands

While Michigan Tech is at Health and Safety Level One, face coverings and daily symptom monitoring are no longer required. However, those who wish to continue wearing a face covering are encouraged to do so.

The MTU Flex Task Force also encourages University community members to get their vaccinations and continue with handwashing and hand-sanitizing practices.

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Physics Colloquium

Visiting teacher Tamala Sebring will give a special colloquium talk today (Aug. 6) at 1 p.m. in Fisher Hall, Room 101.

Sebring's talk is titled "Astrophysics for High School Physics Students."

Sebring, who earned her M.S. in Applied Science Education at Tech in 2020, is a physics teacher at Pittsfield High School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Starting in June, she worked with Michigan Tech members of the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-ray Observatory project during a six-week-long Research Experience for Teachers (RET). Part of the RET was spent learning about the project and attending meetings with the group members as they discussed their research work. The majority of the time was spent designing and writing a unit of lesson plans intended to introduce high school students to the photoelectric effect and its uses.

The unit includes a variety of activities to pique students’ interest and immerse them in the details of the photoelectric effect. Students will also examine how the photoelectric effect is used in everyday objects, such as solar cells and digital cameras, and in astrophysics research arrays.

In her talk, Sebring will discuss the photoelectric effect unit lesson plans, demonstrate how to discharge a charged electroscope with light and share an additional resource that teachers can use to answer high school student questions.

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Chemistry Seminar Series Speaker

Guest speaker Jerome M. Lewis will present as part of the Chemistry Seminar Series today (Aug. 6) at 3 p.m in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building (Chem Sci), Room 102.

Lewis's topic is: Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles from Lab to Approval.

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MS Defense: Akshay Soma, ME-EM

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering candidate Akshay Soma (ME-EM) will defend their thesis today (Aug. 6) at 2 p.m. This will be an online-only defense. Virtual attendance is invited via Zoom.

The defense is titled "Tuning longitudinal bandgaps using compliant bistable metastructural designs."

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MS Defense: Aniket Vilas Beldar, ME-EM

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering candidate Aniket Vilas Beldar (ME-EM) will defend their thesis today (Aug. 6) at 9 a.m. in the R. L. Smith Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics Building (MEEM), Room 1021. Virtual attendance is also invited via Zoom.

The defense is titled "Correlated Simulation of Pseudo Transient Torque Converter Clutch Engagement Using Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction."

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

PinT 2021: 10th Parallel-in-Time Workshop

Friday, August 6, 5:00–7:30 a.m.

Please join us for the 10th parallel-in-time workshop, held virtually, Aug 2- 6, 2021. More details are available at the conference website: http://conferences.math.mtu.edu

Master's Defense: Aniket Vilas Beldar

Friday, August 6, 9–10 a.m. | R. L. Smith Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics Building (MEEM), 1021

Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Darrell Robinette Correlated Simulation of Pseudo Transient Torque Converter Clutch Engagement Using Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction ...

Sig Ep Alumni Fraternity Golf Outing

Friday, August 6, 10 a.m.

Sig Ep Alumni Fraternity Golf Outing

Friday, August 6, 10 a.m. | Portage Lake Golf Course

Sig Ep Alumni Fraternity Golf Outing

Float On

Friday, August 6, 1 p.m.–3 p.m. | MUB Circle

Celebrate National Root Beer Float Day! What's a better combo than soda pop and ice cream? While supplies last!

PhD Defense: Shulin Wan

Friday, August 6, 1 p.m.–2 p.m.

Chemistry Advisor: Haiying Liu Design and Development of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probes for Sensing pH, Hypoxia, Peroxynitrite Attend Virtually:...

Physics Colloquium - Tamala Sebring

Friday, August 6, 1 p.m.–2 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 101

Visiting teacher, Tamala Sebring, will give a special colloquium talk on Friday, August 6th at 1pm in Fisher Hall 101. The title of her talk is "Astrophysics for High School...

Torch Lake Boat Wash

Friday, August 6, 1 p.m.–7 p.m. | Torch Lake Boat Ramp

The Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area (KISMA) is partnering with Isle Royale National Park (NP) to offer a free boat wash at the Torch Lake Boat Ramp.

Autonomy at the End of the Earth

Friday, August 6, 1:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts

Husky Bites LIVE at Alumni Reunion presents Special Guests Jeremy Bos and Darrell Robinette Jeremy Bos Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Michigan...

Master's Defense: Akshay Navaneeth Reddy Soma

Friday, August 6, 2 p.m.–3 p.m.

Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Vijaya Venkata Narasimha Sriram Malladi Tuning Longitudinal Bandgaps Using Compliant Bistable Metastructural Designs Attend Virtually:...

Alumni Reunion 2021

August 6, all day | Michigan Tech Campus

Make plans to join alumni and friends on campus for Alumni Reunion 2021, August 6! The featured classes will be the Golden M's (those who graduated 50 plus years ago), the...