Category: Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Graduate Research Colloquium Feb 21-22

The Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC) was held on Feb 21-22, 2013. GRC was organized by the Graduate Student Government (GSG). Graduate students from all departments at Michigan Tech presented their research and ideas to other students and faculty in the form of oral or poster presentations. A group of judges that consists of faculty (and/or some invited members of industry) evaluated student’s presentations to award prizes to the best 1st, 2nd and 3rd presentations from each session (oral and poster). There are also three honorable mention awards given in both oral and poster presentation sessions.

Poster Awards: 1st place Poster: Anna N. Hess; 2nd Place Poster: Huan Yang; 3rd Place Poster: Colina Dutta;
Oral Presentation Award Winners: 1st Place Award: Joel Suss, 3rd Place Award: Bonnie Zwissler

The objective of the colloquium is to give graduate students an in-house opportunity to share and gain experience presenting their research with peers, professionals, and professors among campus.

Detailed feedback from judges will help students enhance their skills in presenting at conferences, as well as providing insights on research methods and techniques.

The Awards Banquet was held on Friday evening February 23. The Graduate School presented several annual awards, including the Exceptional Graduate Student Scholar Award given to Antonio Velazquez, Civil and Environmental Engineering. Outstanding Graduate Student Leader award went to Howard Haselhuhn of Chemical Engineering. The Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award for 2013 was given to Gregory P. Waite of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences. Recipients of Service Award were Jennifer Winikus,Tolga Yapici, and Abhishek Bhavalkar.

Click to see some of the Colloquium and Awards Banquet Photos

Graduate Research Colloquium on February 21 and 22: Presentation Booklet

For more information please visit http://gsg.students.mtu.edu/colloquium.html

Feature article about Family Engineering

The Michigan Science Teachers Association’s Winter 2013 newsletter published a feature article about Family Engineering events hosted by the Michigan Mathematics and Science Centers Network at 58 centers across Michigan during 2012. The hands-on program, designed to make engineering accessible and fun, reached nearly 5,000 elementary school students and their parents last year. It is based on a book titled “Family Engineering Activity & Event Planning Guide,” developed at Michigan Tech and disseminated nationwide. Professor Neil Hutzler (CEE), who founded the program, is quoted. See page 15,
MSTA Winter News.

Guy Meadows, Director of Great Lakes Initiatives

The Great Lakes represent almost 90 percent of the US surface freshwater, with almost one-half of that in Lake Superior alone.

Never before has the Great Lakes basin faced the magnitude of issues and stresses currently in operation—challenges that cut across all branches of science and engineering, from biology to physics, and from social science to management and policy.

Women in STEM: Ada Lovelace Celebration

Michigan Tech held its inaugural celebration of Ada Lovelace Day, an annual event held to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of women to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and to encourage young women to pursue careers in STEM fields.

Tech’s celebration involved a two-day series of events beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 16, in Fisher 139 as Professor Martha Sloan (ECE) and guest speakers Mary Long and Michelle Eggart discuss their experiences as women working in STEM fields.

On Wednesday, Oct. 17, from 8 to 10 p.m., in Fisher 135 there was  a film screening of “The Gender Chip Project” followed by a panel discussion featuring female faculty and graduate students from departments across campus, including Sarah Green, Nina Mahmoudian, Laura Brown, Patty Sotirin and Kaitlyn Bunker, who  discussed their experiences as women in STEM disciplines of academia.

MORE Information

Lake Superior Water Festival

The 2012 Lake Superior Water Festival was held at the Great Lakes Research Center
Friday, October 5, 2012. The Water Festival program
enthralled over 1,000 students in grades 4-8 classes from regional schools, in addition to triggering excitement amongst their teachers and the parent chaperones who accompanied them.

There were a total of 67 presenters volunteering their time throughout the day, in addition to 34 Michigan Tech students who served as guides leading the classes to their various sessions in and around the Great Lakes Research Center. A total of 30 different sessions on a wide range of topics related to Lake Superior and water resources were presented.
Link for photos and videos of Lake Superior Water Festival – www.wupcenter.mtu.edu/education/water_festival

Great Lakes Research Center Dedication

Updated from From Tech Today by Marcia Goodrich, magazine editor

The Great Lakes Research Center dedication ceremony for Michigan Technological University’s newest building was on Thursday, Aug. 2. The speakers were Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz; Stephen Hicks, chair of the Board of Control; and Guy Meadows, director of Great Lakes initiatives at the GLRC.

The three-story, 50,000-square-foot center has three distinct areas: a boathouse for the University’s three research vessels and environmental monitoring buoy network, a complex of research laboratories, and a public area that includes conference facilities and space for K-12 education.

Read more about it from news media stories and view Video News Clips

Videos from the Great Lakes Resarch Center Symposium

Undergraduate Expo: Students Dazzle with Great Inventions

More than 50 Senior Design and two dozen Enterprise teams converged on the Memorial Union Thursday, and their projects were as impressive as they were varied.

The Union filled up early as crowds, judges, media and local school children checked out the inventive creativity on display.

Photos and a list of winners can be viewed at the www.expo.mtu.edu website

Videos of Award Winning Teams