September 28, 2021

“Doing the easy things will not move us forward,” says Sonia Goltz (COB), whose research focuses on gender equity issues and related topics—including social power and equity. She shares the 2021 award with Amy Lyn Howard, a doctoral candidate in Michigan Tech's rhetoric, theory, and culture program who most recently served as interim director of MTU's Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

“Our ADVANCE programs are a stimulus, a beginning,” says Goltz. “There is a lot more sustained effort that will be needed. But I have seen people all over campus begin to step up to the challenge and I’m actually quite optimistic we will eventually get to where we need to be, although clearly, we needed to be there yesterday.”

In this Michigan Tech News Q&A, Goltz shares her commitment to diversity in teaching, research and service — and how she maintains a healthy perspective.

Join us Thursday (Sept. 30) from 7-8 p.m. for the COVID-19 Community Town Hall. Moderators Steven Elmer and Kelly Kamm (HRI/KIP) will be joined by several guests to discuss “Lessons Learned during the Pandemic.”

Organized by the Health Research Institute at Michigan Tech, the 60-minute town hall broadcast can be heard live at 7 p.m. on local radio station 97.7 The Wolf (WOLV-FM) and viewed through a Zoom webinar and Facebook Live. The town hall can also be viewed on ABC 10 on Sunday (Oct. 3) at noon.

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

It's National Voter Registration Day!

At Michigan Tech, National Voter Registration Day tables will be set up on campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today (Sept. 28).

The tables are a collaborative effort of the USG Political Affairs Committee, League of Women Voters of the Copper Country, county and city clerks and student/faculty/staff volunteers. The clerks will be at the Husky Statue to register voters and informational tables will be set up on campus outside.

Faculty and instructors can participate, too! In Canvas, the MTU Voter Engagement module can be imported into your courses to share information on voting registration and voting absentee with your students. 

We can also celebrate that Michigan Tech made the Washington Monthly’s 2021 Best Colleges for Student Voting honor roll!

October is Campus Sustainability Month! The goal of Campus Sustainability Month is to raise awareness of campus sustainability efforts and champion sustainability leadership on campus.

There is a lot going on in October at Michigan Tech. Here are some ways to get involved:

Participate in Project Green Challenge.
Take part as an individual or in your courses or student organizations!

Focus on minimizing waste and recycling when possible.
As an institution, we are committed to tracking and reducing our waste production, and increasing the amount of waste we divert into recycling, composting and other efforts. Currently, the University has a solid waste diversion rate goal of 18%, with a diversion rate for August of 15.45%. Your thoughtful participation helps us reduce costs, assists in developing our current recycling programs and aligns Michigan Tech with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) goal of achieving a statewide recycling rate of 45%.

Get involved in voter education. 
The Association for the Advancement of Higher Education (AASHE) highlights National Voter Education Week as part of Campus Sustainability Month — and you can take part in National Voter Registration Day events on campus today (Sept. 28).

Come to the SRC-Squared event on Monday (Oct. 4).
Hear from Michigan Tech Director of Sustainability and Resilience Alan Turnquist. (He's also available for 30-minute, one-on-one meetings the weeks of Oct. 4 and Oct. 25.)

Participate in AASHE's global conference.
The Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education is Oct. 12-14. Sponsorships are available for MTU students, faculty and staff — applications are due Friday (Oct. 1).

Learn more on the campus sustainability website.
Watch online videos and find out more about the systems that support campus life — and how to use them in more sustainable ways.

Get engaged with student organizations.
Student orgs that focus on sustainability include Students for Sustainability, Climate Reality Campus Corps and Keweenaw Youth for Climate Action.

Learn about the Sustainability Demonstration House.
At the SDH, MTU students lead by example in more sustainable living. Learn about their leadership and activities in person at their open house, Oct. 2 from 3-6 p.m.

Share your thoughts on sustainability.
Tell us why campus sustainability matters to you and what you’d like to see prioritized in Michigan Tech’s upcoming sustainability action plan. 

Send us your questions or comments.
Email us at sustainability@mtu.edu.

Green Campus Enterprise, Consumer Product Manufacturing (CPM) Enterprise and Dining Services are partnering to bring Sussex IM’s Mr. Lid products to North Coast Grill and Deli.

How the program works:

1. Pay the one-time $5 program fee (and get a 10% discount on purchases!).
2. Receive a key chain. 
3. When you purchase food, request your food in a Mr. Lid and exchange the key chain.
4. Once finished with your food, return your Mr. Lid to the cash register to get your key chain back.
5. Repeat steps three and four, and enjoy!

The purposes of the Mr. Lid program are: environmental impact (sustainability), economization and turning passion into action.

Dining Services presents this week's C-Cubed Luncheon, being held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 30) in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge, Room 107. All faculty and staff, along with their guests, are invited.

The C-Cubed lunch buffet menus are created by executive chef Eric Karvonen and prepared by Karvonen and his culinary team. As the name suggests, the meals are meant to foster conversation, community and collegiality. Attendees may bring their lunch instead of purchasing the buffet. Fruit-infused water, coffee, tea, cookies and fruit are available free to all attendees.

The buffet lunch is $12 per person. Cash, credit cards and gift cards are accepted. Gift cards can be purchased in the Memorial Union office, Room 101. You can submit C-Cubed feedback using this Google form. To join the C-Cubed Google group and receive weekly menus, email business-support@mtu.edu. 

Menu for Thursday (Sept. 30):

BBQ St. Louis Ribs with KC BBQ Sauce (Gluten Free)
Quinoa Black Bean Steak with KC BBQ Glaze (Vegan)
BBQ Fries (Gluten Free, Vegan)
Fresh Salad Bar

Lokanath Patra, postdoctoral fellow at Michigan Tech, will give a talk titled "Stability and Mechanical Response of 2D Materials" at the next Physics Colloquium. Please join the presentation on Thursday (Sept. 30) at 4 p.m. in Fisher Hall, Room 139.

Read more about Patra's background on the University Events Calendar.

From the abstract:
Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have attracted much attention due to their unique properties, e.g., high electrical conductivity, carrier mobility, and flexibility compared to their bulk counterparts. However, only a few of them are stable in the air. Moreover, their mechanical strength is another essential factor in designing ultralight, high strength, and flexible devices. We will address these two factors in this talk, discussing the structural stability and mechanical response of 2D materials, including elemental monolayers of the group IV in the periodic table, graphene-based heterostructures, and the ultrathin films of tungsten nitride. The structural stability will be investigated using density functional theory1, and the mechanical response will be determined using the molecular dynamics method simulating the nanoindentation experimental setup for these 2D materials.

Julie Maresca, associate professor civil and environmental engineering and co-director of the microbiology graduate program at the University of Delaware, is the next presenter in the Biological Sciences Seminar Series.

The seminar will be held from 3-4 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 30) via Zoom.

Maresca's presentation is titled "Hard Microbiology: Microbial communities in concrete." 

From the abstract:
Concrete is the most used building material in the world, making it a very common potential habitat for microbes. However, it is hard, dry, salty, and alkaline, making it a difficult environment to survive in. As concrete structures degrade over time, the conditions inside the concrete change, and we hypothesized that degraded concrete would host different microbes than intact concrete. If this is the case, it might be possible to identify microbes that could be used as bioindicators for structural health monitoring. We used 16S analysis of a 2.5-year time series to show that the small but dynamic microbial community in concrete is seeded from the components of concrete, changes over time, and changes in response to both seasonal variation and the alkali-silica reaction, a common abiotic reaction that degrades concrete. We also used metagenomic analysis of samples collected from roads, bridges, and foundations to show that older concrete hosts diverse halotolerant and halophilic microbes, including a substantial population of haloarchaea.

M.S. candidate Junyao Yang (CS) will present his master's thesis defense on Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. in Kanwal and Ann Rekhi Hall (Rekhi), Room 101. Light refreshments will be served. Attendance is also invited virtually via Zoom.

Yang's defense thesis is titled "Efficient Modeling of Random Sampling-Based LRU Cache."

His faculty advisor is Zhenlin Wang (CS).

Read the abstract on the Computing News Blog.

Now that the fall semester has begun, we will be continuing with the once-a-semester ADVANCE Midwest Partnership – Joining Forces workshops.

This fall's virtual workshop focuses on department culture and is titled "Come Together: Building an Equitable Department Where Faculty Want to Work and Stay."

To accommodate schedules, this facilitated workshop is offered via Zoom on two separate dates: 

• Monday (Oct. 4), 10-11:30 a.m. CST — Register online.
• Wednesday (Oct. 6), 8:30-10 a.m. CST — Register online.

Please note: Workshop times are in Central Standard Time.

Department chairs are invited to sign up for one of the two workshop dates using the corresponding registration links. Workshop materials will be provided closer to the workshop date. 

For more information, please visit our website for a downloadable flyer.

Tuesday (Sept. 28)
• Huskies Drive Time, 7:30-8 a.m. on Mix 93 WKMJ

Friday (Oct. 1)
• Soccer vs. Purdue Northwest, 5 p.m. at Kearly Stadium
• Cross-Country at UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invite, 5:15 p.m.
• Volleyball vs. Wayne State, 7 p.m. at SDC Gym

Saturday (Oct. 2)
• Football vs. Davenport, 1 p.m. at Kearly Stadium on Mix 93 WKMJ
• Volleyball vs. Saginaw Valley State, 4 p.m. at SDC Gym
• Hockey vs. Northern Michigan, 7:07 p.m. at MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Mix 93 WKMJ

Sunday (Oct. 3)
• Soccer vs. Northern Michigan, noon at Kearly Stadium on TV6

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Junior Clayton Sayen led Michigan Tech cross-country with a first-place individual finish at the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 24.

Sayen turned in a winning time of 25:17.7 in the Joe Rider Men's Maroon 8K race, edging Wayne State's Ransom Allen (25:22.5) and Zac Truman (25:41.3) for the top spot on the podium. The Husky men took fourth place as a team in a field of 27 schools at 138 points.

Tech women's cross-country placed ninth with 237 points in the Suzy Wilson Women's Maroon 6K against 26 opponents. Junior Michelle Bollini was the top women's finisher in 26th place with a time of 23:20.4.

The invite was hosted by the University of Minnesota at Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Michigan Tech volleyball picked up their third and fourth straight sweeps last weekend with wins over Lake Superior State and Northwood to end their road trip.

The Huskies defeated the Lakers (their 20th consecutive victory over Lake Superior State) at Bud Cooper Gym on Sept. 24, winning 25-19, 25-18 and 25-23.

"We're certainly very satisfied to come out with a three-set sweep on the road," Tech coach Matt Jennings said. "We probably weren't our best tonight, but had some strong performances in a few areas that kind of made the difference in the long run."

Then, MTU swept Northwood on Sept. 25, winning 25-16, 25-21 and 25-18 at Riepma Arena. With the sweeps, the Huskies improve to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in the GLIAC.

"We looked pretty good tonight overall," Jennings said. "I thought our defense did a great job making it hard for them to score all match long. We were controlling the ball nicely in the backcourt and passing well enough to get our offense going at the right times."

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Michigan Tech football fell 44-21 to No. 9-ranked Grand Valley State on Sept. 25 at cool, breezy Kearly Stadium in front of 1,447 fans.

Grand Valley State scored 30 points in the first half and stifled the Huskies offense for much of the game. Tech gained some traction in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns, but penalties and a fumbled snap quickly zapped their momentum.

It was the fifth straight loss for Michigan Tech (1-2, 0-0 GLIAC). The Huskies’ four-game homestand to start the 2021 season concludes Saturday (Oct. 2) on Homecoming against Davenport at 1 p.m. 

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

The Michigan Tech soccer team fell 3-0 to Saginaw Valley State on Sept. 26. The Huskies were unable to overcome some tough breaks and bounces. With the loss, they drop to 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in GLIAC competition. 

"It was a tough loss against a very good SVSU team," coach Turk Ozturk said. "We have to be able to rebound quickly and be ready for our next round of matches. The GLIAC is a tough conference and it is a grind. We have to prepare and be ready for each and every game to reach our team goals."

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

The Joe Shawhan Hour is back on the airwaves, Mondays at 10 a.m. on Mix 93 (93.5 WKMJ-FM). 

During the broadcast, Michigan Tech head hockey coach Joe Shawhan and host Dirk Hembroff update you on everything surrounding the MTU hockey program. The show regularly features guest appearances from current coaches, staff, student-athletes, former players and friends of the program.

Fans can listen live on the radio at Mix 93, online at the Mix 93 website or Pasty.com, or by using your favorite radio streaming app. Past shows will also be posted online for on-demand listeners.

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Michigan Tech men's tennis finished up three days of singles and doubles competition in the ITA Midwest Region Tournament, hosted by Grand Valley State, on Sept. 26.

"Round one singles was really tough for us with 22 region teams in the tournament," commented head coach Kristin Yep. "We struggled to quickly adjust to windy outdoor conditions. However, it was nice to see Andrew (Freel) make it to the semifinals of the consolation draw. In doubles, Vitor (Jordao) and Eli (Pinnoo) took out the No. 4 seed in the A draw first round, then lost a close tiebreaker in the round of 16."

Read more about the Huskies' individual performances at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Laura Kasson Fiss (PHC/HU), Andrew Fiss (HU) and Michelle Jarvie-Eggart (EF) presented at the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals annual conference, held online on Sept. 10.

Their presentation was titled “‘Pioneer of the Technical and Trade Press of the World’: Mining Periodicals in the Holdings of Michigan Technological University” (and they would like to thank the Van Pelt and Opie Library for keeping these wonderful resources on the open stacks!).

Michigan Tech’s international student population was mentioned in an MLive story regarding the global “talent war” for skilled workers with advanced degrees. Kellie Raffaelli (IPS) was quoted discussing the H-1B work visa lottery system.

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Simon Cairn (GMES) was quoted in a Washington Post article on the erupting volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma.

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MTU Esports Director Kaitlyn Roose was interviewed on the One Up XP Show, a 9&10 News podcast.

Face Coverings Required in Classrooms, Labs, Library

Michigan Tech remains at Health and Safety Level Two. Face coverings are required in certain locations — classrooms and laboratories during classes and lab courses, and in the library — and may also be required during instructors' office hours. In all other settings, face coverings are encouraged but not required. This applies to all students, employees, and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.

Michigan Tech strongly recommends that all employees and students receive the COVID-19 vaccine and continue with handwashing and hand-sanitizing practices, especially in light of the virulence of the COVID-19 delta variant. Please be aware that if you are exposed to COVID-19, quarantine guidelines vary depending on vaccination status. 

In Level Two, students and employees are not required to monitor their symptoms daily prior to coming to campus. But, individuals should be mindful of their own symptoms. A useful monitoring tool is available from the CDC. 

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On-Demand COVID-19 Testing Available on Campus

Walk-in, on-demand COVID-19 testing is available to Michigan Tech students and employees during the fall 2021 semester.

Testing is located in the Datolite Room at the MUB on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. There is no cost to be tested, and no appointment is needed. 

Read more COVID-19 Testing Information on the MTU Flex website.

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CyberCorps Scholarship Info Session

The Michigan Tech CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program will accept CyberApplications for the 2022-23 cohort from Dec. 1 to Feb. 1. An information session for those interested in applying is planned on Thursday (Sept. 30) from 4-5 p.m. in Kanwal and Ann Rekhi Hall (Rekhi), Room 113. An additional session will be scheduled later this fall.

CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) is a national program to recruit and train the next generation of IT professionals, industrial control system security professionals and security managers to meet the needs of the cybersecurity mission for federal, state, local and tribal governments.

Yu Cai (AC) is the principal investigator of the five-year, $3.3 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that funds this scholarship. The scholarship provides up to three years of full scholarship support for 20 undergraduate and graduate students.

Read more on the Computing News Blog.

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TIAA On-Campus Retirement Counseling Sessions

The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) will be on campus for individual retirement counseling sessions on the following days:

• Monday, Oct. 4 — MUB Alumni Lounge A
• Tuesday, Oct. 5 — MUB Alumni Lounge A
• Wednesday, Oct. 6 — Lakeshore Center, 220H
• Thursday, Oct. 7 — MUB Superior Room, B001

To schedule an appointment, call 800-732-8353 or book online.

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'Copper Planted Seeds' Artists To Speak at Michigan Tech

Ashanté Kindle and Khari Turner are coming to Michigan Tech this week to discuss their joint art exhibit, "Copper Planted Seeds," currently on display at Finlandia University.

With "Seeds," Kindle and Turner seek common ground between the history of the Keweenaw Peninsula and their life experiences as Black American artists. The theme of their exhibit is "sisu," a Finnish term meaning "human grit and determination," in the face of daunting circumstances.

Join Kindle and Turner at Michigan Tech on Wednesday (Sept. 29) from 4-5:15 p.m. in the Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC), Room 103. All are invited. The discussion will begin with a presentation on their life, art and influences, followed by a Q&A session.

Read more about the discussion at MTU and see some of Kindle and Turner's art on the Diversity and Inclusion Newsblog. For more info, contact the Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at vpdi@mtu.edu.

For further info on the "Copper Planted Seeds" exhibit, contact the Finlandia University Gallery at gallery@finlandia.edu.

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Café Français

Please join us today (Sept. 28) from 5-6 p.m. in the Walker Arts and Humanities Center (Walker), Room 120C, for an hour of laid-back Francophone setting with French natives and other Francophiles. All levels welcome.

Upcoming Café Français dates: Oct. 12, Oct. 26, Nov. 9, and Dec. 7.

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

Hyperconnection: A New Series by Tiffany Lange

Tuesday, September 28, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, Gallery: A-Space

Tiffany Lange’s newest series “Hyperconnection”, examines overstimulation and anxiousness through abstraction. After a year of increased screen time during quarantine and...

The Spirit of the Hunt: Ecological Art Exhibit & Public Wolf Discussion

Tuesday, September 28, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. | U. J. Noblet Forestry Building, Atrium and G002

Art Exhibit: August 30-October 15 Monday-Friday from 9:00am to 4:00pm Noblet Atrium, Michigan Tech College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Opening...

Giant Board Games

Tuesday, September 28, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. | Walker Lawn

Teams of 4 will compete and play giant board games to win awesome prizes! *Homecoming teams from 6-7 (sign up prior), non-homecoming teams from 7-8pm (sign up at the event)**...

Graduate School Information Night

Tuesday, September 28, 6 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Do you have questions about Graduate School? Join civil, environmental and geospatial engineering faculty and graduate students in a round table Q&A discussion. Learn about:...

Open Rock Climbing

Tuesday, September 28, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Multipurpose Room Climbing Wall

All ages (we can allow all ages to climb as long as we have the proper fitting equipment). No need to sign up, just stop by the Climbing Wall between 6 and 8 pm Monday through...