Michigan Tech’s section of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) attended their WE Local 2025 conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in mid-March. Through the generous support of their corporate sponsors, SWE at Michigan Tech was able to send 12 students to attend professional development sessions, network with industry professionals and members of other SWE sections, and bond with their fellow Michigan Tech Huskies.
The Graduate School announced that Seth Kriz, Ph.D. student in chemical engineering, has been selected to represent Michigan Tech as a nominee for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Excellence in Teaching Award. Congratulations to Seth on this significant achievement.
Kriz’s journey is a testament to his dedication to both research and teaching. In his nomination materials, he shares a powerful anecdote about an early college experience that ignited his passion for engineering and ultimately led him to Michigan Tech. This pivotal moment involved his engineering physics professor, Professor Joe, who spent two hours helping him debug a program. This experience instilled in Kriz a deep appreciation for the impact of dedicated teaching.
Inspired by Professor Joe and other mentors, Kriz has pursued his own passion for education. Read about his philosophy of teaching and accomplishments at Michigan Tech at the Graduate School Newsblog.
The Daily Mining Gazette and WLUC TV6 covered Michigan Tech’s 36th annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. The event included a keynote address by author and Finlandia alum Schwartzen Precil and the presentation of the Bayard Rustin Award to Robert Handler (ChE) by the Michigan Tech chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. Handler, Wayne Gersie (EB) and senior Brett Hamilton (electrical engineering) were quoted by the DMG.
The MTU chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers presented its annual Bayard Rustin Award, named in honor of the ’60s civil rights organizer who aided more high-profile leaders and given to a faculty or staff member helping make strides behind the scenes.
This year’s recipient was Robert Handler, assistant professor of chemical engineering at Michigan Tech.
One of his nominators described him as “a remarkable mentor, combining sustainability expertise with commitment to students’ growth.”
Caryn Heldt (ChE/HRI) was mentioned by Lab Manager in a story previewing the 2025 Lab Design Conference, set for May 11-14 in Denver, Colorado. The article highlighted a session about Michigan Tech’s H-STEM Complex and its divergent lab concept, which promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and adaptability in lab design. Heldt was listed as a panel member.
Caryn Heldt (ChE/HRI) was interviewed by Technology Networks for a story exploring how new technology and workflows could enable more efficient purification of biotherapeutics. Heldt discussed the current state of the art for viral vector purification and new advances in purification technology.
Michigan Tech’s Unit Operations Lab was mentioned by The Detroit News in a story about the growing number of women working in the manufacturing industry. In the story, Hailey Ullett ’24 (B.S. Chemical Engineering) described how working in the UO Lab influenced her career choice. The story was picked up by The Sacramento Bee and 29 other news outlets across the country.
More than 800 first-year engineering Huskies turned out for the College of Engineering’s (COE’s) annual lecture, designed especially for them. The First-Year Engineering Series lecture took place Monday, Aug. 26, at the Rozsa Center, hosted by the Department of Engineering Fundamentals. This year’s featured lecturer was chemical engineering alumna Jessica Elwell ’02 ’03.
“Jessica told the fascinating and inspiring story of how she and her team at OxEon Energy worked with NASA to figure out how to make oxygen from in-situ resources on Mars (Yes, Mars!),” said COE Dean Michelle Scherer. “She also shared her journey to being chief operating officer at OxEon and how she has been able to focus her work on her passion of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen and sustainable fuels.”
Scherer said Elwell’s words of wisdom reinforced why it’s important to move outside the comfort zone to try new things and to remember that engineering design requires failing many times until you find the solution.
Read more about the lecture series and Elwell’s accomplishments on the College of Engineering Blog.
Lei Pan (ChE) and Tinuade Ololade Folayan ’20 ’23 (M.S. Ph.D. Chemical Engineering) were mentioned by Argonne National Laboratory in a release announcing a new froth flotation method of separating individual cathode materials from spent lithium-ion batteries.
Robert Handler (ChE/GLRC), the principal investigator on a project, received a $262,537 research and development co-op joint agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service.
The project is titled “Evaluating the Sustainable Production of Engineered BioCarbon for Coal Combustion Residual (CCR) Remediation from Fuel Reduction Treatments in the Superior National Forest (SNF).”
This is a potential three-year project.
Stephen Techtmann and Lindsay Putman (both BioSci) were quoted by The Daily Mining Gazette in a story highlighting the BioPROTEIN research project at Michigan Tech.
David Shonnard (ChE), Rebecca Ong (ChE), and Jeff Naber (MAE) were mentioned as members of the research team for the project, which uses bacteria to break waste plastics down to be recycled into useful products, including a protein powder similar to vegemite, lubricants, gases and candle wax. The project was featured in MTU’s 2022 Research Magazine.