Thank you to all who participated in the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs on-campus interview process.
If you have not done so already, we encourage you to provide feedback on the candidates by the end of the day tomorrow (March 17). Candidate questionnaires are accessible on the search website.
Two scholarships are available to the children of Local 5000 members in good standing. $500 will be awarded to a child attending or who will be attending Michigan Tech and $500 to a child attending or who will be attending another college, university or certificate program.
Please download the application form to apply or see the email sent to uaw-l@mtu.edu on Feb. 27. The application deadline is May 15.
Contact Devin Seppala at devin@mtu.edu or Amanda Cadwell at amanda@mtu.edu for more information.
The H-STEM Complex construction is proceeding, although most of the activity is inside behind the temporary enclosure. Wall framing and the mechanical/electrical rough-in work is in full swing inside the new addition. In the existing building renovation, most of the drywall installation has been completed and the finishing will be starting soon.
Over the next few months we will continue to see many construction workers on the site working inside the building. The project is still on track to be completed and occupied by early 2024.
As always, please pay attention when walking past the construction site, and thank you for your patience as we bring this exciting project into reality.
The project webcam is a great place to check out the progress. The project webpage is also a good place to look for more information on the project.
Tech Today will present a special edition on Saturday (March 18) featuring new faculty who joined Michigan Tech during the 2022-23 academic year.
This special edition will be available on the Tech Today main page on Saturday, and an email will be sent to subscribers at 6 a.m.
You don't have to win, you just have to TRI! Michigan Tech Recreation is hosting an indoor triathlon for MTU students and SDC Access Pass holders (minimum one month)! Unlike a traditional triathlon, which covers fixed distances of swimming, biking and running, indoor triathlons challenge competitors to race the greatest distance with a fixed time frame. Beginners and seasoned athletes are welcome to participate in the 10-minute swim, 15-minute bike and 10-minute run! Transition time is provided between events. Event capacity is limited.
The indoor triathlon will take place April 5 at 7 p.m. Open to MTU students and SDC Access Pass Holders (minimum one month) with a valid MTU student ID or SDC Access Pass. Must be 16 years of age or older to participate.
Registration Details:
For more information, visit the Michigan Tech Rec Indoor Triathlon page.
On Monday (March 20) at 6 p.m., Sexual Assault and Violence Education (SAVE) and the Well-Being Advocates are hosting a trauma-informed yoga event in the MUB Ballroom.
The instructor, Brigitte Morin, an associate teaching professor of biological sciences and co-owner of Fresh Coast Yoga, will be providing a safe and open space for students, faculty and staff to attend.
This event is free and beginner-friendly. Please bring your own mat or towel to practice on. No additional props will be needed. Feel free to bring a friend, classmate or co-worker and join us for some self-care.
Cindy Pindral was hired as Michigan Tech's manager of sustainability programs and outreach in January.
Collaborating with the Department of Social Sciences, Office of Sustainability and Resilience, and the Tech Forward Initiative on Sustainability and Resilience, Pindral is responsible for shaping and supporting sustainability efforts on campus through relationship building and outreach that encourages collaboration across campus and community-based scholarship. A key aspect of her work is to increase opportunities for students to pursue applied projects as a part of their coursework. Additional duties include administration of departmental programs (such as study abroad), event planning and collaboration with faculty on interdisciplinary projects.
“I am excited to continue my professional journey at MTU and to apply my learned experience and personal interests in sustainability both on campus and in the community through this position,” said Pindral. “There are so many people that share a deep passion for sustainability and I look forward to using this platform to connect, inform and expand the programming surrounding sustainability.”
If you or your students are interested in community- or campus-based projects in the areas of sustainability and resilience, please feel free to reach out to Pindral at clpindra@mtu.edu to discuss how she can support your current or prospective work.
Background
Pindral completed her Master of Science in Environmental and Energy Policy from Michigan Tech in 2022 with the defense of her report, "Improving Energy Stewardship at Michigan Technological University's Athletic Complexes.” She earned a Graduate Certificate in Sustainability from MTU in 2018 and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2012.
Pindral served as the assistant coach for MTU’s varsity volleyball team from 2016-22 and was promoted to assistant head coach for the 2022 season.
Karem Sakallah, University of Michigan, will present a Department of Computer Science (CS) Colloquium lecture next Friday (March 24) from 3-4 p.m. in Rekhi 214, and virtually via Zoom.
The title of Sakallah's talk is “Verification of Distributed Protocol Specifications is Decidable.”
Sakallah is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science. His research is focused on automating the formal verification of hardware, software and distributed protocols. He is a fellow of the IEEE and the ACM and a co-recipient of the prestigious Computer-Aided Verification Award for “Fundamental contributions to the development of high-performance Boolean satisfiability solvers.”
Learn more and read the abstract on the Computing News Blog.
Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering candidate Nikhil Mittal will present "Stiffness-sensing by adherent cells — if not myosin, then who?" tomorrow (March 17) at 3 p.m. in person in M&M 610.
Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.
This seminar is part of the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BioMed) Seminar Series for Graduate Students.
Meng Zhou will present as part of the Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) Research Series tomorrow (March 17) at 10 a.m. in person in Chem Sci 201 or virtually via Zoom.
Zhou is an assistant professor at New Mexico State University. He will present "Hydrogen Production at Room and Elevated Temperatures."
Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.
Michigan Tech hockey's Kyle Kukkonen has been named the CCHA Rookie of the Year. Kukkonen is Tech's first conference rookie of the year since 1973 when Mike Zuke was honored.
Kukkonen, a native of Maple Grove, Minnesota, and Anaheim Ducks draft pick, was a unanimous selection on the CCHA All-Rookie Team. He leads CCHA first-year players — and the Huskies — with 18 goals.
Kukkonen has the fifth-most goals by a Michigan Tech first-year in program history and his 18 goals are the most by a Tech rookie since 1988 when Kelly Hurd potted 18. He was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week three times and the CCHA Forward of the Week once.
Kukkonen has skated in all 38 games and also tallied nine assists for 27 points. He ranks fourth nationally with five game-winning goals to lead the CCHA while also adding five power-play goals and a pair of shorthanded goals. Kukkonen had eight multipoint games and five games with a pair of goals. He went on three six-game point streaks.
Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.
Michigan Tech hockey's Blake Pietila has been named the CCHA Goaltender of the Year and is a Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist.
Pietila, a native of Howell, Michigan, broke Michigan Tech records for shutouts in a season (10) and career (20) while becoming the all-time wins leader with 58 — a record he shares with Bruce Horsch. Pietila leads the nation in shutouts while ranking second nationally with 23 wins, third in save percentage (.929), and fifth in goals-against average (1.99).
Pietila has appeared in 36 games for the Huskies, going 23-10-3 overall. He is a top three finalist for the Mike Richter Award and was a preseason All-CCHA selection. Pietila was named the CCHA Goaltender of the Month for October, January and February, the CCHA Goaltender of the Week seven times, and the Most Valuable Player of the Desert Hockey Classic.
Pietila played in 24 CCHA games this season, going 14-7-3 with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. He led the league in wins, save percentage and shutouts (6), while finishing second in goals-against average and minutes played (1425:48). Ranking third in total saves (625), he allowed two or fewer goals in 16 conference games.
Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.
Hoda Hatoum (BioMed/HRI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $200,000 research and development grant from the National Science Foundation.
The project is titled "ERI: Non-Newtonian blood analogs and effect of their rheology on physiological flow stasis in heart valve applications."
This is a potential two-year project.
Rob Bishop, director of academic conduct, attended the International Center for Academic Integrity's 2023 Annual Conference, held March 10-12 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The conference provides an opportunity for higher education professionals to share new research and best practices related to academic integrity. Over 200 faculty, staff and industry experts from around the world attended this year's conference either in person or virtually.
Valoree Gagnon (CFRES/GLRC) was quoted by Wisconsin Watch in a story weighing the purpose and risks of fish consumption advisories in Great Lakes states, especially to Indigenous communities. The story was picked up by Wausau Pilot & Review and WISC-TV News 3 Now in Madison.
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Jennifer Rachels and Susanna Peters (SS), Sonia Goltz (COB), Jason Archer (HU) and Valoree Gagnon (CFRES/GLRC) were mentioned by ABC 10 and the Keweenaw Report in stories previewing events in the “Work in Transition” speaker series at Michigan Tech. The series, which began Tuesday (March 14), is organized by the Institute for Policy, Ethics, and Culture.
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MLive mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about Finlandia University officials’ unanimous vote to dissolve the institution. Tech has entered into a teach-out agreement with Finlandia, together with Northern Michigan University, Bay College, Adrian College and Wartburg College.
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Michigan Tech hockey’s Blake Pietila, Ryland Mosley and Brett Thorne were mentioned in news stories after receiving All-CCHA honors. The Daily Mining Gazette and WJMN Local 3 covered Thorne being named to the All-CCHA Second Team. The DMG and Rink Live covered Pietila and Mosley being selected to the All-CCHA First Team.
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Yahoo! News and ACCESSWIRE mentioned Michigan Tech in a Q&A with Kim Hilton ’91 (B.S. chemistry), a chemistry professor and science education influencer whose TikTok channel @chemicalkim has more than 1.4 million followers. The Q&A was originally published in February on Dow Chemical’s Seek Together blog.
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The Williams-Grand Canyon News in Arizona mentioned Michigan Tech in a Q&A with Dave Vago ’05 (M.S. Industrial Archaeology), project manager for historic preservation at Grand Canyon National Park.
CS Colloquium with Yakov Nekrich
Associate Professor Yakov Nekrich (CS) will present a Department of Computer Science Colloquium lecture tomorrow (March 17) from 3-4 p.m. in Rekhi 214 and virtually via Zoom.
Nekrich works on efficient algorithms for geometric and sequence data. He is especially interested in space-efficient and compressed data structures and their applications to the world of big data. The title of his talk is “Geometric Data Structures: Point Location and Range Reporting.”
Learn more and read the abstract on the Computing News Blog.
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URIP Applications Now Open
Pavlis Honors College (PHC) is currently accepting applications to the Undergraduate Research Internship Program (URIP) for the 2023-24 academic year. The internship program will run from September 2023 through mid-March 2024 and is open to any undergraduate student on campus with an identified faculty research mentor. Faculty and students who are already working together are welcome to apply.
PHC will provide $960 in funding for the student intern, with the expectation that faculty will provide equivalent matching funds to be dispensed concurrently, resulting in a total of $1,920 paid hourly over the course of the internship. Faculty may make use of research funds, IRAD and startup packages, or consult their chairs, deans or center/institute management to identify the source of their match.
Details regarding the application process can be found on the Pavlis Honors College website.
The deadline to submit applications is 5 p.m. next Friday (March 24). Faculty need to supply a letter of support as part of the application package. If you have questions about the submission process, please email Rob Handler at rhandler@mtu.edu.
URIP is made possible with support from PHC and generous donations from the Portage Health Foundation and the DeVlieg Foundation.
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Modern Language Spring Film Series: 'Synonyms'
Tonight (March 16), we are screening the second film in this year's Modern Language Film Series, where we approach the theme of social justice. Thursday's film is "Synonyms," a French language film directed by Nadav Lapid and released in 2018 in France and Israel. Run time: 123 minutes.
A disaffected young Israeli flees Tel Aviv for Paris to start a new life. Desperate to erase his origins, Yoav sees becoming French as his only hope for salvation. “Synonyms” explores the challenges of putting down roots in a new place.
The film will begin at 7 p.m. in Fisher 135. Each film will be subtitled in English. The screenings are open to the public.
Next film is:
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Physics Colloquium with Henrike Fleischhack
Henrike Fleischhack from NASA/Catholic University of America will be presenting at the next Physics Colloquium.
The seminar will be presented in person at 4 p.m. today (March 16) in Fisher 139.
Fleischhack's presentation is titled "Pevatrons and Beyond — Where are our Universe's Most Powerful Particle Accelerators?"
Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.
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This Week's C3 Luncheon
Menu for Thursday (March 16):
Dining Services presents this week's C3 Luncheon, being held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge (MUB 107). All faculty and staff, along with their guests, are invited.
The C3 lunch buffet menus are created and prepared by executive chef Michael Landini and his culinary team. As the name suggests, the meals are meant to foster conversation, community and collegiality. Attendees may bring their lunch instead of purchasing the buffet. Fruit-infused water, coffee, tea, cookies and fruit are available free to all attendees.
The buffet lunch is $12 per person. Cash, credit cards and gift cards are accepted. Gift cards can be purchased in the Memorial Union office (MUB 101). You can submit C3 feedback using our Google form. To join the C3 Google group and receive weekly menus, email business-support@mtu.edu.
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BioSci Seminar with Bernard Kim
Bernard Kim will present as part of the Department of Biological Sciences (BioSci) Seminar Series from 3-4 p.m. today (March 16). The seminar will be held virtually via Zoom (use passcode 046347).
Kim is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in the Department of Biology. He will present "Clade-scale genomics for precise inference of natural selection in the fly Family Drosophilidae."
From the abstract:
In a large collaborative effort with many members of the fly community, we are working to systematically and comprehensively sequence most of the >4,400 species of the model family Drosophilidae. In addition to building new genomes, we are generating population-genomic data by sequencing both inbred laboratory lines and individual flies collected from the wild. This will be a powerful genomic resource for the scientific community, enabling genomic analyses at unprecedented resolution through the saturation of both substitution and population-genomic data at nearly every possible nucleotide site. In my presentation, I will show how this saturation regime allows us to confidently identify signatures of natural selection on new mutations at the resolution of single genes or even protein domains, to detect both parallel evolutionary forces and systematic shifts in natural selection between drosophilid species groups, and to characterize selection acting on specific Drosophila tissues or cell types. This work is the first step in building a clade-scale genomic toolkit for dissecting signatures of evolution on individual genes, through the fly body, and across macro-evolutionary time.
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Western UP STEM Fair & Festival at the MUB Today
Students in grades K-8 and their families are invited to the Western Upper Peninsula STEM Fair & Festival today (March 16) at Michigan Tech’s Memorial Union Building (MUB). Join in the fun with nearly two dozen hands-on activities and view science fair projects submitted by more than 50 Copper Country students in grades 4-8.
The public is encouraged to participate from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the MUB Commons. The event is free and open to all K-8 students and their families.
“We are very excited about all of the great projects being entered into the fair this year,” shared Emily Gochis, Western U.P. MiSTEM director. “We are eager for families and the public to come and view the projects during public viewing from 5-6 p.m. in the MUB Ballroom.”
“The STEM festival activities will engage kids of all ages,” added Tom Oliver, director of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach (CSEO).
This year’s STEM fair and festival are made possible by sponsorship from the following Michigan Tech departments and community organizations:
College of Engineering | College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science | College of Sciences and Arts | Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering | Department of Biological Sciences | Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering | Department of Social Sciences | Ecosystem Science Center | Great Lakes Research Center | Michigan Tech Transportation Institute.
The STEM festival is coordinated by the CSEO. The STEM fair is coordinated by Western U.P. MiSTEM Network, the Copper Country Intermediate School District and the Michigan Tech Chapter of Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Honor Society.
For more information, visit the Western U.P. STEM Fair & Festival webpage, contact Gochis at 906-487-0331 or egochis@copperisd.org, or contact Oliver at 906-487-2412 or teoliver@mtu.edu.
Fair & Festival Schedule:
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ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker: Veronica Womack
The next Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics (ME-EM) Graduate Seminar speaker will present at 4 p.m. today (March 16) virtually via Zoom.
Registration is required. Upon registration, attendees will receive the Zoom link that they can use to join the seminar.
Veronica Womack will present “Supporting Diverse Learners through Inclusive Teaching.”
Womack is the associate director of inclusive learning communities at Northwestern University’s Searle Center for Advancing Learning & Teaching.
To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.
The College of Business is pleased to again offer Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. Accounting majors will provide free income tax preparation assistance for students and...
*****Department of Computer Science faculty candidate Koloud Al Khamaiseh will present a classroom lecture on Thursday, March 16, 2023, from 1-2 p.m., on campus in Fisher Hall,...
*****Let's talk and color your cares away! Drop in to de-stress with an afternoon of adult coloring and find out more about what the Center for Student Mental Health and Well-being...
*****Dr. Bernard Kim Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Biology Stanford University Los Angeles, California Clade-scale genomics for precise inference of natural selection in...
*****Dr. Hongmei Luo will present as part of the Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) Research Series on Thursday (March 16) at 3 p.m. in person in Chem Sci 201 or virtually...
*****Henrike Fleischhack from NASA/Catholic University of America will be presenting at the next Physics Colloquium. Please join the in-person presentation at 4 p.m. Thursday...
*****ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker Series proudly presents Veronica Y. Womack, PhD Associate Director, Inclusive Learning Communities Searle Centre for Advancing Learning &...
*****Who Should Attend: Western U.P. School Districts Which Grades: 4–8 What Project Types: Science, Engineering Design, or Other Which Category: Individual or Group The...
*****Adult Huskies Swim Lessons provides aquatic education for the beginner to the intermediate swimmer who is looking to become more comfortable in the water and learn the...
*****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...
*****This workshop costs $10 to attend, you'll receive a 4" Hoya in a terracotta pot, printed and digital detailed care instructions, and soil appropriate for your new plant. Join...
*****We'll be voting on our weekly trip and discussing other relevant information. While our meetings run until 7:00 PM, they don't usually last longer than 20 or 30 minutes. Feel...
*****The Modern Languages Program is excited to present one more year its ML Film Series. This year’s theme is Social Justice. We will watch the movies in original version with...
*****Sustainability Film Series presents Dark Waters (120 min.) Description This drama/thriller film follows the story of a corporate defense attorney who takes on an...
*****Well-known TikTokers Laura Whaley (@loewhaley) and Ryan Stygar (@attorneyryan) join professors Susanna Peters and Sonia Goltz on the Rozsa stage to discuss the changing...
*****Come join the Log Rolling Club in the SDC Pool. No experience needed, we would be more than happy to help you learn and have a great time! Everyone that participates in...
*****De-stress with an afternoon of adult coloring and find out more about what resources the Center for Student Mental Health and Well-being has to offer! Come color with us or...
