Category: Outreach

Michigan Tech Attends MiCareer Quest Southeast

MiCareerQuest Southeast is one of the most unique opportunities for a student to be exposed to a myriad of Trades and Professions.  Organized, in great part, by Michigan WORKS! and given throughout the state each year, this event is a “hands on”, real world opportunity for high school students to be exposed to over 100 Trades and Professions that they may wish to pursue.  This past November was no exception…over 9,000 students, from surrounding school districts, attended the event.  Ushered into the Suburban Collection Showplace, in Novi, all had a chance to experience what they all could become.

Michigan Tech was in attendance, thanks to the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors, whose booth we shared, to spread the word about Surveying Engineering and Michigan Tech.  One of the few Universities in attendance, we were able to demonstrate what Surveying Engineering is, and what one needs to become a Licensed Professional Surveyor, not to mention all the great opportunities available at Michigan Tech.

Needless to say, it was an exciting opportunity.  One that we look to experience again.

For more information, check out https://www.oakgov.com/advantageoakland/workforce/Pages/Mi-CareerQuest-Southeast.aspx

by Joe Foster, Professor of Practice

Structural Engineering Institute at L’Anse Area Schools

SEI Graduate Students teach kids in the classroom
From the L’Anse Area Schools Facebook page:

As 5th grade wrapped up their engineering unit with a visit from leaders of the MTU Structural Engineering Institute, Graduate Student Chapter. Our students reviewed the engineering design process while observing and suggesting improvements to structures being tested on an earthquake table. Students learned about competitive bridge building and previewed up coming concepts including plate tectonics and material properties.

Chadde Named Informal Science Educator of the Year

Joan Chadde-Schumaker
Joan Chadde-Schumaker

The Board of the Michigan Science Teachers Association (MSTA) has announced that Joan Schumaker Chadde, director of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, has been selected as the 2020 Informal Science Educator of the Year.

Chadde was chosen for her unique and extraordinary accomplishments, active leadership, scholarly contributions, and direct and substantial contributions to the improvement of non-school based science education over a significant period of time.

She will be honored at an Awards Ceremony at the 2020 MSTA Conference.

By Angela Keranen.

2019 Lake Superior Water Festival

Students in the Coast Guard boat.

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) – High school students from all over the western Upper Peninsula took a trip to Michigan Tech Thursday to learn about the science of the Great Lakes.

“We began the year after the Great Lakes Research Center opened, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to get area students, and I mean the western Upper Peninsula area students on campus and hear at the Great Lakes Research Center to learn more about what scientists and engineers do,” said Joan Chadde, the Director of Michigan Tech’s Center for Science and Environmental Outreach.

Read more and watch the video at TV6 FOX UP, by Jake Swope.

Bill Sproule Speaks at Hockeyville in Calumet

Bill Sproule Hockey Historian
Bill Sproule, Hockey Historian

As part of the Kraft Hockeyville celebrations in Calumet, Professor Emeritus Bill Sproule (CEE) has had a couple of busy weeks talking about hockey history. He has done several media interviews, made a community presentation at the Calumet Library on hockey history in the Copper Country and did two book signings.

Sproule and Jeremy Roenick, former NHL player, were guest speakers at the Hockeyville celebration banquet last Wednesday (Sept. 25) and Sproule made a guest appearance and was interviewed during the second intermission of the NBC Sports nationally televised coverage of the Hockeyville game between the Detroit Red Wings and the St. Louis Blues on Thursday (Sept. 26).

A video summary of Hockeyville Week can be found on the NHL website. Sproule’s new book, “Houghton: The Birthplace of Professional Hockey,” is available at the Michigan Tech bookstores and other local stores, and can be purchased on-line through the Michigan Tech bookstore or Copper World in Calumet.

By Bill Sproule.

STEM Investigations Aboard Michigan Tech’s Research Vessel Agassiz

Research Vessel Agassiz at White CitySeptember is a busy month for the Ride the Waves (RTW) program – seven UP schools (Chassell Gr. 7 & 8; Lake Linden-Hubbell Middle School Gr. 8, Watersmeet High School Gr. 10, Jeffers Middle School Gr. 8,  Menominee Catholic School Gr. 7 & 8, Sacred Heart School Gr. 5 & 7, and LL Wright Middle School Gr. 8 (Ironwood) will participate in a variety of programs aboard the Agassiz research vessel.

Now in its 7th year, the Ride the Waves program in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering is supported by a grant from General Motors. RTW’s primary focus is to engage youth in grades 4-12 in learning how scientists investigate the Great Lakes. Programs are fun, free and educational.  Scientific excursions, each 3-4 hours in length, take place on Lake Superior, Portage Waterway and Torch Lake. The program reaches ~600 students and community residents each year.

 

Lake Linden Hubbell students at JacobsvilleThere are 4 programs to choose from:

  • How Do Scientists Assess the Health of the Great Lakes (1.5 hours GLRC lab; 1.5 hours Agassiz)

Investigate water quality and collect samples of organisms to examine in the lab to find out “How Do You Make A Lake Trout?” For Grades 4-12.

  • Mine Waste Remediation & Torch Lake Restoration  (2 hours land; 2 hours Agassiz)

The history of the “Copper Country” is explored ‘by land and water.’ Students visit the Ahmeek stamp mill—‘the last mill standing’ to experience an historic copper milling site, assess the effectiveness of the Torch Lake Superfund remediation using EPA protocols, and sample the sediments and organisms in Torch Lake to evaluate ecological recovery. For Grades 6-12 students.

  • Navigation Exploration: Math in Action  

Students use chart dividers and compasses to determine the Agassiz’s position on a navigational chart and then navigate the Agassiz to a new location. Students use algebra to determine the accuracy of their navigation. For Grades 8-12 students.

  • Jacobsville Geoheritage

Explore the history and geology of historic Jacobsville where sandstone quarries were active from 1883 to 1896, when the sandstone was used to construct many buildings in Michigan, Wisconsin, and all over the eastern U.S.  Students will visit the sandstone cliffs, old quarry docks and South Entry data buoy to pull up live data. For Grades 4-12 students.

 

For more Information, contact: Joan Chadde, Michigan Tech Center for Science & Environmental Outreach   Phone: 906-487-3341 or jchadde@mtu.edu

 

NOAA Grant for Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative

LSSI logoHOUGHTON — The Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative has received a grant totaling $74,967, according to Lloyd Wescoat, education program assistant with the LSSI at Michigan Technological University’s Center for Science and Environmental Outreach at the Great Lakes Research Center.

Michigan Tech, in partnership with the LSSI and Western Upper Peninsula MiSTEM Network, announced the grant earlier this month. The grant is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Bat Watershed Education and Training (B-WET).

The funds will support the LSSI – Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for Rural Schools project.

The project will engage 30 K-12 teachers and 1,000 students in Houghton, Keweenaw, Baraga, Ontonagon and Gogebic counties in a variety of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE), and fund school-community partnerships, to plan and implement stewardship projects that address a local need.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Graham Jaehnig.

Civil Engineering Experiences for Students

Civil Engineering Lift Bridge

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) – Michigan Tech is hosting a group of over 20 high school students from all around the country this week as a part of their summer educational programs. The students are there on a competitive scholarship, and each student had to apply for a position in the program.

“I don’t know how many people applied, but the kids that are here we’re selected because of the qualities they possess. Every single kid seems to be interested in STEM things and the questions they ask have been pretty impressive to me,” said Tim Barron, the Instructor for the program.

The program focuses primarily on civil engineering with a focus in transportation. The group is scheduled to take field trips all over the U.P to many different spots, including the Soo Locks and the Mackinaw Bridge. Wednesday they got an inside look at Houghton County’s own Portage Canal Lift Bridge.

Read more and watch the video at TV6 News FOX UP, by Jake Swope.

The Michigan Tech story begins at 01:34 in the video.

William Sproule on Houghton’s Historic Hockey Reputation

Hockey Front CoverHOUGHTON — When Dr. William Sproule, a recently retired professor of civil and environmental engineering from Michigan Tech University, set out to discover what it meant for Houghton to claim it was the birthplace of professional hockey, he knew that he had his work cut out.

“Anyone who is going to claim that they are the first in something better be ready to back it up,” he said, “because there is going to be someone out there who is going to dispute it.”

His research into the topic of local hockey history began more than 15 years ago and has been compiled into a new self-published book entitled “Houghton, the Birthplace of Professional Hockey.”

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Eddie O’Neill.