June 23, 2022

A team of students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics (ME-EM) have won the ASME/K-16 and IEEE/EPS Student Heat Sink Design Challenge.

Team members include undergraduate students Gracie Brownlow and Kelsey Brinks, and graduate students Behzad Ahmadi, Masoud Ahmadi and Behnam Ahmadi. They were advised by Sajjad Bigham (ME-EM).

According to the ITherm 2022 program, the team competition challenged students to design, analyze and optimize an additively manufactured aluminum heat sink to cool a constant heat flux power electronics module subject to forced convection. The designs were evaluated based on a series of design and manufacturing criteria, and the semifinalist teams tested their heat sinks using the additive manufacturing facilities at GE and state-of-the-art test equipment at the University of Utah.

The organizing committee initially selected eight semifinalist teams, including Michigan Tech. GE then 3D-printed these eight heat sinks, and subsequent tests revealed the four finalist teams to be Michigan Tech, Berlin Institute of Technology, Purdue University and the University of Arkansas.

These four finalist teams were invited to send one student to present their heat sink designs during the 2022 ITherm conference in San Diego, California. Behzad Ahmadi presented on behalf of Michigan Tech. Following the presentations, Michigan Tech was selected as the winner.

Print Services will be closed July 4-8.

If you anticipate needing print materials during this time, please place orders by Tuesday (June 28) through the online storefront.

The last day to request print deliveries is July 1. Normal operations will resume July 11.

The Redridge Dam was dedicated as an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) state landmark in 1985 due to the work of Michigan Tech alumna Claire (Frohriep) Schwartz ’85 (civil engineering), who is now a professional engineer and a senior civil engineer with Fishbeck.

In justifying Redridge Dam as a landmark, Schwartz noted that the dam was the first gravity dam of structural steel on a concrete base built in the U.S. — and by 2022, it is one of the few dams of this type remaining in the world. The original dedication ceremony was May 19, 1986. Due to time and weather, the plaque and the pedestal were in need of replacement. As such, on June 16, the ASCE Upper Peninsula Branch led a service to rededicate Redridge Dam as a Michigan ASCE landmark.

Stan Vitton, the guest speaker for the event, spoke about the history of the dam as well as its unique design and construction. He also provided tours of the dam. ASCE Section President Mike Rossell and Executive Director Ron Brenke were in attendance, as were Therese Kline, Region 3 governor.

Thanks to Rossell and U.P. Branch President Alice Roache ’15 ’16 (civil engineering) for their support.

Sajjad Bigham (ME-EM) has accepted the Lou and Herbert Wacker Professorship in Mechanical Engineering, which was created to retain and attract high-quality faculty who are at the top of their profession, can excite students to think beyond the classroom material and know how to integrate their research into the classroom.

Bigham was chosen for this position, as he meets or exceeds all the criteria for this professorship. 

Bigham has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, consistently receiving very good to outstanding student evaluations. He and his student team of undergraduate and graduate students won the 2022 GE/ASEE Additive Manufacturing Heat Sink Challenge. He received the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Desalination Prize for Innovation 1st Phase Prize (October 2020) and 2nd Phase Prize (April 2021) awarded by the DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Office.

Since joining Michigan Tech in 2016, Bigham has secured over $4 million in research funding as a principal investigator. He is currently advising eight Ph.D. students and has graduated five M.S. students. He has published 27 refereed journal papers, one book and 23 conference proceedings papers. He has been granted three patents and one technology disclosure. He is also very active in professional service with ASME and ASHRAE.

University Archivist Lindsay Hiltunen (Library) has been named the president of the Michigan Archival Association (MAA). Hiltunen was elected as vice president in June 2020 and succeeded to the presidency at the MAA Annual Meeting, held June 16-17 in downtown Grand Rapids.

Hiltunen has been a board member of MAA since 2016. During her service as a board member-at-large, she served as the chair of the auction subcommittee, which raises funds for the association’s scholarship fund; worked on the communications subcommittee and as a co-editor of the association’s newsletter; and was most recently the co-chair of the bylaws revision task force. She has also been a regular volunteer to judge Michigan History Day projects for MAA’s Best Use of Primary Sources awards given to middle and high school students across the state.

Hiltunen will serve two years as president.

MAA supports the community of organizations and individuals who care for the state’s materials of cultural heritage and the documentary record through communication and education, and seeks to foster a collaborative and inclusive professional network.

Yongchao Yang has been selected to receive the 2022 Achenbach Medal.

The award states: "The Achenbach Medal has been created to recognize a young individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the field of Structural Health Monitoring. Every year only one individual will be selected for this honor."

The Achenbach Medal is awarded to a young researcher who has graduated within 10 years of their Ph.D. and has made outstanding research contributions in the field of structural health monitoring. The award will be presented at the annual Stanford International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring.

Please take the time to congratulate our colleague, Yongchao Yang.

Mathematics and statistics play indispensable roles in data sciences. The Copper Country Workshop on Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Data Sciences intends to bring leading researchers to discuss the recent developments in applied mathematics, statistics and data sciences, and build collaborations among the participants from different areas.

The workshop will be held July 5-7 in Fisher 325. For more information, including the titles and abstracts, please visit the workshop website.

The workshop is supported in part by the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) through its Participating Institution (PI) Program, and the Michigan Tech College of Sciences and Arts, College of Computing, Research Office, Center for Applied Mathematics and Statistics, and Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Job Postings for Thursday, June 23, 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.

Assistant Hockey Coach, Athletics. Apply online.

System Administrator, Information Technology. Apply online.

Administrative Aide 7 (12 months/ 40 hours/ first shift) #22096RPRP, Information Technology (UAW posting June 23 to June 29, 2022 — internal UAW applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal UAW 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.

Soner Onder (CS/ICC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $331,704 research and development grant from the National Science Foundation.

The project is titled "Collaborative Research: SHF: Medium: Vectorized Instruction Space (VIS)."

This is a potential four-year project.

Caryn Heldt (ChE) and graduate students Vaishali Sharma (BioSci) and Sneha Singh (ChE) contributed to research mentioned by Mirage News, Phys.org, WhatsNew2Day, Bioengineering, SCIENMAG, AZoMaterials and News Medical in stories about a new virus-fighting design for N95 face masks.

The design makes N95s not only effective barriers to germs, but on-contact germ killers that can potentially be worn longer.

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Pengfei Xue (CEGE/GLRC) was interviewed for an American Geophysical Union story about his team’s new research, which vastly improves upon previous predictions for how Great Lakes water levels will change in the coming decades.

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Tess Ahlborn (CEGE) and alumni Michael Prast ’19 and Emma Beachy ’19 (civil engineering) were mentioned by MLive in a story on the Portage Lake Bridge’s dedication as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

Free Registration: Distance Teaching & Learning Conference

The Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) encourages MTU online instructors (or those hoping to teach online in the future) to take advantage of a unique opportunity to virtually attend the 38th annual Distance Teaching & Learning Conference (DT&L) at no charge Aug. 3-5.

DT&L has been the most well-known, respected and prestigious event covering online and distance learning for almost four decades now. This year, the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s DT&L will be partnering with UPCEA (University Professional and Continuing Education Association). DT&L offers attendees an opportunity to discover relevant research, innovative teaching tools and highly effective online pedagogical techniques. There’s the chance to network and brainstorm with colleagues who share a passion for online and distance education too.

Take advantage of Michigan Tech’s unlimited group pass and register centrally before July 1 so you can attend without additional cost. (To avoid being charged separately, Michigan Tech instructors should not register directly through their site, but instead use our Michigan Tech central registration link.)

Contact Thom Freeman at tfreeman@mtu.edu with any further questions about the conference or call the CTL at 906-487-3000.

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EF Faculty Candidate Lesson

The Department of Engineering Fundamentals (EF) is conducting a faculty search. Please join us for the active and collaborative first-year engineering lesson by candidate Christa Meingast.

The lesson will be held virtually at noon tomorrow (June 24) via Zoom.

All are welcome to attend and participate.

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MiCUP Poster Presentation Today

Join the Center for Diversity and Inclusion from 2-4 p.m. today (June 23) in the MUB Ballroom for the MiCUP Program's Research Poster Presentation.

Students from Delta College, Grand Rapids Community College and Wayne County Community College who have been participating in research labs with Michigan Tech professors will present their research findings. Please join us in a celebration of their accomplishments.

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served throughout the event.

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

PhD Defense: Lamia Alam

Thursday, June 23, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. | Harold Meese Center, 109

Applied Cognitive Science & Human Factors Advisor: Shane Mueller Examining Cognitive Empathy Elements Within AI Chatbots for Healthcare Systems Attend Virtually:...

Adult Huskies Swim Training Summer 2022 Session 1 (Freestyle/Backstroke Focus)

Thursday, June 23, 5:00 p.m.–5:50 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Pool

Adult Huskies Swim Training provides additional attention and competitive guidance to swimmers ages 18 and older who are looking to improve their swimming skills and fitness...