January 28, 2022

The Michigan Tech Rail Transportation Program is pleased to announce the winners of our annual scholarship program! This year our scholarship committee chose four winners from a pool of eight applications.

• Nigel Soler and Matthew Switzer received $1,500 scholarships from our Michigan Tech Alumni and Friends program.
  
  
• Stanton Schmitz and Alexander Lehnert will receive $1,500 scholarships from our CN Endowment Fund.

Congratulations to all of our winners! You can find more information about these students and our previous winners at our website.

President Koubek will continue to hold regularly scheduled open office hours this semester for all faculty, staff and students on Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Please contact Heather Herman at hlherman@mtu.edu if you would like to schedule an appointment.

Creating more inclusive academic communities and making equity and diversity hallmarks of campus culture are lofty goals. What are the actual practices that can make such goals concrete features of university life?

A recent essay in CBE-Life Sciences Education makes the case that inclusivity requires thoughtful, proactive strategies. Specifically, the authors advance 14 actionable recommendations for creating more inclusive academic relationships and environments for LGBTQ+ individuals in the life sciences. The recommendations provide strategies for inclusive practices in the classroom, on campus, in research spaces and at conferences. They address issues of language, naming assumptions and alternatives, a variety of practical advocacy actions, teaching activities and materials, and research design and protocols. The recommendations are meant to stimulate further discussion, recognizing the ongoing need to adapt normative expectations and commonplace practices in order to create productive, inclusive academic spaces and communities.

Today’s feature was shared with us by the ADVANCE 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.

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

Join Late Night for our first comedian of the spring semester — Cam Bertrand! This free, hilarious event will take place tomorrow night (Jan. 29) at 10 p.m. in the MUB Ballroom. (Warning: Contains college humor.)

Bertrand is one of the fastest-rising comedy stars in the country. His comedy can best be described as sophisticated ignorance. He prides himself on being able to turn even the dumbest conversations into ones that will have you up late at night asking yourself, “What is that .01% of germs that GermX can’t kill after all this time?”

He’s opened for some of the biggest names in comedy today, including Bert Kreischer, Joe Rogan, Pete Davidson, Michael Che and Mike Epps. He was a contributing writer on two seasons of MTV’s "Wild’N’Out" (seasons 11 and 12), has over 100 million views on TikTok (@camthecomic) and his recent Dry Bar Comedy special has been seen by millions online. And in 2021, he became a finalist on season 16 of NBC’s "America’s Got Talent."

After consulting with his leadership team, Dennis Livesay, dean of the College of Computing, has selected Briana Bettin, assistant professor in computer science, as this week’s Deans' Teaching Showcase member.

Bettin will be recognized at an end-of-term event with other showcase members, and is also a candidate for the CTL Instructional Award Series.

Livesay describes Bettin as “a dedicated teacher with amazing rapport with her students and excellent teaching evaluations.” Further, he indicates that her student evaluations have been consistently in the top 10%, which he finds impressive for a second-year instructor charged with teaching large sections of introductory programming courses.

Department of Computer Science Chair Linda Ott attributes Bettin’s success as a teacher to her enormous energy. In Ott’s words, Bettin “works hard to engage students through in-class activities. She really cares about the students and makes sure that they know it. And she makes learning fun by using amusing props such as little rubber ducks in her class. It turns out that these props also give the students something very tangible to help them remember the abstract concepts that we deal with in introductory programming courses.”

“Dr. Bri goes out of her way to make students feel welcome, included, and valued,” says one of Bettin's students. “She sparks a perfect balance between showing students empathy and leniency while upholding the prestige of our institution and facilitating the excellence in education that MTU is known for.”

A graduate teaching assistant (GTA) supervised by Bettin echoes this focus on inclusion: “Dr. Bri is a fierce advocate for justice in the classroom; she ensures a high level of coordination between GTAs so students are graded with consistency and fairness.”

Bettin’s research augments her teaching. She examines how students use analogies to build mental models as they learn new concepts in a programming course, and has developed a tool to facilitate developing effective analogies for classroom use. Her work is influenced by her studies in both cognitive and learning sciences as well as cultural studies.

This past fall, Bettin created a synchronous online section of CS1121 Introduction to Programming I that was delivered to a cohort of concurrently enrolled high school students in metro Detroit. This course was offered with the assistance of the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation (DHDC), where the students physically meet for lectures and labs. In spite of some technical startup challenges and the distance, the response from students and DHDC has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, three of the students continued this spring into the next course in the sequence, and, in Livesay’s words, are ”doing amazing.”

The next Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar will take place at 3 p.m. on Monday (Jan. 31) in the Great Lakes Research Center, GLRC 202.

Joe Shannon, data scientist at NCX, will present "Interacting Effects of the Invasive Emerald Ash Borer and Climate Change on Forested Wetland Hydrology."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

Are you a graduate student interested in developing skills that will assist you in facilitating difficult conversations? Please join us Wednesday (Feb. 2) from 1-2:30 p.m. for Level 1 of a Facilitating Difficult Conversations workshop.

This in-person workshop is open to all graduate students. The workshop will provide foundational information and practice for handling uncomfortable work and/or peer situations in a respectful and professional manner. ​Level 2 of Facilitating Difficult Conversations will be held on a future date.

The number of participants is limited to facilitate discussion and promote physical distancing, so please complete the registration form to save your spot. You will receive an email reminder before the event which will confirm the location. 

For more information, contact Debra Charlesworth  in the Graduate School at ddc@mtu.edu.

Tim Colling (CEGE/CTT) is the principal investigator (PI) on a project that has received a $896,162 other sponsored activities contract from the Michigan Department of Transportation.

The project is titled "2022 Roadsoft Asset Management Development & Support."

Nick Koszykowski and Luke Peterson (CEGE/CTT) are co-PIs on this 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 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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CGSC Logo Design Contest

The Chemistry Graduate Safety Committee (CGSC) is looking for a logo!  We are holding a logo design contest, which is open to submissions until March 1. 

We are looking for a logo representing our graduate researcher-led team that promotes lab safety. And you can win a prize for your creative design skills!

What are we looking for in the logo?
All designs submitted for consideration should match these criteria:

• Include a husky with a lab coat and safety goggles.
• Display the name of our committee: Chemistry Graduate Safety Committee (CGSC).
• Be formatted as a PNG file with a transparent background (250 pixels (width) by 100 pixels (height) are the optimal logo dimensions for a web page).

You can submit your logo to chemsafetycom-l@mtu.edu. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Please refer to our Husky Logo Contest web page for more information and a logo example.

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Banner Production System Maintenance on Sunday

A production system maintenance window is scheduled for Sunday (Jan. 30) from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The following production services will be unavailable during that time:

Banner
Banweb
MyMichiganTech
Aspire
Confluence
Course Tools
Cumulus
Fischer/mylogin.mtu.edu
Go.Data
Housing Apartments Wait List
mtu.edu/tips
OAP Rental System
Oracle Reports
Papercut Printing
Perceptive Content (Imagenow)
Pinnacle
Sunapsis
UC4/Appworx
Virtual Cashiering
WebFocus

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

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Film Board and SASE Presenting 'Shang Chi'

This week, the Film Board, in conjunction with the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), presents "Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action and language.

Showings:

• Friday, Jan. 28 — 5:30 p.m.*, 8:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Jan. 29 — 5:30 p.m.*, 8:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m.

* 5:30 p.m. showtimes will be shown with subtitles! 

Located on Michigan Tech's campus in Fisher 135.

Tickets are $3 and concessions are $1. We hope to see you at the movie this weekend — and have a great day.

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Rescheduled ME-EM Chair Candidate Presentations

The Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics (ME-EM) would like to invite you to attend the last seminar to be given by department chair candidate Mark Barkey.

Barkey is currently the department head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Alabama.

Barkey's last seminar on "Administrative Philosophy and Goals" will be given live today (Jan. 28) at 10 a.m. in MEEM 406.

Barkey's previous seminar, titled "Buckling of Thin-Walled Cones Subjected to External Pressure," was given yesterday (Jan. 27). Instructions and access to the recordings of both seminars will be made available at a later date.

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GSG Spring Social

Welcome back, Huskies! With the spring semester in full swing and new recruits joining us, we invite you to spend an evening with us. Let's all get together and get to know each other better.

Graduate Student Government (GSG) will host a Spring Social in the MUB Commons today (Jan. 28) from 4-5 p.m. Snacks and hors d'oeuvres will be provided. Come out, enjoy some food, socialize with other graduate students and play some games with us.

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ChE Faculty Candidate Seminar

The Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) would like to invite you to attend the seminar given by assistant professor candidate Alex Albaugh.

Albaugh is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Todd Gingrich’s theoretical chemistry group at Northwestern University. He holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan.

Today (Jan. 28) at 1 p.m., Albaugh will give a seminar on "Using Simulation to Understand Molecular Motors" in Chem Sci 201.

The seminar will be given in-person with limited capacity for remote via Zoom. Virtual attendees are invited to join using meeting ID 894 6537 1335.

The recordings will be available upon request.

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Contribute to Black History Month Exhibit

Black History Month (BHM) is among us! It is a time of learning, observance and — most of all — celebration!

Please join the Black Students Association (BSA) in celebrating BHM by contributing to the exhibit in the library. This exhibit will be up all month starting Tuesday (Feb. 1), and all members of the Michigan Tech community are invited and encouraged to submit any form of art (painting, poem, drawing, poster, etc.) to be included in the exhibit. 

The theme of the exhibit is all things "Black Excellence, Innovation & Joy." The exhibit is meant to be uplifting and the theme is intentionally broad to inspire creativity. Don’t worry about being an artist! Just have fun.

Submissions can be made to the Center for Diversity and Inclusion weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. either anonymously or leave your first and last name for credit. The deadline to submit is Monday (Jan. 31).

Not sure what to submit? Please join us today (Jan. 28) from 4-7 p.m. at the Van Pelt and Opie Library, Room 244, where we will provide free canvases, paint, poster boards, markers and construction paper for those interested. Hope to see you there!

If you have any questions, please contact Jailynn Johnson at jailynnj@mtu.edu or Mayra Morgan at msmorgan@mtu.edu.

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Jazz Cabaret at the Rozsa

The annual Jazz Cabaret is back in person this weekend! Get your tickets to see Michigan Tech jazz combos, including Jaztec, Michigan Tech's premier jazz ensemble, perform backstage at the Rozsa.

• Jazz Cabaret — 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28, and Saturday, Jan. 29
  Tickets: $15 for adults and $5 for youth. Michigan Tech students can attend for free and bring a friend with the Experience Tech Fee.

Face coverings are required for volunteers, staff, and audience members at these events. Please visit the Rozsa COVID-19 Policies for the most up-to-date information.

Tickets for these events are available by phone at 906-487-2858, online or in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex. The Rozsa Box Office will also be open for ticket purchases one hour before performances. 

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

Innovation Week Presents: Talk with David Schull, Co-Founder, Handshake

Friday, January 28, 12 p.m.–1 p.m.

Husky Innovate invites the Michigan Tech community, alumni and friends, for an Innovation Week discussion with Michigan Tech alumnus, David Shull. David is one of the founding...

Using Simulation to Understand Molecular Motors

Friday, January 28, 1 p.m.–2 p.m. | Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building, 201

Chemical Engineering Seminar proudly presents Dr. Alex Albaugh University of California, Berkeley Faculty Candidate Research Abstract Molecular motors are at the heart...

Husky Watch Party - Hockey vs NMU in Elk Grove Village, IL

Friday, January 28, 4:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Cheer on our Huskies at Real Time Sports on Saturday, January 28, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. CT. as Michigan Tech goes up against Northern Michigan University. The watch party will...

Middle School Volleyball Development League

Friday, January 28, 6:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Multipurpose Room

A four-week developmental program for middle school girls in grades 7 & 8 to learn and improve their skills in preparation for the upcoming interscholastic season. This...

Monthly General Meeting _ Spring 2022

Friday, January 28, 6 p.m.–7 p.m. | Chem Sci. 211

Hi folks, This mail serves to notify us that we will be having our monthly general meeting on the last Wednesday of the month 6 - 7 PM at Chem Sci. 211 or via Zoom. Feel...

(Men's Ice Hockey) Bemidji State vs. Michigan Tech

Friday, January 28, 7:07 p.m.–10:07 p.m. | John MacInnes Student Ice Arena

Men's Ice Hockey: Bemidji State vs. Michigan Tech

Jazz Cabaret

Friday, January 28, 7:30 p.m. | Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts

Roll in for a wild evening of spectacular jazz performances on the Rozsa Stage! Michigan Tech Jazz Ensembles are directed by Adam Meckler, Director of Jazz Studies and...