January 24, 2022

Tonight (Jan. 24) on Husky Bites, Lindsay Hiltunen (Library) offers a pictorial look back through the University’s most iconic event — Winter Carnival. The free and family-friendly live webinar series begins at 6 p.m.

MTU Wikipedian in Residence Cynthia Hodges will also be there to talk about her Winter Carnival Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at the Van Pelt and Opie Library on Saturday (Jan. 29). Students and alumni are invited to learn how to correctly research and submit updated Wikipedia entries, specifically focusing on Winter Carnival.

Read the full story on Michigan Tech News.

A limited supply of disposable KN95 face coverings are now available to Michigan Tech students and employees on a first-come, first-served basis. The University is offering this limited supply to assist those who would like to wear high-filtration face coverings but have not yet been able to purchase them. We are happy to provide up to two KN95s per person while supplies last. 

Distribution locations are:

• Wads Front Desk
• McNair Front Desk
• DHH Front Desk
• SDC Ticket Office
• Library Circulation Desk
• Campus Bookstore
• Public Safety and Police Services
• Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success

If departments wish to coordinate a single pickup for a larger work group, please email campusstore@mtu.edu with your department name, quantity of KN95s needed (up to two per person), and the name of the person who will be picking them up. The Campus Bookstore will confirm when your order is ready to be picked up.

Free surgical-style face coverings, donated through Ford, are still currently available to departments through Chem Stores.

If you have questions about the KN95 face covering distribution, please email them to mtuflex@mtu.edu.

The Enterprise Program and College of Engineering are excited to announce the 22nd Design Expo, being held in person from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 21 in the Van Pelt and Opie Library’s third floor reading room.

Design Expo has been expanded to highlight Senior Design/Capstone projects from all areas of the Michigan Tech campus, involving teams from the College of Business, College of Computing, College of Engineering and College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science.

RSVP for Design Expo Today!
The Michigan Tech community, friends and sponsors are invited to register for this year’s Design Expo.

More than a thousand students in the Enterprise and Senior/Capstone Design programs will come together to showcase their work and compete for awards. In addition, a panel of judges, made up of distinguished corporate representatives, alumni, community members, and Michigan Tech staff and faculty, will be able to critique videos of team projects, solutions and results in advance of the live event, then come to Design Expo to meet the teams and ask any questions in person.

Social Hour and Awards Ceremony
Starting at 2:30 p.m., all student teams, judges, sponsors and friends, and the Michigan Tech campus community are invited to a social hour at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts with light refreshments, entertainment and door prizes. Then, at 3:30 p.m., we will begin the Design Expo Awards Ceremony, where student teams will be recognized and more than $3,000 in cash will be awarded.

Both events are free and open to the public. We encourage current and future students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, families of students, and others to help us celebrate our students and their achievements. Register today to see a schedule of events and attend the 2022 Design Expo.

Become a Judge
Are you interested in judging for the 22nd annual Design Expo? We welcome all Michigan Tech faculty, graduate students, staff, alumni, industry representatives and community members interested in the great work of our students! Find out more at our Become a Judge web page.

This year, judges will have the flexibility to evaluate team videos anytime between noon April 18 and 2 p.m. April 21. Judges will be assigned three to five teams, and will evaluate each team's video using an electronic ballot. In addition, judges are asked to attend Design Expo in person between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. April 21 to judge their teams in person. Judges will be selected based on their availability to attend Design Expo in person.

2022 Design Expo Website
For more information on attending and judging Design Expo, visit our website. For questions, please reach out to Briana Tucker at bctucker@mtu.edu.

Nominations for this year's Graduate Student Government (GSG) Merit Awards are now open. This is a time to celebrate all the hard work that graduate students, faculty and staff have put in over the last year.

GSG gives out four awards each year: Exceptional Staff Member, Exceptional Graduate Mentor, Exceptional Student Leader and Exceptional Student Scholar.

To see full information about the criteria for these awards, please visit our website. If you wish to nominate someone, please fill out and submit the nomination form. Nominations will close Feb. 18 at 11:59 p.m.

Please help us in recognizing some of the outstanding individuals on our campus by submitting a nomination today!

Northern Michigan University will be hosting the Upper Peninsula Teaching Learning Conference (UPTLC) again this spring on May 24-25. The conference theme is Navigating Change: New Directions for Superior Teaching. Please consider submitting a proposal for a presentation or poster for one or more of the tracks listed below:

1. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
2. Teaching Technology
3. Online Teaching and Learning
4. Instructional Vitality: Innovative and Engaging Ideas
5. Student Support, Retention and Advising

The deadline to submit a proposal is Feb. 7. Please send in your proposals using the submission form. Conference information and examples of previous proposals may be found on the conference website. Questions can be directed to Michigan Tech's Center for Teaching and Learning.

Due to current circumstances, the Husky Innovation Week presentation "Generation Zoom and the State of Mind of Post-Pandemic Youth" by Cassy Tefft de Muñoz will now take place exclusively on Zoom.

The virtual presentation will still be held from 12:15-1:15 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 27).

Register to attend on Zoom.

Three Physics graduate students will be presenting their research progress at this week's Physics Colloquium:

• Nithin Allwayin (advised by Raymond Shaw)
• Rishi Babu (advised by Petra Huentemeyer)
• Sushree Dash (advised by Miguel Levy)

This hybrid event will take place Thursday (Jan. 27). The students will give their talks at 4 p.m. in Fisher 139. Please join in person or via Zoom.

Please register in advance to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event.

Event details, along with the students' presentation titles and abstracts, can be found on the University Events Calendar.

Tomorrow (Jan. 25) from 10:30-11:30 a.m., IKEA will join the Husky Innovation Week lineup with a short virtual discussion highlighting how they innovate when faced with the challenges of the modern age.

Jukka Vornanen, global wood supply manager, Ikea of Sweden, in Älmhult, Sweden, will present IKEA’s philosophy and the big ideas that are moving IKEA forward. Vornanen will talk about collaboration with Tech to offer student internships and co-ops. Erin Syth, institute manager of IPEC, and Cody Kangas, director of corporate relations, will moderate the discussion.

Registration is required. Please register to attend.

At this discussion, you will: 

• Find out how wood, a commonly used material of the past, is being imagined for a new future at IKEA.
• Hear more about how IKEA works with its Democratic Design process.
• Learn what the Forest Positive Agenda for 2030 means and how it is part of the IKEA vision.
• See student co-op opportunities abroad in Sweden offered at the 2022 Michigan Tech Career Fair.

From the IKEA website: “Democratic Design is a tool we use when we develop and evaluate the products we put into our range. It has five dimensions, which are function, form, quality, sustainability and low price. When there is a balance between all five, we consider that the design is democratic.”

The Michigan Tech vs. Northern Michigan home-and-home series, originally scheduled for last weekend, was postponed due to health and safety precautions within Northern Michigan's hockey program.

The CCHA, Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan are working together to reschedule the two contests for later dates during the 2021-22 season.

Read more and find out how your ticket is affected at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

After Grand Valley State tied the game with a last-second 3-pointer, Michigan Tech women's basketball came up short in the extra session, falling 74-70 to the No. 12 Lakers on Jan. 20 at SDC Gymnasium.

Ellie Mackay posted 25 points and six rebounds for MTU. Katelyn Meister scored 12 points with seven boards, and Sara Dax had nine points, seven rebounds.

"I was extremely proud of how we competed and how much heart we showed today," said head coach Sam Clayton. "There is a reason why Grand Valley State is ranked No. 12 in the nation and I thought we did a lot of things right. It just came down to a couple of possessions in the end. I think we showed a lot of character, especially in the first half coming back after Grand Valley's 13-point run."

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Michigan Tech men's basketball couldn't keep up with Grand Valley State's late clutch baskets, falling to the Lakers 80-74 on Jan. 20 at SDC Gymnasium.

Owen White led all players with 21 points in the loss. Carter Johnston and Carl managed 15 points apiece with Johnston also passing seven assists. The Huskies shot 50.9% overall (29-for-57), including 38% (8-for-21) from 3-point range. The Huskies held a 36-14 in-the-paint points advantage, but the Lakers made up the difference by making 63% of their 3-point tries.

"I thought it was two good teams going at it and competing hard," said head coach Josh Buettner. "All the credit to Grand Valley for stepping up and making some shots late. They got to the line and shot well too. You rely on your best players to come up with those late and they did it."

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Job Postings for Monday, Jan. 24, 2022

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. 

Postdoctoral Scholar – Ecosystem Ecology Modeling, College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. Apply online.

Mi-STAR Education Sales Specialist, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. 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.

Rolf Peterson (CFRES) was interviewed by CBC News about an extraordinarily long-lived cow moose whose skull was recovered in Isle Royale National Park in August. Peterson estimated the moose was 22 years old when it died.

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The Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE) was profiled by Study International.

Iosif Pinelis (Math) is a co-author of a paper accepted for presentation at the 2022 International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR).

The paper is titled "Differentially Private Fractional Frequency Moments Estimation with Polylogarithmic Space."

The conference is the premier gathering of professionals dedicated to the advancement of the branch of artificial intelligence called representation learning, but generally referred to as deep learning.

Dawn Song and Lun Wang, both of the Computer Science Division of the University of California, Berkeley, are also co-authors.

A preprint version of the paper is available for download.

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 make choices to protect themselves, such as getting vaccinated, wearing high-filtration face coverings, and practicing enhanced sanitation and physical distancing where possible — especially in light of the increased transmissibility of the COVID-19 omicron 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 spring 2022 semester.

Testing is available every week in the Rozsa Center basement Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There is no cost to be tested, and no appointment is needed. 

The consent form is now online and can be completed anytime between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the day of your visit.

More COVID-19 Testing Information for the Michigan Tech community is available on the MTU Flex website.

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Student, Faculty Submissions Needed for Computing[MTU] Showcase

The College of Computing and the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) invite undergraduate and graduate students to submit posters for the Computing[MTU] Showcase. The poster session will be held April 5 in MUB Ballroom A from 3:45-5 p.m.

Team or individual pitch competition sign-ups are also open. The pitch competition will be held April 6 from 9-10 a.m. in the MUB Ballrooms.

Poster and pitch applications are open through March 10.

In addition, faculty members are invited to submit presentation or workshop/tutorial ideas through Feb. 21.

Application forms can be found on the ICC's Computing[MTU] Showcase web page.

Questions can be directed to Amanda Stump at ajstump@mtu.edu.

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CTL Technical Workshop: Gradescope Assignments

Interested in an efficient and effective approach to grading homework problems? Gradescope is an online assessment tool that will reduce the amount of time devoted to grading homework and exams while still being able to provide detailed feedback. Once assessments are graded, instructors can view detailed analytics to better understand how students are doing.

Join us Thursday (Jan. 27) from 2-3 p.m. as we introduce you to Gradescope and how to create a Gradescope Assignment. Please register in advance.

Contact the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at 906-487-3000 or elearning@mtu.edu if you have questions.

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Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar

The next Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar takes place at 3 p.m. today (Jan. 24) in GLRC 202 at the Great Lakes Research Center.

Susie Toivenen, environmental engineering Ph.D. student, will present "Prioritizing Lakes for Conservation: An Investigation of Phosphorus Loading Sensitivity in Wisconsin Lakes."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

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CEGE Alumni Speaker Presentation

The next presenter in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE) Alumni Speaker Series is Baron Colbert, senior engineer at Alta Vista Solutions.

Colbert will present "Rebuilding our National Transportation Infrastructure: Opportunities, Challenges, and Pathways Through the Construction Materials Testing Industry" via Zoom at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Jan. 25).

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Feedback Sought on Campus Master Plan Final Draft

As we work toward finalizing the Campus Master Plan, we're looking for feedback on the final draft. Please join us for one of two Campus Master Plan Town Hall events:

• Monday, Jan. 24 — 7 p.m. in Dillman 204 or attend virtually via Zoom. 
• Tuesday, Jan. 25 — noon in the MUB Ballroom, B2 and B3.
• Can't make the meetings? The draft plan will be posted on the Campus Master Plan website and you'll be able to comment there.

We look forward to your participation.

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Graduate Student Professional Development Series Part 1: Absences, Leaves and Mental Health Support

New and returning graduate students are invited to join Graduate School staff from 2-3 p.m. tomorrow (Jan. 25) in MUB Alumni Lounges B and C to learn more about the processes and resources available to you to navigate situations including excused absences, medical considerations and parental leave. This presentation is the first in our Graduate Student Professional Development Series. 

We understand that graduate students have many responsibilities outside of the classroom, lab and office that at times can hinder academic success and professional development. While we in the Graduate School hope that you never experience disruptions like illness or other emergencies, we want you to know how to proceed if you encounter an unexpected situation while enrolled at Tech.

Please register soon, as space is limited to 30 students. If you cannot attend but want more information about the topics we will cover, please email Anna McClatchy, manager of outreach and retention, at ajmcclat@mtu.edu.

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ACSHF Forum: Grad Student Presentations

The Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF) Forum will be held from 2-3 p.m. today (Jan. 24) virtually via Zoom.

There will be two speakers: Pomm Khaewratana and Alex Watral, both ACSHF graduate students.

Khaewratana will be presenting "Learning with word game: Effects of crossword and elaboration on learning scientific vocabulary."

Watral will present "Online Assessment of Motor Learning in Younger and Older Adults."

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

Innovation Week Presents: Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship Panel

Monday, January 24, 12 p.m.–1 p.m.

Interested in learning more about Northern Michigan startup resources? We’ve lined up leaders and experts from the region to kick-off innovation week and share what their...

Prioritizing Lakes for Conservation: An Investigation of Phosphorus Loading Sensitivity in Wisconsin Lakes

Monday, January 24, 3 p.m.–4 p.m.

Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar Susie Toivonen, Environmental Engineering Ph.D. student, Michigan Technological University Abstract: Nutrients such as phosphorus...

Youth Indoor Rock Climbing Spring 2022 Session 1

Monday, January 24, 4:00 p.m.–4:50 p.m.

Is your child looking for a new challenge? Sign up now for the OAP Youth Indoor Rock Climbing Class and let them climb our wall! We try to meet each participant at their level...

Spring 2022 First Meeting - Ice Cream Floats and Pizza

Monday, January 24, 5 p.m.–6 p.m.

This is our first meeting back for the semester! We will be doing ice breakers and hanging out, before going into the club's plans for the semester and a few updates. We will...

Open Rock Climbing

Monday, January 24, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

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...

Winter Carnival—One Hundred Years

Monday, January 24, 6 p.m.

Husky Bites presents Special Guest Lindsay Hiltunen University Archivist Michigan Technological University Co-host Cynthia Hodges '87 '89 Topic It’s one of Michigan...

Campus Master Plan Town Hall

Monday, January 24, 7 p.m.

Presentation and discussion of draft 'Final Master Plan' at two Town Hall events Zoom meeting...