Dr. Kuilin Zhang, an assistant professor of transportation systems in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the newest faculty member as the University’s Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiatives (SFHI) in future transportation systems, will chair a panel session on the “Impact of Electric Vehicles Charging on Energy and Transportation Systems” in the 3rd Great Lakes Symposium on Smart Grid and The New Energy Economy (www.greatlakessymposium.net), September 22 to 25, 2013, Chicago, IL. The Symposium is sponsored by the IEEE Power & Energy Society and will feature keynote and plenary sessions, technical presentations, and tutorials by international experts on smart grid applications. He is on the technical committee of the Symposium. He will present his research work on Modeling Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging Behavior in an Integrated Activity-Based Demand and Dynamic Network Modeling Framework.
Brian Barkdoll, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan Technological University, has been named a Fellow of the Environmental Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
General Motors Corporation is siupporting the Summer 2013 “Ride the Waves with GM”. This is an educational program that invites Copper Country youth in Grades 4-12 to explore Lake Superior and adjacent waters aboard Michigan Tech’s research vessel, the Agassiz. Explorations are led by a member of Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center with expertise on the topic, assisted by undergraduate student mentors.
Curious about the world of trains and High Speed Rail? Ready to work in collaboration with others? Ready to learn the basics of HSR to further your knowledge and career? Like the idea of participating from the comfort of your home or office?
Associate Professor Yue Li (CEE) has been awarded the Fulbright-VTT Grant in Science, Technology and Innovation to conduct research in Finland for the duration of six months during 2013–14. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is the largest multidisciplinary research organization in Northern Europe. Li will conduct research on structural design for improving earthquake performance of nuclear power plants at the VTT in Espoo, Finland.
This time last year, the finishing touches were just being put on Michigan Technological University’s Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC). Researchers were starting to move in, and plans were being made for a mid-summer building dedication.
What a difference a year makes. Now celebrating its first anniversary, the GLRC is fast becoming the go-to source for data about the Great Lakes and the home of pioneering investigations into solutions to the challenges facing them.
“This is a unique, amazing place,” says Guy Meadows, director of the GLRC. Meadows came to Michigan Tech from the University of Michigan to lead the Great Lakes research efforts here. “Scientists from all across the basin have their eyes on us. The future of Great Lakes research is based right here.”
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Associate Professor Brian Barkdoll (CEE) is joining Professor David Watkins (CEE) as co-coordinator of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Peace Corps Master’s International Program (PCMI). Barkdoll will replace Associate Professor Kurt Paterson (CEE), who is leaving Michigan Tech to head the Engineering Department at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.
Paterson founded and built the Civil and Environmental Engineering PCMI program, the largest of Tech’s eight PCMI programs and the first PCMI Civil and Environmental Engineering program in the nation. Barkdoll has been advising students in this program for some time, adding his unique perspective as a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in Nepal.
“We are grateful to Kurt for his numerous contributions to our PCMI program over the years and look forward to working closely with Brian as the new department co-coordinator,” said PCMI Campus Director Kari Henquinet (SS).
Rail Transportation Program Announces AREMA Scholarship Recipients
Pasi Lautala, Director of the Rail Transportation Program (RTP), co-authored a spotlight article on the USDOT Research and Innovative Technology (RITA) the only Tier 1 University Transportation Center (UTC) focused on rail. Lautala is associate director of education for the NURail (National University Rail Center) center, a consortium of seven universities including Michigan Tech, led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and collaborating on the research theme of shared rail corridors. Lautala’s article, “NURail – Developing a Generation of Railway Professionals” is located online.
More than 200 teachers and students from Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ontario came to Michigan Technological University for the 10th Biennial Lake Superior Youth Symposium. Students and teachers from 24 schools in three Great Lakes states and Canada spent four days at the symposium, Thursday to Sunday, May 16-19, 2013.
Read more in Michigan Tech News Article
CTT Staffers Help Run and Present at Construction Career Days
Staff from the Center for Technology and Training (CTT), part of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute, joined other construction industry professionals from across Michigan to coordinate the sixth annual Michigan Construction Career Days event in Howell last week. Construction Career Days attracted nearly 2000 middle and high school students and teachers from across Lower Michigan. The event is designed to show young people the wide variety of careers available in the construction industry—at all levels of education and experience.