February 4, 2022

The theme of Black History Month 2022, as established by The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, is Black Health and Wellness. This theme acknowledges the legacy of not only Black scholars and medical practitioners of Western medicine, but also practitioners of other ways of knowing (e.g., birthworkers, doulas, midwives, naturopaths, herbalists, etc.) throughout the African diaspora.

Wayne Gersie, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, looks back on this history and its ongoing impacts in a new post on the Diversity and Inclusion Newsblog.

Doug Wilken, instructor and laboratory associate in the Department of Physics, passed away Jan. 28 in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Wilken taught laboratory courses in optics, electronics and modern physics. He also provided all of the demonstration support for a variety of physics classes, managing a group of undergraduate students for assistance (his Demo Crew).

Wilken received an M.S. in physics in 1988 and a Ph.D. in physics in 1993, working in Professor Bryan Suits’ laboratory at Michigan Tech. His thesis was on a nuclear magnetic resonance study of surface oxides on aluminum metal particles. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Florida, he joined the corporate world for 20 years, working in Minneapolis. He returned to Michigan Tech in 2016.

Wilken was a gifted musician, playing piano and sharing his beautiful singing voice on many occasions, including at church and family gatherings. He loved to read and carry on discussions across a myriad of topics. His personal library of books spanned countless technical volumes, history, political science, biography and science fiction and fantasy novels — to name just a few of his favorite subjects.

One of Wilken’s true passions was sharing his knowledge of experimental physics with students. In this endeavor, he practiced continual self-examination and improvement, finding better ways of getting across main ideas and techniques that students would be able to utilize no matter where they found themselves later on in scientific and engineering disciplines.

His greatest passion, however, was spending time with all of his family — and in recent years, he especially enjoyed being “Grandpa” for his granddaughter for as much time as he could.

Wilken will be deeply missed in the department. A memorial service is planned in Foley, Minnesota. Service dates and times are pending.

Read Wilken's obituary.

Collegiate DECA, a student organization that prepares emerging leaders in the areas of finance, marketing, hospitality, management and entrepreneurship, is back on campus after a five-year hiatus.

The group, advised by Jenny Apriesnig, assistant professor of economics, is headed to the State Career Development Conference in Kalamazoo this weekend.

Read more in the College of Business Newsblog post, written by club president and first-year management student Jaylen Body.

Join our Husky Connect Open House today (Feb. 4) from noon to 2 p.m. at the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI). Students can drop in for some snacks and learn more about the program and how to apply to be a mentor.

If you know an undergraduate student willing to give new students the value of their experiences, invite them to join our open house.

Find more information about the Husky Connect: Peer to Peer Mentoring Program on our website.

On behalf of the University, we are seeking nominations for the President's Award for Leadership, Dean of Students Award for Possibilities and the new William and Josephine Balconi Community Service Award, along with a variety of other awards, to recognize the efforts and achievements of our Michigan Tech community.

The recipient of each award will be honored at the 28th Annual Student Leadership Awards Ceremony at 6 p.m. April 15 in the Memorial Union Ballroom.

The nomination process is simple. All awards and their information can be found on the Student Leadership Awards page. For each individual award, click on the award title to read more about the award and its requirements, then complete and submit the nomination form.

Nominations for the President's Award for Leadership, Dean of Students Award for Possibilities and the new William and Josephine Balconi Community Service Award are due by noon on March 4. Nominations for all other Student Leadership Awards are due by noon on March 18.

Questions concerning the awards can be directed to Student Leadership and Involvement at activities@mtu.edu or 906-487-1963. Take a minute to nominate a student or colleague today! Thank you for recognizing our best and brightest students — your support is truly appreciated.

A new campus equipment search tool has been developed to improve visibility and utilization of Michigan Tech research equipment. The easy-to-use search options allow you to browse equipment from A-Z, by shared facility or laboratory or by campus building location. Keyword searches are available within any of the search options to further pare down your results and find what you’re looking for. Each individual piece of equipment can be selected to display additional information, such as contact information, detailed descriptions and images.

The new search tool will be continuously updated with new equipment and search features. Researchers are encouraged to add additional equipment to the search tool by selecting “Add New Equipment.”

Please note, this tool replaces only the equipment search feature within TechFinder. Technologies available for licensing should still be searched for using TechFinder.

If you have any questions or suggestions for the equipment search tool, please contact Brent Burns, director of Research Facilities and Federal Relations, at bburns@mtu.edu.

Sexual harassment is no joke. This topic is no longer off-limits, and allegations are being taken more seriously than ever before. But when does behavior cross from bad to unprofessional to sexual harassment? Is sexual harassment only egregious acts of physical touching or fondling? Does the behavior have to occur more than once before it becomes sexual harassment?

So often, recipients of sexual harassment talk themselves into believing it’s not a big deal with thoughts like this:

• “Don’t be so sensitive. It’s just a joke.”
• “That is a really nice skirt. Can’t you take a compliment?”
• “Is it really that bad if they’re looking at you? Who doesn’t like attention?”
• “Why do they have to hug me? I guess that’s just what they do.”
• “The comments are not directed toward me, so I should mind my own business.”

Jokes, comments and actions can be harmful. Don’t justify someone else’s actions. What matters is the impact of their actions. When someone else’s behavior affects you to the point that it interferes with your employment and programs associated with employment, that is the point at which the behavior needs to be addressed.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex, including verbal, physical, written and visual forms. Employees are encouraged to seek assistance as early as possible to prevent the harassment from continuing and possibly becoming more serious. Whether you are reporting harassment directed at yourself, another employee or a student, the key is to report the incident(s) so any harm can be remedied, the appropriate University personnel can respond and University procedures are followed.

Don’t suffer in silence. There are multiple resources, so choose the one that best meets your needs:

• Reporting options, including anonymous options, are available. 
• Want to talk through a situation? Connect with Title lX/Institutional Equity.
• Need a confidential resource? See confidential options.

The Winter Baja Off-Road Race is Saturday (Feb. 5) at the SDC. Come join the action — the race starts at 11 a.m.

Visit our Race Day Event Schedule page to see what's planned and check out an aerial view of the track.

Come one, come all and help us welcome comedian Drew Lynch next Friday (Feb. 11) at 9 p.m. in the Rozsa! (Warning: Contains college humor.)

The MUB Board, Blue Key, Inter-Residence Housing Council (IRHC) and Late Night Programming are hosting the hilarious stand-up comedian during Winter Carnival!

Tickets are free for MTU students and $10 for the general public. 

"Do something every day that scares you" is a motto Lynch lives by. In 2015, he captured the hearts of America with his Golden Buzzer performance on season 10 of "America's Got Talent." "The person I was before would probably never hang out with who I am today" is the statement that resonated most in capturing audiences across the country, as they fell in love with his charming wit and genuine vulnerability every week of the competition.

For Lynch, becoming a comedian was almost as unintentional as capturing America's hearts. At the young age of 19, he moved to Los Angeles with aspirations of becoming an actor — a dream he had since he was a kid. But a freak accident just a year into his acting career left him with a severe stutter and crushed his hopes of ever performing again.

Lynch's continued drive to become an entertainer forced him in a different direction, and he often reflects on the "softball that humbly changed his life and gave him a career." The relatability of Lynch's real-life situations in dealing with a stutter propelled him each week of the competition — advancing to the finals and ultimately landing second place. Lynch attributes much of his success from his ability to be honest — genuinely facing the "elephant in the room" head on.

Equal practices are often mistaken as synonymous with equitable practices. However, the path to get from point A to point B can be different for different people because the surrounding system of people (faculty, staff, students, society) does not respond to all individuals similarly. For example, those who have regularly been extended the benefit of perceived competence before presenting research results may have a hard time relating to those who must first prove their competence before the audience listens to the research results.

In an article by Berhe et al. in Nature Geoscience, these multiple layers of different treatment and different barriers are described as a hostile obstacle course that women and researchers of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds have to overcome in STEMM fields. Acknowledging that the pathways are different and adjusting resources to be responsive to those differences are key ways to position each individual to be successful.

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 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.

Dean Janet Callahan has chosen Jeremy Bos, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Darrell Robinette, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, for this week’s Deans’ Teaching Showcase.

As a team, Bos and Robinette will be recognized at an end-of-term event with other showcase members, and are also candidates for the CTL Instructional Award Series.

They were chosen for their success in the SAE AutoDrive Challenge, which saw students turn a 2017 Chevy Bolt into Prometheus Borealis, a Level 4 autonomous vehicle. The four-year challenge wrapped up June 14 with Michigan Tech’s team earning third place overall and bringing home the second-highest trophy count. “The competition focuses on the electrical engineering, computer engineering, robotics engineering and computer science skills needed to implement the sensors, signal processing and artificial intelligence needed to make the car drive itself,” says Bos.

Students outfitted the vehicle with sensors, control systems and computer processors so it could navigate an urban driving course in automated driving mode. Much of the work was done by undergraduate students in the Robotic Systems Enterprise, which Bos advises. It was the Enterprise’s primary focus over the past four years.

Bos and Robinette guided the students as they integrated sensors and computational systems into the car. Safety is paramount and, as one student says, it is built on smart redundancy. "We never rely on one sensor for one particular job; we have a collection of sensors that all contribute," he says. "So even if there is one point of failure, then the system can signal the driver to take over or, if it's small enough, then the system can adjust itself."

Participating in that development is a unique part of the AutoDrive Challenge. Bos says the competition is more like real industry work than a traditional class project. "What the AutoDrive Challenge provides students is a chance to learn about what's happening in the automotive industry right now. They're seeing those changes and reacting to those changes in real time in the competition; these are not ideas taught in class because the curriculum hasn't had time to catch up."

Bos and Robinette have not only used the AutoDrive Challenge to educate students in the art and practice of engineering, but also as a vehicle for outreach to the broader community. They have brought Prometheus Borealis to Summer Youth Programs, Alumni Reunion, and the First-Year Engineering Lecture.

As Callahan summarizes, “Michigan Tech’s SAE AutoDrive Challenge team has proven our students innovate to succeed. We are proud of what Jeremey Bos and Darrell Robinette have done, and what the students they mentored were able to accomplish.”

The Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) faculty candidate seminar originally scheduled for today (Feb. 4) has been rescheduled.

The seminar, given by assistant professor candidate Whitney Blocher McTigue on "Toward Biomolecule Stabilization and Understanding Depolymerization," will now take place from 10-11 a.m. on Monday (Feb. 7) in Chem Sci 201.

The seminar can be attended in person with limited capacity or remotely via Zoom. After the seminar, a recording will be available upon request.

Join the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (CFRES), Linnaeus University of Sweden, IKEA and the Institute for Policy, Ethics, and Culture (IPEC) for the International Renewable Biomaterials Seminars!

On the next two Wednesdays (Feb. 9 and 16), Linnaeus University and Michigan Tech research students will take turns giving 10-minute presentations on their research, with two minutes of questions to follow each presentation.

Please come and be a part of this international knowledge-sharing experience with us:

• Wednesday, Feb. 9 — 9-11 a.m.
  Add to your Google Calendar.
  Join the Zoom presentation.
  
  
• Wednesday, Feb.16 — 9-11 a.m.
  Add to your Google Calendar.
  Join the Zoom presentation.

Student presentation information is below. For more information, contact IPEC Institute Manager Erin Syth at elsyth@mtu.edu.

Wednesday, Feb. 9: 

• Sarvada Chipkar: "Identifying plant-derived microbial inhibitors in lignocellulosic biomass."
• Wen Jiang: "Liquefaction of industrial wastes and its application in wood adhesives and particleboards."
• Meenaa Chandrasekar: "Development of a micro-imaging reactor to evaluate how plant tissues break down during chemical and biological processing."
• Sebastian Svensson Meulmann: "Uncoated facades made of spruce."
• Chinmoyee Das: "Biocarbon polymer composites."

Wednesday, Feb. 16:

• Victor Grubîi: "Wood Slicing in Engineered Wood Flooring Applications."
• Peng Quan: "Recovering lignin from black liquor for semi-flexible and flexible PU foams."
• Alma Strkonjic: "Assessment and detection of internal properties for improvement of log's quality selection for veneer processing."
• Zainab Alshoug: "Recycling railroad ties for wood preservatives and porous carbon."
• Nicolas Neitzel: "Agro-industry feedstocks and side streams for increasing the sustainability of wood panel production."
• Cassidy Groebel: "Euputized solvent for depolymerization of wood wastes."

Head coach Steve Olson and the Michigan Tech football program are pleased to announce that 16 student-athletes have penned a national letter of intent to join the Huskies in fall 2022. 

Michigan Tech's incoming class features 14 players from the state of Michigan, one from Wisconsin and one from Texas.

"I think every year you try to identify what are the key positions and the recruits you want to bring in that will add to our team," said Olson. "Our staff did a great job of finding those guys. We are trying to add depth to all positions, with some areas more critical than others."

Read more about the incoming recruits and watch their introduction videos at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

The Michigan Tech hockey team's Blake Pietila has been named the CCHA's Goaltender of the Month for January.

Pietila backstopped the Huskies to a 4-0 record in January with a 1.0 goals-against average and .952 save percentage. He earned back-to-back shutouts at Lake Superior State (Jan. 14-15), not allowing a Lakers goal for the third straight game. Pietila also stopped 48 shots in a CCHA sweep of Bemidji State on Jan. 28-29.

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Job Postings for Friday, Feb. 4, 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. 

Custodian (12 months/ 40 hours/ third Shift) #22032, Facilities (AFSCME posting Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, 2022 — internal AFSCME applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal AFSCME posting dates). Apply online.

Office Assistant (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #22033, Student Leadership and Involvement (UAW posting Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, 2022 — internal UAW applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal UAW posting dates). Apply online.

Assistant Manager, Transportation Services. Apply online.

Sponsored Programs Coordinator, Sponsored Programs Accounting. Apply online.

Custodian (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #22036, Sports and Recreation Operations (AFSCME posting Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, 2022 — internal AFSCME applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal AFSCME posting dates). 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.

Michigan Tech alumnus Jeffrey Tafel’s new role as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones was the focus of a story in International Trade Today.

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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Registration Open for Graduate Research Colloquium

Graduate Student Government (GSG) is pleased to announce this year’s Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC), being held March 29 and 30.

The GRC offers a unique opportunity for graduate students to showcase their research across the campuswide community and work on their presentation skills for upcoming conferences. Students can give oral presentations, present posters or do both.

Due to the uncertainty of the ongoing pandemic restrictions, the event will be held in a pseudo-hybrid mode. Many conferences have been happening in the hybrid models due to the pandemic, so this is an excellent real-life opportunity to familiarize yourself with the format.

Poster presentations will be held in person and oral presentations will be held virtually. Judges from a similar field as the presenter will score all the presentations. They will provide valuable insight and feedback on how the students can improve their presentations.

Cash prizes are available for the top three presenters in both the oral and poster categories (first is $300, second is $200 and third is $100). Registration is open now and closes Feb. 28 at 11:59 p.m. Register today!

Poster presentations will take place from 5-8 p.m. March 29 in the MUB Ballroom. GSG will be covering the cost of printing posters this year. The oral presentations will be held virtually during both days of the colloquium; they should comprise 12 minutes of live talking (no prerecorded video presentations) followed by a Q&A session.

The GRC will be capped off with the annual GRC Awards Banquet on March 30 following the closing of the event. The banquet will also be held in hybrid mode and all participants and judges are invited to attend in person or virtually if they want. 

Full information can be found on our website. If you have any questions, please contact gsg-research@mtu.edu.

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KIP February Seminar: Student-Led Presentations

Please join us today (Feb. 4) from 3-4 p.m. through Zoom for a special student-led presentation.

Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP) graduate students will be presenting their research to a virtual audience. Everyone is welcome to attend, and all attendees are encouraged to participate as the students field questions during their presentations.

Please visit the KIP Newsblog for more details about the seminar and for the Zoom meeting information.

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

A Conservative Adaptive Low Rank High Order Tensor Approach for Nonlinear Vlasov Equations

Friday, February 4, 1 p.m.–2 p.m.

Biosketch: Professor Jingmei Qiu got her B.S. degree from university of science and technology of China in 2003; she got her Ph.D. from Brown University under the supervision...

Middle School Volleyball Development League

Friday, February 4, 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, February 4, 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) Michigan Tech at St. Thomas

Friday, February 4, 8:07 p.m.–11:07 p.m.

Men's Ice Hockey: Michigan Tech at St. Thomas

Lambda Chi Alpha RUSH event: Game Night at the House!

Friday, February 4, 9 p.m.–10 p.m. | The Lambda Chi Alpha House

Come join the brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha for a Game Night at the House! Play poker, euchre, monopoly, pool, and listen to some music at the house with all of us. Bring a...