May 11, 2022

Michigan Tech’s Master of Business Administration program (TechMBA®) will soon include three delivery options, the newest of which provides a hybrid option for Grand Traverse area students.

Beginning in fall 2022, students who opt for the 30-credit hybrid program will complete most of their coursework online in a synchronous fashion with once-per-week Zoom meetings where they interact in real time with fellow classmates and their instructor. University representatives are on hand for Northern Michigan Startup Week (May 9-15) in Traverse City to provide more information.

MTU has also revamped and will soon relaunch its fully online TechMBA® program, which allows students to complete the degree’s requirements on their own schedule (referred to as asynchronous learning). And, students will still have the option to earn their TechMBA® the traditional way via in-person courses on campus.

The TechMBA® is offered through Michigan Tech’s College of Business (COB), and both the hybrid and asynchronous options are delivered in partnership with the University’s Global Campus initiative. 

Read more at Michigan Tech News.

As part of Michigan Tech’s Grand Traverse region initiative, Huskies will be active in Traverse City this week (May 9-15) during a series of events to celebrate innovation and entrepreneurship.

Husky Innovate students Bayle Golden (master’s student, engineering management) and Rourke Sylvain (biomedical engineering) will pitch their ideas during the TCNewTech University Idea Showcase tomorrow (May 12). On Sunday evening (May 15) they will pitch again, competing for prizes.

College of Business alumnus and local business owner David McBride ‘82 will serve as a judge of the showcase. This event will be livestreamed via TCNewTech's Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn channels beginning at 6 p.m. Register to attend virtually or in person.

Golden and Sylvain have engaged in Husky Innovate events including the Bob Mark Business Model Pitch Competition and the New Venture Competition (NVC), where both took top prizes. At NVC, Golden won first place in the Social Mission category and received $10,000 pitching “SafeRow,” an innovative wearable device designed to keep children safe when every second counts. Together, Sylvain and Ali Dabas (biomedical engineering) won second place in the High Tech High Growth category, receiving $5,000. Their pitch, “imi (integrated molecular innovations),” is an electrochemical biosensor for T4 detection.

Husky Innovate is a collaboration between the Pavlis Honors College, the Office of Innovation and Commercialization, and the College of Business. Thanks go out to the collaborators and the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BioMed) for sponsoring student engagement.

We have been pleased to offer premium access to Overleaf for those with an @mtu.edu email address for the last several years. To better manage the subscription and access, we will enable a Single Sign-On (SSO) feature on Monday (May 16). SSO requires a current student, faculty or staff status (active SSO) in order to access Overleaf’s premium features.

On or after Monday, when you sign in to your Overleaf account, you will:

• See a notification in your dashboard that SSO is available.
• Be able to log in and "link" your Overleaf account to your SSO identity by clicking on a button on the MTU Overleaf portal page, or by linking to your SSO in your Account Settings.

Users who do not log in via SSO will see that they no longer have the premium features, but will still be able to access their Overleaf account, projects and all collaborations (no one will lose access to anything).

These pages answer some common questions about the change to SSO access:

• Institutional Login
• Reconfirming your Institutional Email

Please email library@mtu.edu with any questions.

The Center for Applied Mathematics and Statistics (CAMS) will continue to provide free statistical consulting to the Michigan Tech research community for summer 2022.

Please contact the following Department of Mathematical Sciences (Math) faculty:

• Fan Di at fand@mtu.edu 
• Byung-Jun Kim at bkim1@mtu.edu 
• Ray Molzon at remolzon@mtu.edu 
• Kui Zhang at kuiz@mtu.edu 
• Xiao Zhang at xzhang35@mtu.edu 

Their research areas can be found on the department's Faculty and Staff Directory webpage.

The annual University Staff Service Awards will be held June 8 in the MUB Ballroom. The University president and Staff Council chair will present awards for five-year increments of service to more than 100 staff members this year. Recent staff retirees are also recognized. Thank you to the President’s Office for their continued support and funding for the Staff Service Awards luncheon and awards.

Congratulations to our amazing staff members who will be honored for reaching a five-year anniversary date this fiscal year. Thank you for your service and commitment to Michigan Tech.

This year’s luncheon will feature a soup and potato bar luncheon (including vegetarian and gluten-free options). Tickets are $10 (cash or check only) and must be purchased by June 2. Please note: There is no reserved seating; it is first come, first served. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. If you have any special dietary requirements or have questions about the service recognition awards, please contact a Staff Service Awards Committee member.

Visit one of these people to purchase tickets:

• Madeline Mercado Voelker — Human Resources, Lakeshore Center
  7-3681, mmercado@mtu.edu
• Judy Zei — Michigan Tech Campus Bookstore (textbook area), MUB, 7-2784, jlzei@mtu.edu
• Karen Wade — Center for Diversity and Inclusion, Hamar House, 7-2920, kawade@mtu.edu 

If you are unable to attend the lunch, you may join the awards presentation beginning at approximately 12:15 p.m.

Staff Service Awards Committee members are:

• Jennifer Biekkola (Annual Giving) — 7-1056 or jrbiekko@mtu.edu
• Joanne Chalgren (Human Resources) — 7-2416 or jrchalgr@mtu.edu
• Madeline Mercado Voelker (Human Resources) — 7-3681 or mmercado@mtu.edu
• Mechelle Normand (UMC) — 7-2360 or mnormand@mtu.edu
• Paige Short (OVPDI) — 7-1599 or prbeyers@mtu.edu
• Laurie Stark (Library) — 7-1081 or ldstark@mtu.edu
• Judy Zei (Bookstore) — 7-2784 or jlzei@mtu.edu 

Are you interested in developing skills that will assist you in facilitating difficult conversations? Our next workshop series has a few seats still available next Wednesday (May 18) from 2-4 p.m. and Thursday (May 19) from 1-3 p.m. This in-person workshop is open to any Michigan Tech employee, faculty and/or staff, who may be interested. Participants must attend both sessions, as the information builds a knowledge base as we move through the workshops.

The number of participants is limited, so please complete our registration form to save your spot. Once you are signed up, you will receive a calendar invitation, which will include the location.

For more information, contact Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX at 7-3310 or eocompliance@mtu.edu.

One Green Planet mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about a dead cuvier’s whale that washed up on Kremasti beach in Rhodes, Greece, in late April. The whale had no external injuries and 33 pounds of plastic waste in its stomach. 

The story touched on Steven Techtmann’s (BioSci) BioPROTEIN project, which successfully converted plastic waste into edible protein powder. The project was highlighted in Tech's 2022 Research Magazine.

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The Daily Mining Gazette and WLUC TV6 ran stories on a silent protest organized by Michigan Tech Ph.D. students Adelina Oronova and Nazar Gora on Monday (May 9) as a counterpoint to Russia’s Victory Day. 

The protest displayed rows of children’s shoes at Veterans Park in Houghton to commemorate the Ukrainian children who have been killed in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Michigan Tech’s Earthquake Magnitude Scale was referenced by Newsweek to describe the impact of a magnitude 5 earthquake on Mars last week. The quake is the strongest recorded by NASA on another planet.

Jeff Naber (APSRC) is the principal investigator (PI) on a project that has received a $45,000 research and development co-op/joint agreement with the University of Michigan - ARC.

The project is titled "Risk averse vehicle energy, thermal signature management and control to enable silent mobility/watch."

Darrell Robinette (ME-EM/APSRC) and Basha Dudekula (APSRC) are co-PIs on the project.

Retirement Social for Dave Fredrickson

Michigan Tech IT invites the campus community to a retirement social to honor Dave Fredrickson, who will retire May 27.

The social will be held from 2-4 p.m. next Wednesday (May 18) in the MUB Ballroom. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Fredrickson has served Michigan Tech for 34 years and has been instrumental in the success of IT's Enterprise Application Services team. Join us in celebrating his career, thanking him for his service and wishing him all the best in his retirement.

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