November 15, 2021

The Facilities Management family and Michigan Tech community mourn the passing of longtime tradesperson Pete Manderfield.

Manderfield worked for over 20 years in Facilities' Trades department as a master electrician and plumber. He was known on campus for his immense skills, work ethic and the warm smile that he brought to every project.

Pete was also known by many for his active involvement in the community — he was a member of St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church in Houghton and the Knights of Columbus, and was actively involved in the Lions Club and the Houghton middle school and high school football programs. He also carried on the family chicken barbecue legacy by grilling chicken for the Lions Club, St. Ignatius church, the high school football team and many family gatherings.

Services for Pete were held Friday (Nov. 12) in Houghton.

The Student Development Complex (SDC) and Gates Tennis Center will observe reduced hours over Thanksgiving Break, from Friday (Nov. 19) through Nov. 28.

The SDC and Gates Tennis Center will also be closed on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25).

Details are available on the SDC Thanksgiving Break Schedule.

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 Jan. 7 and ending approximately Jan. 14. 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 Jan. 5 from 2-3 p.m. Please register online to participate. Please direct any questions you may have to Debra Charlesworth at ddc@mtu.edu.

A production system maintenance window is scheduled for Sunday (Nov. 21) from 8 to 9 a.m. During that time, the following production services will be unavailable:

ACMAL
Cumulus
Service Desk Archive
TechTracS
Time Clock Plus (time clocks will continue to work in offline mode)
WinPRISM

If you have any questions or concerns, we can help. Contact us at it-help@mtu.edu or call 906-487-1111.

ADVANCE at Michigan Tech is hosting a live virtual discussion with the director of "Coded Bias," a film about the discovery of bias in the algorithms governing facial recognition and the push for legislation that followed.

We invite you to watch the film and then join us Tuesday (Nov. 16) at 7 p.m. for a live virtual discussion with filmmaker Shalini Kantayya.

Please RSVP to participate. You will receive an invitation to screen the film, which is one hour and 25 minutes in length (the link will remain active through Tuesday). You will receive a second link to the virtual discussion.

This year’s Three Minute Thesis competition organized by the Graduate Student Government (GSG) of Michigan Tech had great participation both in person at The Orpheum Theater and virtually over Facebook Live. Twenty-eight participants competed at the MUB Ballroom for a place in the finals, held at The Orpheum Theater on Nov. 4.

After a very close competition, Priyanka Kadav, a Ph.D. student from the Department of Chemistry, won first place.

Kadav's presentation was titled “Capture and Release (CaRe): A novel protein purification technique.” She will go on to represent Michigan Tech at the regional levels of the competition.

The runner-up was Emily Shaw, a Ph.D. student from the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering, with a presentation titled “Toxicity in Fish Tissue: Redefining our Understandings by Quantifying Mixture Toxicity.”

Yue (Emily) Kang from the Department of Mathematical Sciences department won the People's Choice award with her presentation, titled “Robust numerical solvers for flows in fractured porous media.”

Other finalists were:

• Jessica Bruning, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology
• Sunit Girdhar, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
• Rob Tunison, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
• Arman Tatar, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
• Laura Schaerer, Biological Sciences
• Michael Maurer, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Each presentation was scored by a panel of judges from diverse academic backgrounds. The judges for the finals were:

• Wallace Southerland III, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
• Jim Baker, associate vice president for research administration
• Marie Cleveland, a Michigan Tech alumna who was awarded the Alumni Association Outstanding Service Award in 2014

This year's finals were also streamed live on GSG’s Facebook page and can be watched online.

GSG would also like to thank all the volunteers and The Orpheum Theater for making this event possible.

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics candidate Shreyas Kolapkar (ME-EM) will defend their doctoral dissertation tomorrow (Nov. 16) at noon. This virtual defense will be held online only. Attendance is invited via Zoom.

Kolapkar's dissertation is titled "Integrated Torrefaction - Extrusion System for Conversion of Fiber - Plastic Wastes into Solid Fuels."

Distinguished Professor Zhanping You (CEGE) will be featured at the next Michigan Tech Research Forum (MTRF) on Nov. 30.

The forum will take place in the Memorial Union Ballroom A. The lecture will begin at 4:30 p.m., with 30 minutes before and after the lecture for networking.

You's presentation is titled "Engineering Waste Tires to Better Roads." Additional details can be found on the MTRF website.

The MTRF is presented by the Office of the Provost with support from the Office of the Vice President for Research. The forum showcases and celebrates the work of Michigan Tech researchers and aims to strengthen discussions in our community. All are welcome, including the general public. Complimentary snacks will be provided.

CFRES is very excited to host an in-person seminar Thursday (Nov. 18) by Thomas Martin, senior scientist at the Montana Cooperative U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Montana.

Martin has pioneered the fields of evolutionary ecology and life history theory through experimental and observational studies across hemispheres. His research often focuses on how environmental change (climate and predator communities) drives the evolution of variable physiological and behavioral outcomes in birds across the world’s temperate and tropical forests. His work is regularly featured in Science, Nature and Ecology Letters, among many other leading journals. Please find details about his seminar below, and I look forward to seeing you at the seminar!

The seminar will be held Thursday (Nov. 18) from 2-3 p.m. in the U. J. Noblet Forestry Building (Noblet), Room G002.

Martin's presentation is titled "Adult and Offspring Mortality in the Evolution of Life History Strategies Based on Field Studies of Songbirds on 4 Continents."

From the abstract:
Mortality is a strong source of selection for the evolution of traits and strategies, but variation across species in different parts of the world has not been well studied. I will explore consequences for standard life history traits like brood size, development rates, parental care behaviors, and also consequences for some traits less studied, like fledgling timing and performance, parental energy expenditure based on doubly-labeled water, and even phenology of timing of breeding.

Eight student-athletes have signed a national letter of intent to join the Michigan Tech soccer team for the fall of 2022.

The Huskies' incoming 2022 class includes eight student-athletes from four different states, including Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and Oregon, consisting of two goalkeepers, two center backs, two midfielders and two forwards:

• Katie Jude | GK | Bexley, Ohio
• Brianna Barrows | GK | Oxford, Michigan
• Olivia Gette | CB | North Oaks, Minnesota
• Clara Murchison | CB/HM | Portland, Oregon
• Alyvia Sanom | M/F | Berkley, Michigan
• Makenna Sanom | M/F | Berkley, Michigan
• Taylor Noble | F | Boyne City, Michigan
• Jordan Noble | F | Boyne City, Michigan

Read more about the Huskies 2022 class recruits at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Job Posting for Monday, Nov. 15, 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. 

Facility Coordinator, Ford Center. 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 for an interview, at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or mtujobs@mtu.edu.

Travis White (GLRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $99,997 other sponsored activities grant from the Office of the Great Lakes - Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

The project is titled "Smart Ships Coalition and Marine Autonomy Research Site (MARS) Development Phase II."

This is a potential 15-month project.

Face Coverings Required Indoors on Campus

While Michigan Tech is at Health and Safety Level Two, face coverings must be worn indoors. This applies to all students, employees and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.

Michigan Tech strongly recommends that all employees and students 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. 

Please note: Testing will not be offered Nov. 22, 23 or 25 during the week of Michigan Tech's Thanksgiving recess.

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

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ChemStores: Holiday Hours for Thanksgiving Week

ChemStores will have reduced hours Nov. 22-26 during Thanksgiving week:

• Monday, Nov. 22 — 1-3 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 23 — 1-3 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 24 — 1-3 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 25 — Closed
• Friday, Nov. 26 — Closed

Please contact us at chemstores@mtu.edu if you need to pick up your items outside of these times, or if you have any other questions.

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New Recycling Opportunities on Campus!

Kimberly-Clark has partnered with the Consumer Product and Manufacturing (CPM) Enterprise to make the recycling of flex-film plastics much more accessible to students.

Flex film is any plastic designated with the No. 4 recycling code. Examples of flex film are plastic shopping bags, soda rings and Ziploc bags. If it stretches but doesn’t tear, it’s flex film! Recycling plants are unable to process flex film in the ways they do other plastics due to flex film’s elastic nature. This makes the separation of flex film from other plastics crucial. 

Look out for purple recycling containers in the North Coast Grill and Deli and in the CPM office in the basement of the Chemical Sciences and Engineering (Chem Sci) building.

More information about reading recycling labels can be found at the How2Recycle website.

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Biocomputing and Digital Health Lecture

The ICC's Joint Center for Biocomputing and Digital Health will host a lecture today (Nov. 15) from noon to 1 p.m. in Kanwal and Ann Rehki Hall (Rekhi), Room 214.

Yousef Darestani (CEGE) will present "Application of Machine Learning in Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Biomedical Systems: A Case Study for Transcatheter Valves."

Read more on the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems Blog.

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Campus Master Plan Town Halls

Please help us plan for the physical campus of tomorrow's Michigan Technological University!

Today (Nov. 15) we will be holding three live and in-person town hall sessions to discuss, review and get feedback on potential planning solutions to the issues facing our campus today and in the future.

Topics we will be discussing are now available on the Campus Master Plan website.

The town hall sessions will be held in the Alumni Lounge at the MUB at noon, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. We are looking forward to some lively discussions with students, faculty and staff!

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Joint Chemistry/Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar

The next Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar will be held jointly with the Department of Chemistry at 3 p.m. today (Nov. 15) in the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), Room 202.

Diana S. Aga, the Henry Woodburn Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, will present "Lessons Learned from Two Decades of Research on Uncovering Emerging Contaminants and their Ecological Impacts."

All are welcome.

Read the abstract and Aga's bio on the University Events Calendar.

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Breaking Stereotypes for Women Engineers

Please join us for a “Breaking Stereotypes for Women Engineers” event today (Nov. 15) from 7-9 p.m. in MUB Ballroom A. 

The event will start out with a panel of women engineers and professors sharing a time in their education or career when they were faced with a stereotype. Discussion on how the panelist handled the situation will follow the stories.

After the panel discussion, we will ask the audience to write down a time they personally experienced a stereotype. These responses will be collected and read anonymously to the audience. Afterward, the panel will comment on what they heard. At the end of the evening, light refreshments will be served and everyone will have the opportunity to continue the discussion with the panelists and each other.

Please use this form to share a quote, an experience or your thoughts that fit the theme of this event.

“Breaking Stereotypes for Women Engineers”  is hosted by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Society of Women Engineers, the Panhellenic Council and the IPC and Electronics Club.

Thank you for your participation as we create an ongoing conversation on breaking the stereotypes women face in both industry and education.

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RSVP Open Enrollment Ends Monday

The Retirement Supplemental Voluntary Program (RSVP) is a voluntary retirement program offered to eligible Michigan Tech employees. The enrollment period during which an employee may sign their RSVP election ends today (Nov. 15).

Employees electing the monetary retirement option must retire on or before June 30, 2022. The monetary retirement option provides a benefit equal to 50% of the eligible employee’s annual salary (nine-month salary for faculty), up to the cap amount of $75,607 at the time of their actual retirement date.

As announced in July, the University will gradually phase out the RSVP over the next four fiscal years (FY22-FY25).

For further clarification, please see the RSVP policy and the RSVP matrix, which explains the gradual phase-out of all RSVP options.

Prior to electing RSVP, employees must meet with the Benefits Office for a confidential meeting to verify eligibility. RSVP program information may be found online.

RSVP questions may be directed to Benefit Services at 906-487-2517 or benefits@mtu.edu.

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PhD Defense: Tolulope Odebunmi, HU

Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture candidate Tolulope Odebunmi (HU) will defend her doctoral dissertation today (Nov. 15) at 3 p.m. This virtual defense will be held online only. Attendance is invited via Zoom.

Odebunmi's dissertation is titled "The Language of Development in the Rhetoric of Liberian Presidents."

From the abstract:
This dissertation contests the framing of 'development' in Liberian presidential discourse — Inaugural and State of the nation addresses of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Weah through Reisigl & Wodak's (2016) Discourse Historical Analysis (DHA) and conceptions of political ideologies (Chilton & Schaffner, 2002; van Dijk, 2006; Fairclough & Wodak, 1997). Aristotelian rhetoric complements my analysis. 

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

New Husky Orientation

Monday, November 15, 8:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Lakeshore-comm-rm123

The Misinformation Edition Exhibition

Monday, November 15, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. | J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library

Glass Room: Misinformation Edition explores how social media and the web have changed the way we read information and react to it. It exposes new types of influencers, the new...

PhD Defense: Joseph Shannon

Monday, November 15, 9–10 a.m. | U. J. Noblet Forestry Building, G002

Forest Science Co-advisors: Fengjing Liu and Randall Kolka Regional Impacts of Invasive Species and Climate Change on Black Ash Wetlands Attend Virtually:...

ICC’s Joint Center for Biocomputing and Digital Health Lecture: Dr. Yousef Darestani (CEGE)

Monday, November 15, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. | Rekhi Hall, 214

Dr. Yousef Darestani (CEGE) will present, “Application of Machine Learning in Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Biomedical Systems: A Case Study for Transcatheter Valves" as...

Biocomputing and Digital Health Lecture Series: Yousef Darestani, CEGE

Monday, November 15, 12 p.m.–1 p.m. | Rekhi Hall, 214

The ICC's Joint Center for Biocomputing and Digital Health will host a lecture on Monday, November 15, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., in Rehki Hall, Room 214. Yousef Darestani (CEGE)...

Lessons Learned from Two Decades of Research on Uncovering Emerging Contaminants and their Ecological Impacts

Monday, November 15, 3 p.m. | Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), 202

Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar Joint with Chemistry Department Diana S. Aga, PhD, Henry Woodburn Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University at...

PhD Defense: Tolulope Aina Odebunmi

Monday, November 15, 3 p.m.–4 p.m.

Rhetoric, Theory and Culture Co-advisors: Abraham Romney and Victoria Bergvall The Language of Development in the Rhetoric of Liberian Presidents Attend Virtually:...

EPSSI Seminar: Jin Pan, Virginia Tech

Monday, November 15, 4 p.m.–5 p.m.

Environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 in quarantine and isolation dormitories There are relatively little data about the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the built...

Strength Training and High Intensity Interval Training ("HIIT")

Monday, November 15, 5:30 p.m.–6:15 p.m.

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...

Open Rock Climbing

Monday, November 15, 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...

What's next, NEXTCAR?

Monday, November 15, 6 p.m.

Husky Bites presents Special Guest Bo Chen Professor of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, and Electrical and Computer Engineering Michigan Technological...

Breaking Stereotypes for Women Engineers

Monday, November 15, 7 p.m.–9 p.m. | Memorial Union Building (MUB), Ballroom A

Please join us! The event will start out with a panel of women engineers and professors sharing a time in their education or career when they were faced with a stereotype....