Retirement Gathering for Neil Hutzler
The civil and environmental engineering department invited the campus community to a retirement reception for Professor Neil Hutzler on Wednesday, May 16, in the Great Lakes Research Center. Hutzler has retired after 35 years of service.
As Professor Neil Hutzler was looking to retirement, he was ensuring that a new generation would become inspired to consider engineering as a career. Hutzler is co-author of the recently published Family Engineering Activity & Event Planning Guide (2011) and co-director of the Family Engineering Program. Hutzler, and collaborator Joan Chadde, have been busy conducting training workshops and promoting the program nationwide.
Find out more in this university news story about Dr. Hutzler’s recent work in Family Engineering
Family Engineering Inspires Students (and Mom and Dad)
Staff from the Center for Technology and Training (CTT), a part of the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI), joined several other construction industry professionals from across Michigan to coordinate the fifth annual Michigan Construction Career Days event in Howell last week.
CTT staff who assisted were Training Coordinator John Ryynanen, Research Engineer Christopher Gilbertson and Technical Writers Shaughn Kern and Trevor Kuehl.
Construction Career Days attracted more than 1,500 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.
Ryynanen serves on the Construction Career Days Advisory Committee.
For more information about Career Days, see Construction.
John Ryynanen, training coordinator with the Center for Technology and Training in the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute, is quoted in the Livingston Daily article “Event Gives Students Some Experience in Construction,” about the fifth annual Michigan Construction Career Days, held May 9 in Howell Township. The event introduces secondary school students to education and employment opportunities in construction and the skilled trades.
Faculty and staff from the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute (MTTI), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) traveled to Lansing to participate in the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) biennial research summit on May 10.
Michigan Tech joined researchers from other Michigan research universities, consultants and MDOT personnel to discuss MDOT’s research needs and contribute to the scope of future research projects.
John Velat, director of Michigan Tech’s Tribal Technical Assistance Program, has just returned from Washington, DC, Dallas, Seattle, and New York, where he traveled the high road to help Native American communities attain safe, efficient, and environmentally sound transportation.
Staff and faculty from four programs participated in the National Transportation Workforce Summit in Washington, DC, April 24 to 26.
Pasi Lautala (CEE/MTTI) spoke on rail transportation education and training. Tech’s HEV Mobile Lab, represented by Marlene Lappeus (ME-EM) and undergraduate student Meghan Schiber (CEE), and the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, represented by Joan Chadde (CEE), were both featured as showcase exhibits. Elizabeth Hoy (CEE/UTC) supported Michigan Tech’s involvement.
Long before the age of freeways and parking lots, Babylonians used a naturally occurring asphalt to reinforce their roads. You can still see patches of the old pavement in the ancient city, even though it was installed in about 600 B.C.
Governor Appoints Technology Professor to Two State Boards
Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed Mike Drewyor, a professor of practice in the School of Technology, to the State Board of Professional Surveyors and the State Board of Professional Engineers. The boards regulate the practices of professional surveyors and engineers.
Drewyor teaches construction management and survey engineering. Previously, he worked for engineering and surveying firms in the UP. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Michigan Tech.
The 2012 CEE Awards Banquet was held in the Rozsa Center April 19.
Howard Hill CEE Outstanding Faculty Award 2012 To Dr William Sproule, Ryan Hoensheid CEE Graduate Teaching Award 2012, Nicole Bloom Award for Environmental Sustainability, Ludwig Award for Graduate Excellence, CEE Award for Graduate Research Excellence.
Assistant Professor R. Andrew Swartz (CEE) has received $149,550 from the National Science Foundation for “Collaborative Research: Integrated Wind Turbine Blade and Tower Health Monitoring and Failure Prognosis.”
Charles Robert “Bob” Baillod, a pioneer in the field of environmental engineering, passed away Thursday, April 12, at his home in Pointe Mills Estate in the presence of his family.