Engineering Applications in the Earth Sciences
July 13 – 24, 2015
This course will show how engineers use principles from the earth sciences to solve problems and design systems. Key concepts will be linked to the Next Generation and Michigan Science Standards for precollege education.
Learn more about Engineering Applications in the Earth Sciences Summer Institute.
The 2015 Graduate Research Colloquium was held on Feb. 25–26 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Winners were announced at a banquet on Thursday, Feb. 26.
Margo Woller-Carter, PhD Student, Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors, took second place for her oral presentation “Development of the Intelligent Graphs for Everyday Decisions Tutor.”
The Graduate School and Graduate Student Government proudly announce the 2014-2015 academic year winners.
Patrick Belling, PhD Student, Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors, is a recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award. The award recognizes graduate students who have exhibited exceptional ability as a teacher, have received excellent evaluations from students, as well as gaining the respect of faculty in their departments.
Take a snowshoe hike to investigate who lives in the world beneath the snow and what they are doing on Saturday, Feb. 28 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Those attending will meet at the Maasto-Hiito Chalet. The program will be led by Denise Landsberg, an environmental educator, who will engage the group in creative outdoor play and nature exploration.
Families are encouraged to bring snowshoes, but there will be 20 pairs available for those who need them.
The program is free. Funding is provided by the Michigan Association of Environmental Professionals. The program is coordinated by the Western UP Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education.
For more information contact Joan Chadde at the Western U.P. Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education at Michigan Tech, by calling: 7-3341 or email at jchadde@mtu.edu.
The Portage Lake District Library invites all K-6 students and their parents for an evening of fun and science with the Michigan Tech Family Science Night program, tomorrow from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Families will have two hands-on activities to work on. In “Ooey, Gooey Slime!” participants will mix up some common household items, conduct experiments and see what happens. “Starry, Starry Night” will give participants a chance to explore the cosmos and create their own constellation.
Family Science Nights develop children’s curiosity and their ability to solve scientific challenges. These activities also provide an opportunity for parents and their children to learn together while having fun and making scientific connections to everyday life.
This event is coordinated by the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education and Michigan Tech.
Library programs are free and everyone is invited. For more information, call the library at 482-4570 or visit the Portage Lake District Library website and Western UP Center website.
This week is National Engineers Week, a celebration of the positive contributions that engineers make to society. At Michigan Tech, the Tau Beta Pi chapter and Alpha Society are hosting a number of Engineers Week events, including:
Get WISE (an event for middle school girls)
9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., February 24, 2015
Wood Gym, SDC
Presented by The Center for Pre-College Outreach and the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education
In this annual workshop and lunch, 250 seventh and eighth grade girls will tackle science and engineering challenges, meet female role models from Michigan Tech, learn physics concepts and explore their interest in science/engineering. The goal is to inspire more young women to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
and many other events.
MTU expo piques interest of middle school girls in science careers
Roughly 250 middle school girls from throughout the Keweenaw area got their hands on some science at Michigan Tech.
The Get WISE event, which stands for Women In Science and Engineering, is geared for young girls to help get them interested in possible careers in those fields.
More than two dozen women students will be attending today’s Michigan Tech Career Fair and the job interviews that follow dressed as the professionals they will soon become, thanks to a brainstorm by a couple of women faculty members at Tech.
When Amy Lark, an education instructor in the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences, discovered that the Campus Bookstore does not sell women’s business attire, she and Susan Amato-Henderson, chair of cognitive and learning sciences, discussed alternatives. They came up with the idea to ask faculty and staff to donate women’s business clothing that female students could wear.
With just two days’ notice, approximately 15 people donated, and academic advisers were invited to let their women students know that clothing in sizes 4 to 20 was available.
“On Sunday between 1 and 3 p.m., we were able to outfit about 25 students,” Amato-Henderson said. “We had clothes left over, and a few more donations came in Monday morning, so we still have students coming in to get business clothing. The students were so grateful. It was a wonderful experience.”
Dressing all for success
For Assistant Professor of Science Education Amy Lark, as well as other members of the campus community, persistence has paid off, as work has continued to try to get women’s professional clothing sold alongside the current selection of men’s clothing at Michigan Technological University’s Campus Bookstore.
Steven Landry, MS student in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors, was quoted in the article “Despite drop in collisions, intersection of roads and rails still a dangerous place.” Landry noted that each year fewer and fewer people were killed in grade crossing incidents. He gave reasons which included studies of driver behavior at railroad crossings.
Read more at Trains Magazine, by Justin Franz. Subscription required.
With a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Michigan Technological University is trying to help the next generation of PhDs learn to better communicate their research. Alex Mayer, the Charles and Patricia Nelson Presidential Professor at Michigan Tech, runs a fellowship program that teaches PhD students in a variety of fields to explain their research in K-12 classrooms and to write news releases to communicate with the public through the media. Others working with him on the grant are Nancy Auer, Biological Sciences; Brad Baltensperger, Cognitive and Learning Sciences; Kathleen Halvorsen, Social Sciences and School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science; Shawn Oppliger, Copper Country Intermediate School District; and Linda Nagel, formerly at Michigan Tech, now at the University of Minnesota.
An Engineering Exploration Day will be held for girls (grades 7-12) and their parents on Saturday, Feb. 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Great Lakes Research Center.
Celebrate Engineers Week and come find out what engineering is all about. Try some fun hands-on activities led by women engineering students at Michigan Tech and discover their love of engineering. Learn how engineers make a difference and why engineering is a great career choice, as well as the many career paths open to engineers.
Registration will be free to the first 40 girls and their parent(s) or chaperones. Lunch and all activities are included. The deadline to register is Thursday, Feb. 19. To register, call 7-3341 or fill out the electronic form.
For more information, contact Joan Chadde at 7-3341 or at jchadde@mtu.edu.
A day for the girls
Engineering Exploration Day