Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering News

Category: Students

SWE Scholarships for Kathryn Krieger and Grace Moeggenborg

Published

SWE Congratulates Spring Lower-Division Scholarship Recipients

Dow Building exterior in springtime.

Annually, MTU’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) section awards scholarships to members in the fall and spring semesters. This semester, Spring 2023, the lower-division scholarship recipients were Kathryn Krieger and Grace Moeggenborg, both studying environmental engineering.

Krieger is our campus and community chair for SWE, president of Engineers Without Borders, and is actively involved in Mind Trekkers, the MTU Ultimate Frisbee team, and Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority. Moeggenborg was recently elected as our SWE section secretary. She has served as webmaster and recruitment co-chair. She has enjoyed volunteering at Engineering Days, Spring Fling, the Spring Involvement Fair, and FLARE.

The section congratulates Krieger and Moeggenborg and thanks Milwaukee Tool for supporting these scholarships.

By Gretchen Hein, Advisor, Society of Women Engineers.

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Built World Enterprise Teams Compete at WERC Design Competition

Published
33rd WERC Environmental Design Contest Making a Difference Today!

Two student teams from Michigan Tech competed in the WERC Environmental Design Contest at New Mexico State University from April 16–19, 2023. In the 33rd year of the competition, student teams set out to solve challenges facing society today. The teams were composed of environmental engineering majors who are members of the Built World Enterprise.

The first team, which included Jenna Cook, Morgan Halberg, Francine Rosinski, Nadia Stauffer, and Eden Traub, participated in Task 1: Sustainable Communities: Wastewater Reuse for Rural Communities. The task was to design a low-energy and low-maintenance wastewater treatment system so that rural communities in the southwest United States could reuse lagoon effluent to meet water needs.

The second team, consisting of Clark Fadior, Jake McDowell, Allison Olson, and Avery Reno, participated in Task 4: Detecting and Quantifying Microplastics in Reservoirs. For the task, they designed a portable system to detect and quantify microplastics in natural aquatic systems in real time.

Both teams had to create a bench-scale prototype of their design and a business plan, and deliver oral and poster presentations, including a four-minute flash talk.

The Task 1 team:

  • won first place overall for their task
  • won first place in the flash talks
  • earned the Pollution Prevention Award
  • will be invited to be published in IEEE Xplore.

The Task 4 team won second place in the flash talk.

Over 20 schools from across the country participated across the contest’s six tasks. Sponsors of the competition include EPA, Freeport-McMoRan, El Paso Electric Company and many more.

Congratulations to both teams!

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.

The WERC Environmental Design Contest is a unique design competition that brings industry, government, and academia together in search for improved solutions to today’s environmental challenges in ALL fields of engineering.

W-E-R-C formerly stood for “Waste-management Education Research Consortium,” but we are broadening our scope. In addition to managing waste, students are now focusing their designs on minimizing energy & waste and conserving & recycling resources, including water, energy, and natural resources. We will reveal the new meaning of the W-E-R-C acronym this Spring.

Read more at WERC Design Contest, New Mexico State University.

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2023 GLRC Grants for Novitch and Harazin

Published
Biomaterials conference graphic with micro bio illustrations.

Please join the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) in congratulating the winter and spring 2023 GLRC Student Research and Travel Grant recipients.

The GLRC student grants are intended to provide undergraduate and graduate students advised by GLRC members an opportunity to gain experience in writing competitive grants, perform research they would not be able to attempt due to funding limitations or travel to a professional conference to present a poster or paper about their research.

Student grants also provide seed research data for advisors to use in pursuing externally funded research support, and travel grants help amplify areas of research expertise at Michigan Tech. Funded students are expected to participate/volunteer for at least one GLRC activity during the grant period.

Student Research Grants

  • James Juip, Ph.D. student — Social Sciences
    GLRC member advisor: Donald Lafreniere
    Research proposal: “Using Deep Maps and Spatial Narratives as a tool for Community Heritage Making”
  • Jacob Novitch, M.S. student — Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
    GLRC member advisor: Jennifer Becker
    Research proposal: “Modeling of Lagoon Wastewater Treatment Systems in Small Communities”
  • Caitlyn Sutherlin, Ph.D. student — Social Sciences
    GLRC member advisor: Angie Carter
    Research proposal: “Identifying Community Connections to Nature in California, El Salvador with Photovoice”
  • Cassandra Reed-VanDam, M.S. student — College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
    GLRC member advisor: Valoree Gagnon
    Research proposal: ““Restoration is repairing relations” manoomin (wild rice) restoration study in KBIC homelands”

Student Travel Grants

  • Leah Harazin, B.S. student — Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
    GLRC member advisor: Stephen Techtmann
    Attending: 45th Symposium on Biomaterials, Fuels and Chemicals
    Presentation: “Stability of Terephthalate Degrading Microbial Consortia for Plastic Upcycling”
  • Anna Kavanaugh, B.S. student — Social Sciences
    GLRC member advisor: Mark Rhodes
    Attending: 2023 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting
    Presentation: “The Continuation of Exclusionary Landscapes: Accessibility of Public Transportation in Urban America”
  • Zoe Ketola, M.S. student — Social Sciences
    GLRC member advisor: Chelsea Schelly
    Attending: World Social Science Association 65th Annual Conference
    Presentation: “Energy Service Security for Public Health Resilience: An energy services framework for health facility planning in Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula”
  • Maya Klanderman, B.S. student — Social Sciences
    GLRC member advisor: Mark Rhodes
    Attending: 2023 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting
    Presentation: “A Settler Scholar Perspective on Applying Indigenous Methodology in Undergraduate Research”
  • Laura Schaerer, Ph.D. student — Biological Sciences
    GLRC member advisor: Stephen Techtmann
    Attending: 45th Symposium on Biomaterials, Fuels and Chemicals
    Presentation: “Ecological interactions of specialist and generalist species within mixed plastic derivative-utilizing microbial communities”

GLRC Student Travel Grant applications are accepted anytime and will be reviewed on the last Friday of each month. Applications must be submitted at least two weeks in advance of travel. GLRC Student Research Grant applications are accepted three times each year — Nov. 1, March 1 and July 1.

By Great Lakes Research Center.

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Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering 2023 Department Awards

Published

Department Scholar Award

Caleb Novitch accepting an award from Audra Morse.
Caleb Novitch accepting an award from Audra Morse.

Senior status during the next academic year

  • Represents the best of student scholarship in the department
  • Participates in research or scholarly activities
  • Has a high level of intellectual curiosity
  • Shows intellectual creativity
  • Demonstrates communication skills

Nominees for this award were:

Brodey Bevins – nominated by Pasi Lautala
Caleb Novitch – nominated by Jennifer Becker and Yousef Darestani
Francine Rosinski – nominated by Audra Morse

Presented to Caleb Novitch

From his nomination, “Caleb Novitch is being recognized by the Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Department not only for his outstanding academic achievements and dedication to learning but for his strength of character. He is honest, responsible, and possesses excellent interpersonal skills. He is always willing to help others and work collaboratively with classmates to achieve common goals.”

Nicole Bloom Award for Environmental Sustainability

Kendra Lachcik accepting an award from Audra Morse.
Kendra Lachcik accepting an award from Audra Morse.

This award is made annually to an undergraduate civil, environmental, or geospatial engineering student who has demonstrated leadership, passion, and activism for effecting environmental sustainability at the local, national, or global level. This award is accompanied by the Pati and Soumitri Reddy $1000 endowed scholarship.

Nominees for this award were:

Claire Cristen – nominated by Judith Perlinger and Robert Handler
Josh King – nominated by Zhanping You
Kendra Lachik – nominated by Audra Morse

Presented to Kendra Lachcik

Kendra has had a lifelong passion for environmental issues which was her motivation for pursuing an environmental engineering degree. Since January 2021, she has been a tenant in the Sustainability House where the goal is to retrofit the house into a net-zero energy, zero waste house and also host outreach events to promote sustainable system concepts. Kendra was recognized in 2022 as the Inaugural Michigan Tech Sustainability Award Winner and represented Michigan Tech at COP 27 in Egypt. As stated in the award nomination, “Kendra is always happy to share her enthusiasm for environmental engineering with prospective students and is an ambassador of Michigan Tech and environmental sustainability.”

Undergraduate Department Service Award

Jacob Wysko accepting an award from Audra Morse.
Jacob Wysko accepting an award from Audra Morse.

This award is to recognize a CEGE student that has shown exemplary service to the CEGE Department through student organizations affiliated with the Department (ASCE, Chi Epsilon, SEEN, EWB, Rail Engineering Activity Club). This award is accompanied by a $500 scholarship.

Presented to Jacob Wysko

Jacob is a senior in the geospatial engineering program and is also a member of the Douglass Houghton Student Chapter. He was nominated for his willingness to support the delivery of our undergraduate programs when a faculty member had to take leave suddenly in the middle of the semester. Jacob is TA for SU 2000 and he made sure labs ran unaffected during the faculty absence.

Danielle Ladwig Award for Graduate Excellence

Tyler LeMahieu accepting an award from Audra Morse.
Tyler LeMahieu accepting an award from Audra Morse.

This award is made annually to a graduate level student in civil or environmental engineering in recognition of outstanding achievement in academics, research, and service, in memory of our friend and colleague, Danielle Ladwig. This award is accompanied by the Pati and Soumitri Reddy $1000 endowed fellowship.

Nominees for this award:

Tyler LeMahieu – nominated by Angela Keranen and Shelle Sandell
Yingtong Tan – nominated by Kuilin Zhang

Presented to Tyler LeMahieu

Tyler personifies the type of person this award was created to recognize. He has been recognized for his excellence in teaching with the 2021-22 with the student voted CEGE GTA of the Year and with the graduate school Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award. He was awarded an NSF Fellowship in 2022 for a proposal titled “Understanding Wild Rice Site Suitability in a Changing Climate” with Dr. Cory McDonald as well as a Michigan Space Grant Consortium fellowship for “Assessing Flood Resilience in Constructed Streambeds: Flume Comparison of Design Methodologies” with Dr. Brian Barkdoll. In addition to his contributions to teaching and research, it is Tyler’s consistent willingness to help in a service role to the department that completes the picture for this award. Whether it be STEM outreach to K–12, meetings with prospective graduate students, or coordinating the CEGE Graduate Orientation, Tyler has been a willing and enthusiastic participant.

Wilbur Haas Graduate Research Excellence Award

Ben Barrios accepting an award next to Audra Morse.
Ben Barrios accepting an award next to Audra Morse.

The Graduate Research Excellence Award is made annually to a graduate level student in civil or environmental engineering to recognize outstanding student scholarship and research contributions. This award is accompanied by a $1000 Wilbur Haas Memorial Fellowship.

Nominations for this award:

Ben Barrios – nominated by Daisuke Minakata
Yei Lin – nominated by Zhanping You
Miraj Bhakta Kayastha – nominated by Peifeng Xue
Yingtong Tan – nominated by Kuilin Zhang

Presented to Benjamin Barrios Cerda

In his nomination, Ben’s advisor, Daisuke Minakata shared that in the four years that Ben has been a doctoral student in his research group he has published three high impact publications as first author and another as the co-author and additionally there are several more ready for submission where he is co-author. One of the papers, though only published in 2021, already has 21 citations indicating the high impact to the community.

Ben also enjoys sharing his passion for science and technology with members of the community. Every summer since 2019, he has participated in a summer youth program directed to students from the Detroit area. The program shares with them some fundamental concepts of environmental engineering with hopes that they decide to pursue a higher education degree in the areas of STEM.

GTA Award

Chi Epsilon Presenting – Jacob Novitch

Award presenter and Jacob Novitch.
Jacob Novitch receiving GTA of the Year award.

Faculty of the Year Award- Chi Epsilon Presenting

Yousef Darestani – Faculty of the Year Award

Civil (structures, materials, geotech) and Geospatial Engineering (3 people were very close: Yousef, Kris Mattila, and Jake Hiller)

Jennifer Becker – Faculty of the Year Award

Environmental Engineering/Civil (Water Resources) Engineering

Department Citizenship Award

Jeffery Hollingsworth

Professional Advisory Board Faculty/Staff Award

Henrique de Melo e Silva

Recognition Also For

Rob Fritz on his retirement after 23 years of service to CEGE.

Outgoing Members of the CEGE Professional Advisory Board

Dennis Decator
Sean Kelley
Leslie Nelson
Kim Zimmer

Five people standing, four with clocks presented as gifts.
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Elsa Meyer Interviewed on America’s Morning Headquarters

Published
Two women interviewed in front of a Michigan Tech backdrop.
Elsa Meyer (right) and Cassy Tefft de Muñoz (left) are interviewed on America’s Morning Headquarters.

Cassy Tefft de Muñoz (CEO) and undergraduate student Elsa Meyer (civil engineering) were virtual guests last Thursday (March 23, 2023) on “America’s Morning Headquarters.” Tefft de Muñoz and Meyer talked about the Michigan Tech Mind Trekkers traveling STEM festivals and demonstrations, and explained the popular banana piano demo while host Jim Cantore tried it out.

Split view of a banana apparatus on a table and the pair of interviewees.
Elsa explains the popular banana piano demonstration.
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Ricardo Eiris, Josiane Isingizwe Receive Best Paper Award

Published
Ricardo Eiris
Ricardo Eiris
Josiane Isingizwe
Josiane Isingizwe

Ricardo Eiris (CEGE) and PhD student Josiane Isingizwe (civil engineering) have been awarded the Best Paper Award for the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Conference Proceedings for papers published in 2023.

They received the award for a paper titled “Where Do Minority Serving Institutions Stand Today in U.S. Construction Education?”

The paper will be presented at the 59th Annual ASC International Conference in Liverpool, U.K., on April 3–5, 2023. Eiris and Isingizwe’s achievement will be celebrated during the award presentation.

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Western U.P. STEM Fair and Festival 2023

Published
Students engage in activities.

The STEM Fair and Festival was held on Thursday, March 16, 2023, at the Memorial Union Ballroom on Michigan Technological University campus in Houghton, Michigan. More than 50 students presented their projects highlighting the results of weeks of work on a science or engineering investigations.

Students from Houghton, Baraga, Keweenaw, Ontonagon, and Gogebic Counties in grades 4–8 were invited to participate in the STEM Project Fair. Students prepared and presented on a science investigation or an engineering design project.

The 2023 participants and winners are posted on the MiSTEM Network.

Tom Oliver, director of Michigan Tech’s Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, coordinated the fair. For the first year after the pandemic, he’s thrilled with the number of kids and parents who came in and checked things out.

“You can see kids everywhere are having fun, which is entirely what we want to do,” he said. “We want them to have fun doing science, technology, engineering and mathematics, because those are things that lead them to what they want to do with their careers.”

Read more at the Daily Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

Kinley Lyons is a 4th-year chemical engineering student at MTU now, but she participated in the STEM Fair years ago as a grade schooler. Lyons and her partner constructed a hovercraft as their project, using an old street sign, a tarp, and a leaf blower.

“It didn’t work that well, but it did work,” she said with a laugh. “It is one of the things that got me into engineering, and here I am now.”

Read more at the Copper Beacon, by Joshua Vissers.

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STEM Outreach Partnership Delivers Programs to Detroit schools

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By

By Joan Chadde, co-PI/co-author/coordinator Family Engineering Program, retired

students conducting experiments

Squeals of delight could be heard from students and adults alike, as they tackled one engineering challenge after another. Students worked in family “engineering teams” to design and construct the tallest tower using only spaghetti and marshmallows that could withstand hurricane-force winds (fans at top speeds!). Students worked as civil engineers to design a bridge using a single sheet of copy paper that could span two books six inches apart. One team’s bridge held more than 100+ pennies between the books!  In yet another engineering challenge, parents and their kids became marine engineers and designed a boat from clay that could hold the most cargo (pennies) before sinking. Another activity was a biomedical engineering challenge of designing a prosthetic hand in 20 minutes that could be used to write with a pencil and pick up a cup of water.

These events were made possible by a partnership between the Michigan Tech Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering and OHM Advisors (Livonia office).  Family engineering events were held after school at Neinas Dual Language Learning Academy (Detroit), Blackwell Institute (Detroit), and Livonia Elementary Schools. OHM’s support provided the program at no cost to the schools, including two event facilitators from Michigan Tech, all of the activity supplies, a free pizza dinner for participants, and a copy of the Family Engineering Activity & Event Planning Guide for each school. In addition, a half dozen OHM staff volunteered to assist with each event—setting up activities, interacting with families, encouraging students, and serving as role models.

Host Schools for Family Engineering Events Attendance
Neinas Dual Language Learning Academy 6021 McMillan St., Detroit 90 Total39 Adults51 K-6 Students
Blackwell Institute1981 McKinstry St, Detroit 35 Total15 Adults 20 K-8 Students
Livonia Elementary Schools8900 Newburgh Rd., Livonia 90 Total39 Adults51 K-6 Students

Parents had lots of positive comments after attending one of the three Family Engineering events held in early December in SE Michigan:

  • Thanks for a great event!
  • My daughter was engaged and had a lot of fun.
  • My sons and I had a wonderful time
  • This was an excellent event! It gave my kids lots of ideas!

When asked what their family learned about engineering, responses included:

  • There are many different types of engineering
  • Engineering helps in everyday life
  • How engineers design inventions
  • Nature inspires engineers to invent new things
  • Engineering is an important part of the world
Students conducting experiments

OHM Advisors, with offices in five states and eleven locations in Michigan, works across multiple service areas, including architecture, engineering, planning, urban design and landscape architecture, surveying, and construction engineering, to create better places for people. An important initiative is increasing the diversity of the STEM pipeline and that means reaching down into elementary schools to introduce engineering to students and their parents. Parents play an important role in guiding and supporting their child’s learning and future career path.
The Family Engineering Program was created by Michigan Tech with partners The Foundation for Family Science & Engineering and the American Society of Engineering Education. A Family Engineering Activity & Event Planning Guide was published in 2011. The activity guide, with thirteen 30-40 minute engineering challenges and 21 short 3-5 minute engineering opener activities, is designed for K-6 educators and for engineers who work with elementary-aged students. It’s ideal for engineering professionals, informal STEM education programs, and STEM college students who want to do outreach in their communities and increase the diversity of the STEM pipeline. To learn more about the Family Engineering program, attend a training workshop, or purchase an activity guide, visit: https://www.mtu.edu/family-engineering/  or email Tom Oliver teoliver@mtu.edu

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Kuilin Zhang, Yintong Tan Receive Gartner Prize

Published
Sequence of vehicle illustrations showing connected communication. Follow the article for more context.
The communication topology for the distributed cooperative adaptive cruise control model. See Transportation Research Record article.

Associate Professor Kuilin Zhang (CEGE/CS) and PhD student Yintong Tan (civil engineering) were presented with the 2022 Gartner Prize by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) ACP50 Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics Committee.

The award recognizes theoretical papers with significant methodological contributions.

Zhang and Tan received the Gartner Prize for a paper titled “A Real-Time Distributed Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control Model Considering Time Delays and Actuator Log.”

The paper was supported by Zhang’s NSF Career Award on connected and automated vehicles.

Related

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16 Inducted in the Order of the Engineer

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On Friday, December 9th , the student chapter of ASCE inducted fourteen students and two professional engineers into the Order of the Engineer. Those who participate in The Order of the Engineer take an obligation to uphold the standards and dignity of the engineering profession. The guest speaker was Bill McCarthy of McCarthy and Smith, Inc. McCarthy and Smith, Inc. has been a construction management and general contractor for over 57 years. Bill has been President since 1996. Bill spoke to the importance of honest relationships with clients and the need for continuous learning to fulfill client’s needs, serve humanity, and make the best of Earth’s precious wealth-key principles of the Order of Engineer. Bill was joined by his wife Deb and both participated in the ceremony. Congratulations to the new inductees, who are: Hailey Bedard, Abigail Bethune, Aynaz Biniyaz, Michelle Bollini, Sean Bonner, Malina Gallmeyer, Edziu Kosiara, Jonathan Lobsinger, Jonah Meyer, Lavender Achieng’ Oyugi, Kaitlyn Pascoe, Kimberley Mary Peter, Arman Tater, Kevin Tran, Bill McCarthy, and Deborah McCarthy. Thank you to the faculty who performed the ceremony, including Drs. Kris Mattila, Audra Morse, Andrew Swartz, and Mohammad Sadeghi. Thank you to Matthew Paavo who organized and coordinated the
event.

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