Michigan Tech student, Emma Hitch, cares about the environment.
Emma’s mother, Betsey Bradley states, “I know her big issue is sustainability, being an environmental engineering student, so she wants to have a small carbon footprint.”
The incoming junior is spending the summer building a tiny home.
Read more and watch the video at TV6 FOX UP, by Harri Leigh.
Four Michigan Tech Professors will act as guides during three upcoming guided tours highlighting the history of the Keweenaw.
The tours are sponsored by Houghton’s Carnegie Museum, and begin with a wine and cheese social at the museum at 5 p.m. Following the social, participants will board the Red Jacket Trolley Company’s bus for a two-hour trip through time.
The first guided tour “Torch Lake Mining Waste,” is tomorrow (July 13). Geologists Bill Rose (GMES) and Erika Vye are the guides through a tour along the industrial corridor associated with milling of Quincy and Calumet mines along Torch Lake’s western shore. The tour takes a look at areas from Mason to Tamarack City, Hubbell and Lake Linden, viewing mill sites and stampsand areas while discussing the modern implications and environmental mitigation efforts.
Upcoming tours will explore “Trials and Trails of Huron Creek,” with Alex Mayer (CEE) and Carol MacLennan (SS), Wednesday Aug. 3 and “Hockey Arenas of the Copper Country,” with Bill Sproule (CEE), Thursday Sept. 8.
All tours begin with the social at 5 p.m. with the tours to follow at 5:30 p.m. and are expected to last two hours. The cost is $25 ($20 for museum members). Reservations are recommended and your seat is not guaranteed until payment is made.
Check out the museum’s Facebook page.
“How do scientists assess the health of Lake Superior” is the focus of free scientific excursions that will be offered at the Strawberry Festival from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 9, 2016, departing from the Chassell marina.
The public is invited to sign up for free 30-minute scientific excursions aboard Michigan Tech’s research vessel Agassiz by calling the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach at 7-3341 or coming to the Chassell Marina dock on Saturday from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Spaces go quickly. Half of available spaces will be saved for onsite participants.
On each scientific excursion, Marcel Dijkstra, a Michigan Tech Great Lakes scientist, will demonstrate the use of sampling equipment to collect data on water clarity, temperature and turbidity that tells us about the health of the lake—Chassell Bay. Participants will explore the link between land uses and the health of the Great Lakes.
HOUGHTON — Roller Coasters, automobiles, aqueducts, they are all products of ambitious engineering and these high school girls are learning about it hands-on.
Roughly 140 young women are taking part in the weeklong Summer Youth Program from Michigan Tech called Women In Engineering.
Program Residence Counselor, and 3rd year Michigan Tech Civil Engineering major, Megann Dykema said, “Our camp helps the student to be able to see all the different kinds of engineering and it’s really a great insight into exploring what they might want to do.”
Watch the video on YouTube.
Women in Engineering Offers Exciting Opportunities
For decades Michigan Technological University’s Women in Engineering has given outstanding high school students a glimpse of college life and exposure to a variety careers in engineering. Because of a unique program, two girls from Lower Michigan have been given an incredible opportunity.
“I’ve never been in a place with so many girls who have interests similar to mine,” says Rebecca Stover, soon to be a junior at Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan. “I love it here, and I don’t want it to end.”
Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Mark Wilcox.
HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) Bruce Ross was once a field coordinator for the Michigan DNR downstate.
Since then, he’s left the profession to reach out to the urban youth.
“I remember when I started in college I was the only African American in my class,” said Ross. “There’s a real shortage of people actually going into natural resources.”
Ross and other organizers are trying to increase minority representation in natural resources.
Michigan Tech organizations helped raise $12,000 for these students to travel and stay in the U.P.
Read more and watch the video at WLUC TV 6 News.
Global Change Teacher Institute, June 20-24 (ED5641); Engaging Students in Authentic Science Research Teacher Institute, June 27-July 1 (ED5601); and Designing a Sustainable Future Teacher Institute, July 11-15 (ED 5640).
The application deadline is May 1, 2016. Please complete teacher institute applications online. See link after each description below, or visit http://wupcenter.mtu.edu/
To register for Michigan Tech credits: Michigan Tech Cognitive & Learning Sciences will contact you with registration information (Tel: 906-487-2460)
For more information: Joan Chadde, Institute Coordinator (jchadde@mtu.edu or 906-487-3341)
ED5641 Global Change Teacher Institute (for Grades 4-12 Teachers)
Date: M-F, June 20-24, 2016
This 5-day Institute will prepare you to engage your middle and high school students in a real-world study of the effects of global change on ecosystems, including the impacts of climatic change on forests— elevated carbon dioxide and ozone levels, nitrogen saturation, acid rain, and invasive species. Teachers will participate in the MEECS Climate Change workshop and receive the NEW MEECS Climate Change Unit. Cost: $400 off campus includes five lunches, 2 Michigan Tech graduate credits and instructional materials. $700 on campus includes 5 nights lodging & meals from Monday morning through Friday lunch, 2 Michigan Tech graduate credits and instructional materials.
Link to register: 2016 Global Change Teacher Institute Application
Link to Global Change flyer
ED5601 Engaging Students in Authentic Science Research Teacher Institute (for Gr. 4-12 Teachers)
Date: M-F, June 27-July 1, 2016
Teachers gain skills in designing original research, rather than merely conducting cookbook experiments. Teachers will learn research design methods and procedures, and participate in a variety of research field and lab studies. Cost: $400 off campus includes five lunches, 2 Michigan Tech graduate credits and instructional materials. $700 on campus includes 5 nights lodging & meals from Monday morning through Friday lunch, 2 Michigan Tech graduate credits and instructional materials.
Link to register: 2016 Engaging Students in Science Research Application
Link to Engaging Students in Authentic Science Research Flyer
ED 5640 Designing a Sustainable Future Teacher Institute (for Grades 4-12 Teachers)
Date: M-F, July 11-15, 2016
The institute will introduce teachers to the field of sustainability through examination of product life cycles, product recycling, repurposing materials, renewable energy sources of wind, solar, and biomass, designing energy- and resource-efficient buildings, site designs to reduce storm water runoff and increase biodiversity, and efficient transportation systems and vehicles. The institute will address the Next Generation Science Standards and be taught by a variety of Michigan Tech University faculty and graduate students, along with community and teacher experts. Cost: $400 off campus includes five lunches, 2 Michigan Tech graduate credits and instructional materials. $700 on campus includes five nights lodging & meals from Monday morning through Friday lunch, 2 Michigan Tech graduate credits and materials.
Link to register: 2016 Designing a Sustainable Future Application
Link to Designing a Sustainable Future Flyer
Tech Century, an engineering and technology news website published by the Engineering Society of Detroit, ran a lengthy article on editor Matt Roush’s Tech Tour interviews with Michigan Tech researchers and students. Michigan Tech sponsored this year’s Tech Tour.
Among the many people he talked to were: Adrienne Minerick, associate dean for research and innovation at MTU’s College of Engineering, Jodi Lehman, assistant director of research development, and Jason Carter, professor and chair of the department of kinesiology and integrative physiology, Feng Zhou, assistant professor in biomedical engineering, Guy Meadows, Great Lakes Research Center, Andrew Barnard, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Zhaohui Wang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, Dave House — Michigan native, Michigan Tech alumnus, Yun Hang Hu, Materials Science Engineering, Caryn Heldt, associate professor of chemical engineering, and Mary Raber, assistant dean of MTU’s new Paavlis Honors College.
New Chapter of Engineering Society of Detroit
The formation of a student chapter of the Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD) was reported on Tech Century, an engineering and technology news website published by the ESD. Undergraduates and graduate students in the College of Engineering were invited to join. For more information, visit the ESD website.
All Tech engineering students, undergrad and graduate, are invited to join ESD and gain the benefits of student chapter membership. The opportunity to network with professional engineers, successful alumni and other student chapters are among those benefits. Student ESD chapters also get an inside look at trends in engineering and a chance to participate in leadership and career-building events and programs.
by Joan Chadde
The beauty and bounty of Lake Superior was celebrated Sunday at the Third Annual Lake Superior Day in Copper Harbor. Community volunteers, along with the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, organized the festival with lots of special activities at the 6th Street Dock along the Copper Harbor Boardwalk. Activities included:
Community picnic
Canoe races and kayak demonstrations
Interactive art (paint the model freighter)
Remotely-Operated-Vehicle demonstrations by Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center
Presentation on the health of Lake Superior by Great Lakes scientist Martin Auer (CEE)
Live music, poetry and more
From 1-4 p.m. a special highlight was the opportunity for festival attendees to find out how scientists study the Great Lakes by taking a 40-minute scientific excursion aboard Michigan Tech’s research vessel, Agassiz. The excursions are part of the Ride the Waves Program funded by a grant from General Motors.
Lake Superior Day is celebrated throughout the Lake Superior basin on or close to the third Sunday in July in many communities around Lake Superior. Learn more about Lake Superior Day events around the lake.
A group of 13 Keweenaw Bay Indian Community youth took part in an immersion experience in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education and careers, May 26 to 30, 2015 on Isle Royale. The program, entitled “MAAMAADIZI II”, was co-sponsored by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Cedar Tree Institute of Marquette, the Isle Royale Institute and Michigan Tech’s Ride the Waves with General Motors Program. MAAMAADIZI, meaning “the Journey begins” in the Anishinaabe language, sought to immerse students in a wilderness environment rich in both scientific and spiritual content. A diverse community participated in the Journey, including spiritual advisors, artists, scientists, chaperones, graduate student mentors and KBIC drummers … a grand party of 32 travelers. Isle Royale National Park provided an ideal wilderness setting for this important work.
The Michigan Tech team of 6 members traveled to Isle Royale aboard the R/V Agassiz with Captain Stephen Roblee at the helm; the rest of the party came across on the MV Ranger III. Once on the island, the R/V Agassiz provided transport to campsites, ferry service for on-island field trips and served as a platform for STEM offerings. KBIC students, MTU graduate student mentors and chaperones camped for two nights at Daisy Farm, with the entire party moving to Tobin Harbor Cottages for the last two nights.
STEM Science was presented through water quality measurements (light and temperature sensors, Secchi disk transparency) and collections (plankton and bottom organisms) made in Moskey Basin and in the open lake from the R/V Agassiz. Samples were examined on board using microscopes and dissecting scopes. The STEM Science program was led by Dr. Marty Auer of Michigan Tech supported by graduate student mentors Varsha Raman, Aubrey Scott and Nathan Zgnilec.
STEM Math was presented within the context of mass and compass (on land, Jon Magnuson, Cedar Tree Institute) and vessel navigation (on the water, Stephen Roblee, MTU). Hikes to Mount Ojibway and an R/V Agassiz cruise around ice-encrusted Blake Point to a shipwreck site on the Palisades provided the venue for STEM Math offerings.
Students also participated in Art and Spirit Projects led by artist and illustrator Diana Magnuson of the Cedar Tree Institute. Ken Vrana, Director of the Isle Royale Institute, guided students on hikes and on field trips to Rock Harbor Lighthouse, Edisen Fishery and the Island home of the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project hosted by MTU’s Rolf and Candy Peterson.
The Journey was wrapped up with a Feast prepared by the Rock Harbor Lodge, a Ceremony hosted by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Drum and an evening campfire with S’mores.
The KBIC, particularly Lori Sherman and chaperones Richard Wickstrom and Katrina Ravindran, deserves special thanks for logistical and financial support. The Isle Royale Institute contributed financial and made other contributions which greatly enriched the experience. The R/V Agassiz and Captain Stephen Roblee were made available through Ride the Waves with General Motors. Wilderness STEM experiences with KBIC youth were originated in 2013 by Jon Magnuson of the Cedar Tree Institute and Marty Auer of Michigan Tech and, with support from General Motors are now in their third year.
Lake Superior Celebration:
6:00-8:00pm, Thursday, April 23, 2015; Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center
Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center was the site of a celebration of Lake Superior. The event took place from 6-8 p.m. Thursday. It was free and open to the public.