When it comes to recruiting talented doctoral candidates, Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering is starting with our own students!
Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is celebrating 75 years of providing a robust network of advocates for any and all looking to support women engineers and their unique place and voice within the engineering and technology industry. At Michigan Tech, our award-winning SWE section is going above and beyond to help members connect with peers and industry around the world.
This October, Tech’s SWE section traveled with 17 students to WE25, the organization’s national conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The annual conference is the world’s largest gathering dedicated to forwarding the progress of women in engineering and technology.
The Michigan Tech College of Engineering welcomes 13 new faculty members across six departments for the 2025-2026 academic year. These new researchers and educators bring a wealth of experience and expertise in fields including computational fluid dynamics, autonomous machines and vehicles, artificial intelligence, freshwater management, and more.
“Tomorrow needs every engineer and we need thoughtful, dedicated faculty to educate and inspire them,” said Michelle Scherer, dean of the College of Engineering. “I am thrilled to welcome this phenomenally talented group to help train the next generation of Husky engineers. Exciting things are ahead!”
Sometimes, it is as easy as rocket science. That’s been the focus of L. Brad King’s career since the beginning—and the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Endowed Professor of Space Systems with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is going back to basics as this year’s First-Year Engineering Lecture series speaker.
Part of an annual College of Engineering series hosted by the Department of Engineering Fundamentals, King’s lecture, entitled “You’re Good at Math and You Like to Build Things, Now What?,” will cover his expansive career as well as provide practical advice to students on what to expect as they become engineers. This special event, which is exclusively for first-year engineering students, takes place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9, in Michigan Tech’s Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts.
Michigan Tech students have a long history of shooting for the moon—and some Huskies get very close. This May, Multiplanetary INovation Enterprise’s (MINE) Astro-Huskies team placed fourth in the 16th annual NASA Lunabotics Challenge. Developed to highlight NASA’s systems engineering principles, the annual challenge tasks student organizations from universities around the country to design, build, and test a prototype off-world construction robot.
Student groups spend a full academic year working on their prototype while meeting technical milestones and submitting materials to NASA ahead of the qualifying rounds at the University of Central Florida. The top ten teams from qualifying rounds go on to compete in the finals at the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Wayne W. Weaver has been named chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering, effective July 1. Weaver will lead the ECE department, which supports more than 600 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students, for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Weaver, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and an ECE-affiliated faculty member, spent more than 11 years serving in his primary appointment with the ECE department as the associate chair and director of graduate studies for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE). Weaver teaches courses on topics of propulsion systems for hybrid electric vehicles and linear systems theory and design.
“Wayne brings a strong background of leadership in research and education. I’m looking forward to working with him and ECE to lead the way in these exciting times of energy transition and digital acceleration,” said Michelle Scherer, dean of the College of Engineering.
Weaver received his BS in electrical engineering and BS in mechanical engineering from Kettering University, then known as the GMI Engineering & Management Institute. He went on to receive his MS and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Prior to joining Michigan Tech in 2007, Weaver worked as a research and design engineer at Caterpillar Inc., and as a research engineer for the US Army Corp of Engineers at the Engineering Research Development Center and Construction Engineering Research Lab. Weaver’s research interests include power electronics, microgrids, energy conversion, electrified propulsion systems and non-linear and optimal control. He also currently serves as the associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.
More than 600 College of Engineering students will take part in Michigan Technological University commencement ceremonies on Friday and Saturday. While their time on campus is coming to an end, they know they’ll be Huskies forever.
As they prepare for graduation, engineering students are reflecting on their time at Tech, sharing their dreams for the future, and offering advice to the next generation of Huskies.
Jaclyn Johnson, teaching professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) is one of three recipients of the 2025 Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Award. The awards are presented annually by the Michigan Association of State Universities (MASU) to recognize outstanding contributions and dedication to the education of undergraduate students exhibited by the faculty from Michigan’s 15 public universities.
College of Engineering Dean Michelle Scherer has selected William “Bill” Endres, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), as the featured instructor in this week’s Deans’ Teaching Showcase.
Endres will be recognized at an end-of-term event with other spring showcase members and is a candidate for the CTL Instructional Award Series.
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.