Adrienne Minerick gave an invited keynote address at Dielectrophoresis 2016 held on the MIT campus July 13-15. The talk featured work from PhD Candidate Sanaz Habibi, Hector Moncada-Hernandez and Ran An.
Michigan Tech’s efforts to increase the numbers and diversity of women in engineering have been recognized by Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN), a national network of women engineers, engineering educators, universities, corporations and non-profits who are working together to develop a diverse and innovative engineering workforce.
Michigan Tech’s Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics received the WEPAN President’s Award for what the organization described as “outstanding accomplishments” in the National Science Foundation-funded engineering diversity initiative, TECAID (Transforming Engineering Culture to Advance Inclusion and Diversity).
In addition, WEPAN recognized the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), which won the WEPAN Strategic Partner Award. ASEE was honored for its “Year of Action on Diversity,” a project conceived and designed by the ASEE Diversity Committee, led by Adrienne Minerick and Teri Reed. Minerick is associate dean for research and innovation in the College of Engineering and a professor of chemical engineering at Michigan Tech. Reed is assistant vice president for research at the University of Cincinnati.
“These awards are a testament to the dedication, heart and trailblazing work our faculty and staff are doing to increase knowledge and awareness of the value of diversity and to cultivate environments that are inclusive of all individuals,” said Minerick. “These activities expand and strengthen the perspectives and education of all of our students such that they can engineer to present and future world demands and lead in a complex and changing society.”
President Glenn Mroz called the awards “a real honor for Mechanical Engineering and the entire university. We’ve been clear that it’s the responsibility of everyone at Michigan Tech to serve all students, regardless of gender or race, to have an impact on our world. This national recognition serves as evidence that people are taking that seriously, and it’s being noticed at the highest levels of our professions. The leadership that this team of people has shown is truly inspiring.”
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.
LSTI first Annual Research Forum
by Department of Biomedical Engineering
The Michigan Tech community viewed the first Annual Life Science and Technology Institute (LSTI) Research Forum that was held Friday September 25. Posters were in the Memorial Union Ballroom A1. Student awards were presented. Undergraduate and graduate students working in life science-related fields showed their research posters in separate competitions.
Sanaz Habibi (Adrienne Minerick’s M.D.-ERL Lab), PhD student in the Chemical Engineering department, won the grand prize for the best poster for her work on “Do Faradaic Reactions Cause Hemolysis in Non-Uniform Alternating Current Electric Fields?.”
Graduate Merit Awards winners for the Life Science and Technology Institute (LSTI) Research Forum indlude: Graduate students:
Ramkumar Mohan (Biology)—”MicroRNA-483, A Differentially Expressed MicroRNA Between Pancreatic Beta Cells and Alpha Cells,” Advisor: Zhang/Tang
Ni Fan (Chem)—”Glycan-Dependent Mutual and Reversible Sequestration,” Advisor: Dam
Robert Larson (KIP)—”High Salt Intake Augments Excitability of Pre-sympathetic PVN Neurons,” Advisor: Chen
The Undergraduate Student award winners included: Grand Prize: Jared Pecore (Biology)—”The Mechanisms Underlying α-Amanitin Resistance in Drosophila melanogaster: A Microarray Analysis,” Advisor: Werner
Undergraduate Merit Award: Dakota Anderson (KIP)—”Upper-Extremity Eccentric Exercise: Increases in Muscle Strength and Power at Moderate Training Intensities”
View Photo gallery of Life Science and Technology Institute (LSTI) Research Forum
The Chemical Engineering department presented a talk by Dr. James H. Comfort, General Manager, Cloud Services, IBM Cloud Division. The title was “Crafting a Career in Uncharted Waters: A Journey from Chemical Engineering to Cloud Computing and Back.” The presentation was in Fisher 135 at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday March 31st. The university was invited to attend.
by Mike Meyer, Jackson CTL director
We return to the College of Engineering for this week’s Dean’s Teaching Showcase nominee. Dean Wayne Pennington has chosen to recognize Caryn Heldt, an Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department.
The Design Expo highlights hands-on, discovery-based learning at Michigan Tech. More than 600 students in Enterprise and Senior Design teams showcase their work and compete for awards. A panel of judges, made up of corporate representatives and Michigan Tech staff and faculty members, critique the projects.
The Sustainable Futures Institute is again hosting seven middle and high school teachers from Michigan and Wisconsin in a six-week research experience for teachers (RET) program funded by the National Science Foundation. The teachers are conducting state-of-the-art biofuels research projects in engineering and forestry in the labs of Shehkar Joshi (SFRES/Bio Sci), David Shonnard (Chem Engg), and Jeffrey Naber (MEEM).
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
By Dennis Walikainen
May 24, 2012—
Adrienne Minerick, an associate professor of chemical engineering, is the recipient of Michigan Technological University’s 2012 Fredrick D. Williams Instructional Innovation Award. The award recognizes faculty who have developed or adapted new and innovative approaches to instruction.