College of Engineering Blog

Category: Students

SWE Section Establishes Endowed Scholarship

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Congratulations to Michigan Tech’s SWE Section as they announce the creation of a new endowed scholarship!

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Section at Michigan Tech is excited to announce the creation of a new endowed scholarship.

“The scholarship is in honor of our alumnae and alumni who have been part of our section since 1976,” says SWE advisor, Associate Teaching Professor Gretchen Hein.

“Eight years ago, in 2014, we hosted the SWE Region H Conference,” Hein explains. “With the funds received from SWE, we began saving with the goal of establishing an endowed scholarship. At long last, we have met our goal and will begin awarding an annual $1,000 endowed scholarship in 2026 to an active SWE section member.”

The new scholarship is in addition to the current section scholarships being awarded annually, notes Hein.

Michigan Tech SWE logo with gear

“As the President of SWE at Michigan Tech, I am excited that our section can provide an additional scholarship opportunity for our members,” said Aerith Cruz, a third year Management Information Systems student. “Our mission is threefold: ‘to stimulate women to achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity.’ The establishment of our endowed scholarship demonstrates our dedication to support the future of SWE at Michigan Tech.”

Details regarding the scholarship application process will be announced in 2026. The process will mirror SWE’s current scholarship application where students complete a short essay, have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, and provide a copy of their resume and a letter of recommendation.

Adds Hein: “Members of Michigan Tech’s SWE section greatly appreciate the guidance and assistance received from Jim Desrochers, director for corporate relations at Michigan Tech, and also Michigan Tech SWE advisor Elizabeth Hoy, director of business and program development at Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center. And we thank the University and our current and alumni members for their support!”

Would you like to support the SWE Endowed Scholarship?

Donations are welcome! Contribute via check or credit card. Visit mtu.edu/givenow for online donations or to find the mail-in form.

Key points:

  1. Gift Type is “Make a one time gift”
  2. Enter your gift amount
  3. Gift Designation: Select “Other” and enter “SWE Endowed Scholarship #5471″

SWE Congratulates Our Graduating Seniors and Scholarship Recipients

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Section at Michigan Tech congratulates our graduating seniors: Sophie Stewart and Audrey Levanen (mechanical engineering) and Kiira Hadden (biomedical engineering). We look forward to hearing from them as alumnae!

The section awarded two scholarships to active upper-division students. We are so proud of the accomplishments of Natalie Hodges (dual major: electrical and computer engineering) and Alli Hummel (civil engineering).

We will be awarding two scholarships in the spring to first- and second-year active members and will be posting the application information during the spring semester.

By Gretchen Hein, Advisor, Society of Women Engineers.

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Five Times in a Row: Michigan Tech Students Earn First Place in ASM Undergraduate Design Competition–Again!

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Michigan Tech’ 550-ton Breda direct extrusion press, just one of several tools used by MSE students at Michigan Tech.

Many engineers remember the excitement of applying their classroom knowledge to their capstone senior design project while also being a bit overwhelmed about how to actually do it. 

Paul Sanders, Patrick Horvath Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Michigan Tech

Back in 2010, this challenge was recognized in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) by Michigan Tech Professor Mark Plichta, an innovator in project-based engineering education, and Northwestern University Professor Greg Olson, a leader in the relatively new field of computational materials engineering. 

The two selected then Assistant Professor Paul Sanders, (who had a Michigan Tech BS and a Northwestern PhD and materials design experience at Ford Motor Company) to implement their vision for MSE capstone senior design. This vision involved using computational materials engineering—a tool that, at the time, was only taught in graduate school. Sanders (somewhat unknowingly) accepted the challenge, and through a sometimes bumpy, continuous improvement process developed the current curriculum in MSE at Michigan Tech.

“Michigan Tech undergrads, with their application mindset, hands-on, problem-solving skills, and openness to mentorship, provided the ideal culture for this endeavor.”

Paul Sanders

One condition of Olson, who provided the computational engineering software tool Thermo-Calc, was that Michigan Tech compete in the ASM Undergraduate Design Competition, an event that started in 2008 with Northwestern University winning first place. The Michigan Tech strategy was to utilize traditional hypothesis-based inquiry through application of engineering statistics coupled with design of experiments (DOEs) in both the modeling and laboratory environment. Eventually a methods course was developed for spring of the junior year that included a semester-long project to demonstrate the tools, followed by two semesters of the capstone senior design course. Prof. Sanders led this coursework and scoped projects to fit the Michigan Tech methodology. Long-term industry sponsors Eck Industries, ArcelorMittal, and Waupaca Foundry were critical to implementing the vision by providing industry-relevant projects that would allow students to use the toolset taught in the curriculum.

Michigan Tech first entered the ASM Design Competition in 2012 earning second place (Northwestern was first). Michigan Tech’s first five entries earned second place three times and third place twice. Starting in 2018, Michigan Tech started winning…and continued winning…for 5 years in a row. This is a credit not only to the student work on these projects, but also to the methodology and support of industry sponsors. As Janet Callahan, Dean of the College of Engineering at Michigan Tech states, “We’re very proud of our world-class senior design students’ experience. Where else do teams win first place five years in a row, for alloy design, in an era where it isn’t about randomly mixing elements, but rather, about predictive modeling based on known materials parameters? These projects⁠—centered on fundamentally interesting questions, are coupled with faculty and industry expertise. No wonder we’re the go-to place for materials engineers!”

Dr. Julio G. Maldonado, ASM Foundation, presents the award to Michigan Tech seniors Isabella Wakeham Jaszczak (2nd from left) Jacob Longstreth, (3rd from left) Jake Klotz (right). Team member Nick Hopp was unable to attend the conference and awards ceremony.

The student team that completed the “five-peat” in 2022 designed a process for modeling the extrusion of aluminum-magnesium (Al-Mg) alloys with cerium (Ce) additions that can maintain their strength at service temperatures up to 400°F. This student team was unique in that there was only one MSE student on the team, Isabella Wakeham Jaszczak, and three mechanical engineering students, Nick Hopp, Jake Klotz, and Jacob Longstreth. Even though the team graduated in spring of 2022, three of the four team members accepted their award at ASM International’s IMAT Conference in New Orleans on September 12, 2022. 

“The success of the MSE senior design program is due not only to current students embracing the time-consuming process of project engineering, but also our loyal alumni who provide the projects that continuously improve our process.”

Paul Sanders

Cerium is the most abundant (and lowest cost) rare earth element, and Ce is known to improve the properties of aluminum. Given that rare earths are often mined together and that the demand is higher for heavier rare earths, there is excess cerium. The project sponsor David Weiss, vice president of research and development at Eck Industries, collaborates on research teams who identify beneficial uses and markets for cerium in order to improve the economics of mining rare earth. Weiss suggested applying Ce to Al extrusion for Eck’s customer, Eaton Corporation.

Extrusion is the process of forming long, two-dimensional cross-sections by forcing hot metal through a die. The students were tasked with modeling the extrusion of Al-Mg-Ce alloys to predict the necessary extrusion force and resultant flow rate. The team used a DOE-based strategy to develop a deformation model for the alloy using elevated-temperature compression testing coupled with MATLAB data analysis. Material model parameters were then entered into the commercial extrusion modeling software Inspire Extrude from Altair to calculate the extrusion force and flow rate. These predictions were tested in Michigan Tech laboratories by permanent mold casting the custom Al-Mg-Ce alloys followed by extrusion on a 550-ton Breda direct extrusion press, donated by Alcoa. To better understand the project, please see the students’ excellent four-minute video .

No small feat: Michigan Tech engineering students designed a process for modeling the extrusion of aluminum-magnesium (Al-Mg) alloys with cerium (Ce) additions. These alloys can maintain their strength at service temperatures up to 400°F. Pictured above, extruding one of the alloys.

“My decision to return to Michigan Tech as an MSE faculty member was motivated in large part by the type of students Michigan Tech attracts,” reflects Sanders, now the Patrick Horvath Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. “They are smart, hardworking, and willing to learn.”

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NASA, Artemis and Beyond: Inside Michigan Tech’s Multiplanetary INnovation Enterprise (MINE)

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Dr. Paul van Susante’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab (PSTDL) at Michigan Tech is home of the Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber. It’s about as close to moon conditions as one can get on Earth!
Paul van Susante

Paul van Susante, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering—Engineering Mechanics talks about MINE, the Multiplanetary INnovation Enterprise team at Michigan Tech, along with electrical engineering majors Brenda Wilson and Gabe Allis; and mechanical engineering major Parker Bradshaw.

Wilson, Allis and Bradshaw—along with about 50 other student members of the MINE team—design, test, and implement robotic technologies for extracting (and using) local resources in extreme environments. That includes Lunar and Martian surfaces, and flooded subterranean environments here on Earth. Prof. van Susante helped launch the team, and serves as MINE’s faculty advisor.

The award-winning Enterprise Program at Michigan Tech involves students—of any major—working in teams on real projects, with real clients. Michigan Tech currently has 26 different Enterprise teams on campus, working to pioneer solutions, invent products, and provide services.

“As an engineer, I’m an optimist. We can invent things that allow us to do things that now seem impossible.”

Paul van Susante
Students in the Huskyworks Lab at Michigan Tech work on the T-REX rover (Tethered permanently-shadowed Region Explorer). The T-REX lays down lightweight, superconducting cable connected to a lander, and it won NASA’s top prize—the Artemis Award.

MINE team members build and test robotic vehicles and technologies for clients in government and the private sector. They tackle construction and materials characterization, too. It all happens in van Susante’s Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab (PSTDL) at Michigan Tech, a place where science fiction becomes reality via prototyping, building, testing—and increasing the technology readiness and level of tech being developed for NASA missions. The PSTDL is also known as Huskyworks.

Prior to coming to Michigan Tech, Prof. van Susante earned his PhD and taught at the Colorado School of Mines, and also served as a NASA Faculty Fellow. He has been involved in research projects collaborating with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX, TransAstra, DARPA, NASA Kennedy Space Center, JPL, Bechtel, Caterpillar, and many others.

Prof. van Susante created the Huskyworks Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber himself, using his new faculty startup funding. It’s a vacuum-sealed room, partially filled with a simulated lunar dust that can be cooled to minus 196 degrees Celsius and heated to 150 degrees Celsius—essentially, a simulated moon environment. In the chamber, researchers can test surface exploration systems (i.e., rovers) in a box containing up to 3,000 pounds of regolith simulant. It’s about as close to moon conditions as one can get on Earth.

Students in the PSTDL move a testbox into position for testing in the Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber.

The NASA Artemis program aims to send astronauts back to the moon by 2025 and establish a permanent human presence. Building the necessary infrastructure to complete this task potentially requires an abundance of resources because of the high cost of launching supplies from Earth. 

“An unavoidable obstacle of space travel is what NASA calls the ‘Space Gear Ratio’, where in order to send one package into space, you need nearly 450 times that package’s mass in expensive rocket fuel to send it into space,” notes van Susante. “In order to establish a long-term presence on other planets and moons, we need to be able to effectively acquire the resources around us, known as in-situ-resource utilization, or ISRU.”

“NASA has several inter-university competitions that align with their goals for their up-and-coming Artemis Missions,” adds van Susante. 

Huskyworks and MINE have numerous Artemis irons in the fire, plus other research projects, too. We’ll learn a lot more about them during Husky Bites.

LUNABOTICS

A peek at the integrated system of MINE’s Lunabotics rover.
Six members of the Michigan Tech Astro-Huskies (plus Dr. van Susante) at NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center, during the 2021-22 Lunabotics competition

Electrical engineering undergraduate student Brenda Wilson serves as the hardware sub-team lead of the Astro-Huskies, a group of 25 students within MINE who work on an autonomous mining rover as part of NASA’s Lunabotics competition. It’s held every year in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center with 50 teams in attendance from universities across the nation. This is the Astro-Huskies’ third year participating in the competition, coming up in May 2023. 

This year the Astro-Huskies are designing, building, testing, and competing with an autonomous excavation rover. The rover must traverse around obstacles such as mounds, craters, rocks; excavate ice to be used for the production of rocket fuel, then return to the collection point. By demonstrating their rover, each team in the competition contributes ideas to NASA’s future missions to operate on and start producing consumables on the lunar surface. 

DIVER

Mechanical engineering undergraduate student Gabe Allis is manager of the MINE team’s DIVER project (Deep Investigation Vehicle for Energy Resources). The team is focused on building an untethered ROV capable of descending down into the Quincy mine to map the flooded tunnels and collect water samples. The team supports ongoing research at Michigan Tech that aims to convert flooded mine shafts into giant batteries, or Pumped Underground Storage for Hydropower (PUSH) facilities.

What it looks like beneath the Quincy Mine in Hancock, Michigan. Illustration courtesy of Michigan Tech’s Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences.

“Before a mine can be converted into a PUSH facility it must be inspected, and most mines are far deeper than can be explored by a conventional diver,”Allis explains.

“This is where we come in, with a robust, deep-diving robot that’s designed for an environment more unforgiving than the expanse of outer space, and that includes enormous external pressure, no communication, and no recovery if something goes wrong,” he says.  

“Differences in water temperature at different depths cause currents that can pull our robot in changing directions,” adds Allis. “No GPS means that our robot may have to localize from its environment, which means more computing power, and more space, weight, energy consumption, and cooling requirements. These are the sort of problems that our team needs to tackle.”

TRENCHER

During Husky Bites, Bradshaw will tell us about the team’s Trencher project, which aims to provide proof-of-concept for extracting the lunar surface using a bucket ladder-style excavator. “Bucket ladders offer a continuous method of excavation that can transport a large amount of material with minimal electricity, an important consideration for operations on the moon,” Bradshaw says. “With bucket ladders NASA will be able to extract icy regolith to create rocket fuel on the moon and have a reliable method to shape the lunar surface.” Unlike soil, regolith is inorganic material that has weathered away from the bedrock or rock layer beneath.

Parker Bradshaw, also a mechanical engineering student, is both a member of MINE and member of van Susante’s lab, where he works as an undergraduate researcher. “Dr. van Susante is my boss, PI, and Enterprise advisor. I first worked with him on a MINE project last year, then got hired by his lab (the PSTDL) to do research over the summer.”

Bradshaw is preparing a research paper detailing data the team has gathered while excavating in the lab’s Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber, with a goal of sharing what was learned by publishing their results in an academic journal.

The PSTDL’s field-rover HOPLITE gets ready for field-test last winter.

“An unavoidable obstacle of space travel is what NASA calls the ‘Space Gear Ratio’, where in order to send one package into orbit around Earth, you need nearly 10 times that package’s mass in expensive rocket fuel to send it into space, and even more for further destinations,” van Susante explains. “So in order to establish a long-term presence on other planets and moons, we need to be able to effectively acquire the resources around us, known as in-situ-resource utilization, or ISRU.”

In the world-class Huskyworks lab (and in the field) van Susante and his team work on a wide variety of projects:

Paul van Susante served as a mining judge during the 2018 Regolith Mining Competition at the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center

NASA Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR)—a “Percussive Hot Cone Penetrometer and Ground Penetrating Radar for Geotechnical and Volatiles Mapping.”

NASA Breakthrough Innovative and Game Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge 2020—a “Tethered permanently shaded Region EXplorer (T-REX)” delivers power and communication into a PSR, (also known as a Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer).

NASA Watts on the Moon Centennial Challenge—providing power to a water extraction plant PSR located 3 kilometers from the power plant. Michigan Tech is one of seven teams that advanced to Phase 2, Level 2 of the challenge.

NASA ESI Early Stage Innovation—obtaining water from rock gypsum on Mars.

NASA Break the Ice—the latest centennial challenge from NASA, to develop technologies aiding in the sustained presence on the Moon.

NASA NextSTEP BAA ISRU, track 3—”RedWater: Extraction of Water from Mars’ Ice Deposits” (subcontract from principal investigator Honeybee Robotics).

NASA GCD MRE—Providing a regolith feeder and transportation system for the MRE reactor

HOPLITE—a modular robotic system that enables the field testing of ISRU technologies.

Dr. van Susante met his wife, Kate, in Colorado.

Dr. van Susante, how did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

Helping people and making the world a better place with technology and the dream of space exploration. My interest came from sci-fi books and movies and seeing what people can accomplish when they work together.

Hometown and Hobbies?

I grew up in The Netherlands and got my MS in Civil Engineering from TU-Delft before coming to the USA to continue grad school. I met my wife in Colorado and have one 8 year old son. The rest of my family is still in The Netherlands. Now I live in Houghton, Michigan, not too far from campus. I love downhill and x-country skiing, reading (mostly sci-fi/fantasy), computer and board games, and photography.

“Dr. van Susante has been a huge help—not just with the technical work, but with the project management side of things. We’ve found it to be one of the biggest hurdles to overcome as a team this past year.”

Brenda Wilson

Brenda, how did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

My dad, who is a packaging engineer, would explain to me how different machines work and how different things are made. My interest in electrical engineering began with the realization that power is the backbone to today’s society. Nearly everything we use runs on electricity. I wanted to be able to understand the large complex system that we depend so heavily upon. Also, because I have a passion for the great outdoors, I want to take my degree in a direction where I can help push the power industry towards green energy and more efficient systems.

Hometown, family?

My hometown is Naperville, Illinois. I have one younger brother starting his first year at Illinois State in general business. My Dad is a retired packaging engineer with a degree from Michigan State, and my mom is an accountant with a masters degree from the University of Chicago.

Any hobbies? Pets? What do you like to do in your spare time?

I am an extremely active person and try to spend as much time as I can outside camping and on the trails. I also spend a good chunk of my time running along the portage waterfront, swing dancing, and just recently picked up mountain biking.

“I got involved in the DIVER project in MINE, and have enjoyed working with Dr. van Susante. He’s a no nonsense kind of guy. He tells you what you need to improve on, and then helps you get there.”

Gabe Allis
Gabe Allis

Gabe, how did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

I first became interested in engineering when my great-uncle gave me a college text-book of his on engineering: Electric Circuits and Machines, by Eugene Lister. I must have been at most 13. To my own surprise, I began reading it and found it interesting. Ever since then I’ve been looking for ways to learn more.

Hometown, family?

I’m from Ann Arbor, Michigan, the oldest of nine. First in my family to go to Tech, and probably not the last. 

Any hobbies? Pets? What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to play guitar, read fiction, mountain bike, explore nature, and hang out/worship at St. Albert the Great Catholic Church.

“Doing both Enterprise work and research under Dr. van Susante has been a very valuable experience. I expect to continue working in his orbit through the rest of my undergrad degree.”

Parker Bradshaw
Parker Bradshaw

Parker, how did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

I was first introduced to engineering by my dad, who manufactured scientific equipment for the University of Michigan Psychology department. Hanging around in his machine shop at a young age made me really want to work with my hands. What I do as a member of MINE is actually very similar to what my dad did at the U of M. I create research equipment that we use to obtain the data we need for our research, just for me it’s space applications (instead of rodent brains).

Hometown, family?

I grew up in Ann Arbor Michigan, and both of my parents work for the University of Michigan Psychology department. My dad is now retired.

Any hobbies? Pets? What do you like to do in your spare time?

I have a variety of things to keep me busy when school isn’t too overbearing. I go to the Copper Country Community Art Center Clay Co-Op as often as I can to throw pottery on the wheel. I also enjoy watercolor painting animals in a scientific illustration style. Over the summer I was working on my V22 style RC plane project.

Michigan Tech MINE team photo (taken last year). The constraints of the pandemic complicated some of their efforts, yet brought out the best in all of them.

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To the Moon—and Beyond

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Mine Video for Michigan Tech 2022 Design Expo

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SWE Students and Alumnae Host Girl Scouts Events

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Two girls construct cranes on a tabletop.
Junior Girl Scouts participate in crane design at Michigan Tech.

Michigan Tech’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) section and two SWE alumnae hosted two Girl Scouts events for 69 youth Nov. 8 and 10, 2022.

On Nov. 8, Amy (Palmgren) Rokos ’08 (computer engineering) and Pam (Wolting) Seibert ’10 (civil engineering) hosted a Girl Scouts event for K-5 Scouts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, using activities and materials provided by the SWE section. For this event, Rokos and Seibert selected activities developed at Michigan Tech and received instructions on how to do them with youth. Thirty-nine Scouts participated in the event.

Rokos stated: “The event was a success! I think the girls had fun and the leaders really appreciated us putting on the event.”

Seibert commented: “This morning was fantastic! Thanks to the entire MTU team for these ideas and fantastic programs. (The Scouts) were engaged the entire time frame and came out more excited about engineering. Electrical and chemical engineering seem to be the leaders of interest. The ice cream was really simple too, almost easier than my machine at home.“

On Nov. 10, 30 Junior Girl Scouts in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula participated in a crane design, construct and test activity hosted by the MTU SWE section. This outreach event was unique because the local Girl Scouts came to Michigan Tech and completed the activity in one of the Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology labs, while the other Scouts completed the event virtually.

We really appreciated hosting the Nov. 10 event in a Tech lab. When the Scouts were constructing their crane, they could look at an engine stand. The stand and crane have many similar parts. Some of the youth observed that the base of the stand was wider at the base and with this design, when the engine was supported by the boom, the stand did not tip over. These concepts were incorporated into their designs. The SWE members enjoyed working with the Girls Scouts and look forward to the Girl Scouts events we have planned for the spring semester.

By Gretchen Hein, SWE Advisor.

Group photo of girls and hosts.
Girl Scouts visit Michigan Tech.
Girls work with soapy materials at a tabletop.
Event hosted in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for K-5 Girl Scouts.
Several girls seated on a carpeted floor and using bags of material.
Girl Scouts engaged in activities in Grand Rapids.
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GLRC Summer and Fall 2022 Student Awards

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Please join the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) in congratulating the Summer and Fall 2022 GLRC Student Research and Travel Grant recipients.

The GLRC student grants are intended to provide undergraduate and graduate students advised by GLRC members an opportunity to gain experience in writing competitive grants, to perform research they would not be able to attempt due to funding limitations, or to travel to a professional conference to present a poster or paper about their research.

Student grants also provide research seed data for advisors to use in pursuing externally funded research support and travel grants help amplify areas of research expertise at Michigan Tech. Funded students are expected to participate/volunteer for at least one GLRC activity during the grant period.

Student Research Grant recipient:

Student Travel Grant recipients:

  • Timothy Stone, M.S. student — Social Sciences
    • GLRC member advisor: Donald Lafreniere
    • Attending: 2022 Social Sciences History Association Annual Conference
    • Presentation: “Exploring the Built and Social Determinants of Health in a 20th Century Industrial City”
  • Mai Anh Tran, Ph.D. student — College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science 
    • GLRC member advisor: Valoree Gagnon
    • Attending: History of Science Society 2022 Annual Meeting – Sustainability, Regeneration, and Resiliency
    • Presentation: “Tracing the Resilience Concept Through the History of Science and the Lens of Indigenous Knowledge”
  • Tessa Tormoen, B.S. student — Biological Sciences
    • GLRC member advisor: Jill Olin
    • Attending: The Wildlife Society National Conference 2022
    • Presentation: “Using DNA Metabarcoding to Evaluate Dietary Resource Partitioning Among Two Sympatric Tilefish”
  • Emily Shaw, Ph.D. student — Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
    • GLRC member advisor: Noel Urban
    • Attended: 2022 American Chemical Society Fall Meeting – Sustainability in a Changing World
    • Presentation: “Toxicity in Fish Tissue: Redefining Our Understandings by Quantifying Mixture and Combined Toxicity”
  • Enid Partika, Ph.D. student — Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
    • GLRC member advisors: Judith Perlinger, Noel Urban 
    • Attending: Dioxin 22 – 42nd International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants 
    • Presentation: “Filling the Data Gap on Responses of Fish PCB Content to Remedial Actions in Torch Lake, Michigan”
  • James Juip, Ph.D. student — Social Sciences
    • GLRC member advisor: Donald Lafreniere 
    • Attending: Social Science History Association Annual Meeting – Reverberations of Empire: Histories, Legacies & Lineages 
    • Presentation: “Utilizing HSDIs to Support Community Engaged Interdisciplinary Education and Heritage Interpretation”
  • John McCall, M.S. student — Biological Sciences
    • GLRC member advisor: Gordon Paterson
    • Attending: The Wildlife Society Annual Conference
    • Presentation: “Evaluating Genotoxicity of Mine Tailings on Two Game Fish in a Spawning Reef in Lake Superior (Michigan)”

The GLRC awarded travel grants to the following students attending COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, with Sarah Green (Chem):

  • Rose Daily, Ph.D. student — Civil, Environmental and Geospatial Engineering, speaking on the U.S. Center Panel on the topic of “Climate Education in the US”
  • Ayush Chutani, Ph.D. student — Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, participating in U.N. side event “Climate Leadership Across Generations”
  • Katherine Huerta-Sanchez, M.S. student — Social Sciences, presenting “Voices and Visions: The Art and Science of Climate Action. Youth Environmental Alliance in Higher Education (YEAH ) and PEACE BOAT US”
  • Anna Kavanaugh, B.S. student — Social Sciences, presenting “From the Roots Up: Community Solutions for Reducing Food Waste”
  • Zachary Hough Solomon, M.S. student — Social Sciences, presenting “The Knowledge and Policy Disconnect: Using Local Knowledge to Inform Climate Science”

GLRC Student Travel Grant applications are accepted anytime and will be reviewed on the last Friday of each month. Applications must be submitted at least two weeks in advance of travel. GLRC Student Research Grant applications are accepted three times each year — Nov. 1, March 1 and July 1.

By the Great Lakes Research Center.

Educating the Next Generation of Climate Leaders with participating institution logos.
Panel of four people and host at the podium.
Climate action panel with Rose Daily speaking.
Rose Daily, Graduate Student, Michigan Technological University, speaking on stage.
Panel audience asking questions.
Climate Change Education panel of four people on stage.

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Carolyn Duncan: Free Falling

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When it comes to preventing falls. we can learn a few things from penguins, says Dr. Carolyn Duncan at Michigan Technological University.
Carolyn Duncan, Michigan Tech Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, Michigan Tech

Carolyn Duncan shares her knowledge on Husky Bites, a free, interactive Zoom webinar this Monday, 11/14 at 6 pm ET. Learn something new in just 30 minutes or so, with time after for Q&A! Get the full scoop and register at mtu.edu/huskybites.

What are you doing for supper this Monday night 10/14 at 6 ET? Grab a bite with Carolyn Duncan, assistant professor, Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology at Michigan Tech.

Joining in will be Sarah Aslani, PhD student in Cognitive and Learning Sciences and a member of  Prof. Duncan’s MTU Balance and Functional Mobility Lab, who will share just how balance is studied in the lab.

Falls are a major cause of serious injury and death in our society. So how can we prevent them? 

Sarah Aslani, a biomedical engineer is earning her PhD in Cognitive and Learning Sciences at Michigan Tech.

“We need greater understanding of exactly what affects our ability to regain our balance when we lose it,” Duncan explains. “Not all risk factors affect balance in the same way. There are many unanswered questions, and that’s where our research comes in,” she says.

“Some major culprits, though: clutter and poor lighting.”

During Husky Bites, Prof. Duncan will explore what is currently known on how we regain our balance, share some things we can do to improve our balance and prevent falls, and discuss her ongoing research on balance control and fall prevention.

Duncan earned her BSc in Kinesiology and MSc in Occupational Biomechanics, both at the University of New Brunswick, and her PhD in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on biomechanics at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She was a postdoctoral fellow in Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo in the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, then taught engineering ergonomics courses at Virginia Tech before joining the faculty at Michigan Tech in 2018.

Are wide stairs safer or more dangerous? And what does the “run length” have to do with it? Pictured here: stairs up to the viewing platform at  Porcupine Mountains State Wilderness Park.

After obtaining her doctorate in mechanical engineering, Prof. Duncan spent time working as an ergonomist and fall prevention specialist before she became a researcher. Her work has spanned from fall prevention in offshore industries to developing fall prevention safety programs for workplaces. These experiences give her valuable real-world insights in the fall-related challenges people face in everyday life.

How do we anticipate falling? And what happens if we are distracted?

Balance control research in Prof. Duncan’s MTU Balance and Functional Mobility Lab at Michigan Tech

At Michigan Tech, Duncan investigates factors that influence successful balance recovery—from lighting, load-carrying, and aging, to cognitive, neurological, and physical disorders and musculoskeletal injury. She also works with the design of built environments for older adults and special populations. 

Her work studying balance recovery in moving environments—such as the wave motion encountered in maritime settings—involves asking questions, such as “would dancers have better balance on a boat?” 

(Prof. Duncan found that while dancers demonstrated significantly fewer stumbling events when on a simulated boat than novices during the first trial, dancers did not perform as well as individuals with offshore experience.)

Arriving recently from the warmer climate of Tehran to earn her PhD in Cognitive Learning Sciences in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Aslani has not yet experienced a Houghton winter, or, thankfully, ever slipped on the ice and snow. She is co-advised by Prof. Duncan and Kevin Trewartha, an assistant professor with joint appointment in CLA and KIP. They’re already preparing Aslani for what to expect when the snowflakes start to fly and temperatures dip.

“Sarah has a background in biomedical engineering, and just started this semester,” says Duncan. “She will be doing her PhD research on factors that influence our ability to recover our balance. I look forward to furthering this area of research with her in the upcoming years. And we look forward to teaching her how to snowboard and ski as part of our Lab bonding time, too.”

“I was looking for a research project that would cover both of my interests—biology and neuroscience—when I saw Dr. Duncan’s profile on the Michigan Tech website,” adds Aslani. “So I sent her an email. Then, in our first meeting, it felt right. I knew this would be a place where I’d really fit in.”

“Mountain biking and alpine skiing are my passions, so the Upper Peninsula is a great place to live all year around,” says Dr. Duncan.

In the lab, Duncan, Aslani and other members of the team perform balance control research. “Type 2 Diabetes is a big challenge facing many older adults, with devastating effects on balance,” Duncan says. “My team is excited to start examining low-cost group exercise programs, including Tai Chi, to see how effective they are for improving balance and decreasing risk of falls. We’ll be working in collaboration with Dr. Kevin Trewartha and physical therapists Dr. Cameron Williams and Dr. Lydia Lytle.”

“Dim lighting is often associated with falls in the home,” Duncan adds. “We’re currently looking into how lighting specifically affects balance recovery. We hope this knowledge will be used to develop guidelines on optimal lighting in homes and built environments in our community  to decrease risk of falls.”

During Husky Bites, Prof. Duncan promises to offer some takeaways for all of us. She’ll provide exact details on the best kinds of shoes, railings, and stairs to prevent falls. 

Dr. Duncan, how did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

Cats can teach us about reactive balance ability. This is Brady, Dr. Duncan’s kitty!

I first got into Engineering when I decided that pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering would best suit my long-term goals of being a researcher in biomechanics. My previous undergraduate and Masters degrees in Kinesiology and Science with focuses in biomechanics and ergonomics had sparked a desire to learn more advanced biomechanical modeling techniques. A PhD in Mechanical Engineering allowed me to learn these advanced biomechanical modeling techniques while also gaining the foundational knowledge in mechanical and human factors engineering to pursue this career.

Hometown, family?
I’m originally from Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada, about 45 minutes east of Maine. My parents were both public school teachers, and my grandparents were all healthcare professionals or engineers. I have one younger brother who is currently an electrician in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I’m a member of the Mont Ripley Ski Patrol and Copper Harbor Bike Patrol. I’ve recently taken up Nordic skiing and disc golf. When I’m not outside I love to cook and am an avid indoor gardener. I have a two-year old ginger tabby cat named “Brady the Tomcat,” in honor of Tom Brady (I’m a lifelong New England Patriots fan). I found Brady at Copper Country Humane Society right here in Houghton. 

“I always enjoy chatting with my friends,” says Aslani.

Sarah, how did you first get into engineering? What sparked your interest?

Growing up, I was always trying to figure out my real passion, some area in which I am really talented, so I could direct all my attention and power toward it.

I tried out many things, including painting and playing piano. But, they were never enough for me. After getting admitted to the Iranian Biology Olympiad (IrBO) at age fourteen, and then, a year later, to the Iranian’s national Mathematics Olympiad, I started to realize that I may be good at both those things (biology and math). That is why a couple of years later, I chose to pursue a biomedical engineering degree.

Hometown, family?
Until recently, I lived in Tehran, Iran. It is the capital of Iran. Very crowded, but it is very beautiful, with lots of countryside spots to go on picnics, like Chitgar Lake. Plus, there are some great places to go hiking.

Hiking is one of Aslani’s passions. She’s excited to get out and start exploring the UP!

We are a small family. I have a younger brother who also chose the engineering field. My dad is an agricultural engineer. My mum is a biotechnology researcher. 

What do you like to do in your spare time?
The first thing is that I love hiking. When I was in Iran I used to go hiking every few weeks.

Another thing I am crazy about is learning new languages. I learn by watching movies and listening to music. Recently I started learning Spanish. I love Spanish music, so I memorized the lyrics and tried them out with karaoke!

Last but not least, I love chatting with my friends. Sometimes when I want to clear my head and not think of anything, I’ll go hang out with a friend. 

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Engineering Day at Lake Linden Elementary

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Lake Linden - Hubbell Elementary School exterior with bicycles.

WLUC TV6 and the Daily Mining Gazette covered Engineering Day at Lake Linden Elementary School. The event was hosted by Michigan Tech’s Society of Women Engineers and Engineering Ambassadors Program on October 28, 2022.

Gretchen Hein (MMET) and undergraduate students Audrey Levanen and Julia Westfall (both mechanical engineering) were quoted by TV6. 

Hein and undergraduate students Natalie Hodge (electrical and computer engineering) and Sam Jager and Robert Eckright (both mechanical engineering) were quoted by the Gazette.

Jaclyn Johnson (ME-EM) was mentioned in both stories.

The combined group engaged students with a variety of engineering activities. This included using tin foil boats to showcase buoyancy, making small-scale roller coasters, and even using batteries to make “robots” jump.

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SWE Section Attends WE22 Conference

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Group of 18 women on stage wearing conference badges.
#MTUSWE #WE22 Image by Jennifer Winikus.

A World of Opportunity Awaits

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) WE22 Societal Conference was held in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 19–22. Twelve members of Tech’s SWE section and their advisor, Gretchen Hein, attended the conference.

The section’s conference activities included:

  • Hein, Aerith Cruz, Skyler Brawley and Talia Olson held an #IamRemarkable Workshop regarding how to advocate for yourself and others.
  • Alli Hummel and Kathleen Heusser presented on the SWE Section’s tiered funding model.
  • Julia Westfall applied and was accepted into the SWE Collegiate Leadership Institute.
  • The section was awarded the 2000 Gold Level Collegiate Mission Award.
  • Gretchen Hein was recognized for her review of Undergraduate Scholarship and the Multicultural Awards.

The students also enjoyed meeting many of our Tech alumni who attended the Houston Area Alumni Meet and Greet. It was interesting to learn about their experiences at Tech and how campus and classes have changed over the years.

The section and their advisor thank their corporate sponsors for supporting their travel to the conference. We look forward to attending SWE WE23 Societal Conference in Los Angeles, California, next year.

Each student’s conference experience was different, and their quotes are below:

  • Alli Hummel (civil engineering):
    “The most impactful part of the conference was talking to various students and company representatives after giving a presentation on our section’s tiered funding model.”
  • Abby Mello (chemical engineering):
    “It was inspiring to hear the stories of so many accomplished women in STEM. I look forward to seeing the women in our chapter follow in their footsteps, face challenges with the confidence they have earned, and lead impactful lives fulfilling their aspirations.”
  • Natalie Hodge (electrical and computer engineering):
    “It was amazing to hear stories and life lessons from many incredible women. It really helped me rethink the way I approach challenges and other situations.”
  • Victoria Berger (materials science and engineering):
    “I found the keynote speeches to be inspiring and motivating and loved how the women presenting them were so accomplished in life.”
  • Amanda West (mechanical engineering):
    “With the support of my SWE section and the environment of woman empowerment, I took full advantage of the career fair with hundreds of companies, learning how to network and sell my resume.”
  • Aerith Cruz (management information systems):
    “It was an incredible experience being able to share “#IamRemarkable” to a global audience.”
  • Skyler Brawley (computer engineering):
    “I had an amazing experience during my first time at the WE22 conference.”
  • Talia Olson (mechanical engineering):
    “I had the opportunity of presenting with such inspiring women leaders on the #IamRemarkable workshop.”
  • Kathleen Heusser Pakenas (biomedical engineering):
    “I was able to see the most amazing women in engineering leadership … The entire experience made me feel that I can have a place at the top of the engineering world too, if I’m willing to work hard enough for it.”
  • Sophie Stewart (mechanical engineering):
    “I have never seen so many women engineers in one place! I had so much fun attending the sessions, networking, and hearing everyone’s story.“
  • Josie Edick (chemical engineering):
    “As a graduating senior, I spent a lot of my time during WE22 at the career fair. … I was able to diversify my network and discuss opportunities with industries I never knew were possible to work in as a chemical engineer.”
  • Julia Westfall (mechanical engineering):
    “I learned MTU alumni are everywhere and frequently hold leadership positions wherever they are … I did not realize how well employers recognized our smaller-sized school.”

By Gretchen Hein, Advisor, Society of Women Engineers.

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Engineering Students Place High in Computing[MTU] Showcase 2022

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Trevor and Dominika stand next to their poster.
Trevor Petrin (left) and Dominika Bobik (right).

The Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) is pleased to announce the winners of the Computing[MTU] Showcase Poster Session of October 10. Congratulations and thanks to all the graduate and undergraduate students who presented their research posters!

Please visit the showcase’s Research Poster Session page to view the poster abstracts and photos from the event.

Undergraduate Winners

  • First Place: Dominika Bobik (ECE, Computer Engineering) — “An Educational Modeling Software Tool That Teaches Computational Thinking Skills”
  • Second Place: Niccolo Jeanetta-Wark (MEEM, Mechanical Engineering) — “Performance Measurement of Trajectory Tracking Controllers for Wheeled Mobile Robots”
  • Third Place: Kristoffer Larsen — “A machine learning-based method for cardiac resynchronization therapy decision support”

Graduate Winners

  • First Place: Shashank Pathrudkar (MEEM, Mechanical Engineering) — “Interpretable machine learning model for the deformation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes”
  • Second Place: Nicholas Hamilton — “Enhancing Visualization and Explainability of Computer Vision Models with Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME)”
  • Third Place (Tie): Zonghan Lyu (BME, Biomedical Engineering) — “Automated Image Segmentation for Computational Analysis of Patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms”
  • Third Place (Tie): Tauseef Mamun — “When to be Aware of your Self-Driving Vehicle: Use of Social Media Posts to Understand Problems and Misconceptions about Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Mode”

Read more on the ICC Blog, by Karen Johnson.

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Mike Christianson: The Michigan Tech Band Experience—Wonderful Ruckus to Symphonic Thrills

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The Huskies Pep Band. We love this scramble band for its energy, colorful hats and dress, and joviality!

Mike Christianson shares his knowledge on Husky Bites, a free, interactive webinar this Monday, 10/24 at 6 pm. Learn something new in just 30 minutes or so, with time after for Q&A! Get the full scoop and register at mtu.edu/huskybites.

Dr. Mike Christianson, leading bands, enriching lives.

What are you doing for supper this Monday night 10/24 at 6 ET? Grab a bite with Mike Christianson, Associate Professor, Visual and Performing Arts and Director of Bands at Michigan Tech. Joining in will be two members of the Huskies Pep Band, Matt Bettwy (mechanical engineering) and Laura Bufanda (theatre and entertainment technology), both who will be graduating with their bachelor’s degrees in December.

He’s Got The Music In Him

Mike Christianson learned all about bands at a young age, accompanying his band leader/director father to concerts in their hometown of Fargo. He saw all the greats like Count Basie and Buddy Rich. Christianson heard the music and absorbed the performances. He listened to them talk about the music and the different players in the band. And music was always in abundance at home and at Christianson family gatherings. Mike’s great-great grandfather and grandfather were band leaders too. His grandmothers also played music. And the music bug continued in his children. It’s fair to say in the Christianson household music is ever present.

In Pursuit of a Dream

This love and appreciation of music drove his dream. Christianson pursued that dream, moving to New York City to play professionally. You’d find him in different orchestra pits on and off-Broadway, playing in studios and clubs with a variety of musicians, Carnegie Hall, and even hitting the road for two years with Ray Charles. Christianson’s professional career led to a Grammy nomination with John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble. The group was nominated for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album,” at the 61st Annual Recording Academy’s Grammy Awards, for its recording “All Can Work.”(recounted in Tech News back in 2019)

Eventually Christianson was asked to lead a band when a professor went on sabbatical. Directing the band brought joy. He was hooked. When he asked how he can do more of that, he was told to get his PhD. Enrollment at Rutgers University across the Hudson in New Jersey followed, as did another twelve years as a founder and band director for a local community band. 

The stage was set to begin a new career teaching music at Michigan Tech; trading in the iconic skyline of New York with the Empire State Building for that of Houghton-Hancock featuring the Lift Bridge and Quincy Mine. And we could not be more excited to have him here. Music at Tech has been a unique experience for Christianson. It has been all about the joy.

“If we were a music conservatory, we would likely be yelling at students all of the time, putting pressure on them to get better and not miss out on opportunities. Here students can just focus on the joy in music,” he says.

Mike Christianson earned his Bachelor’s of Music at Minnesota State University Moorhead, then his Masters of Music at the Manhattan School of Music, and his Doctor’s of Music at Rutgers University.

Because of that Christianson knew coming to Tech that teaching music would be a different experience for him. Michigan Tech Professor Emeritus Mike Irish, a great mentor of Christianson’s, told him “You’ll be surprised why you like this job.”

Originally, the new-kid-on-the-block did not know what his mentor meant.  Now Christianson thinks “Huh! I get it. I pick-up something new all the time. I estimate every year or two I learn a new way to approach the job. And every year I find a new reason why I like this job.”

“I see it in this Pep Band. That joy that comes from playing music and having fun with it.”

Mike Christianson

“Mike has been a musical mentor of mine ever since I joined Michigan Tech’s music program in 2019,” says Laura Bufanda, who earned her BS in Theatre and Entertainment Technology in 2022. They met briefly at the summer community concert in 2014, back when Bufanda’s brother, Randy, was attending Michigan Tech.

“Mike has been a great influence in my desire to learn how to perform other areas of music, including Jazz,” she adds. “As a euphonium player, it is somewhat expected that I only participate in performing classical music. However, I enjoyed the vast amount of different styles and genres of music Mike has exposed us to in the Superior Wind Symphony so much—that I chose to join MTU’s jazz program, as well!”

“I met Mike before I even started at Michigan Tech, during Michigan Tech Preview day in spring 2018 when I auditioned for the Visual and Performing Arts Talent Award scholarship,” says Matt Bettwe. “Mike was my first contact with the music department, and he was also one of the first faculty members I got to know during my first semester at MTU. I joined Superior Wind Symphony and the Huskies Pep Band,” he adds.

“With the academic rigors of my degree (almost all STEM courses) my time in Mike’s ensembles has been a huge part of my life at Michigan Tech. It’s the time of the work week when I can be less analytical, and focus on something different that I really enjoy.”

Flaming Trumpets (!) at Michigan Tech’s Parade of Nations

The Band Program at Michigan Tech

Michigan Tech offers multiple opportunities for students to engage in music, including five jazz ensembles, a symphony orchestra, two choirs, and three bands. Not bad for a technological university without a school of music. But the three band experiences (Visual and Performing Arts Campus Concert Band, Huskies Pep Band, and Superior Wind Symphony) would not be the same without the leadership of Mike Christianson.

The Superior Wind Symphony (SWS) is the premier wind ensemble at Michigan Tech. This auditioned ensemble of winds and percussion performs the music of composers spanning five centuries, living and not, from all genders, ethnicities and genres. SWS concerts offer symphonic thrills, innovative programming, fruitful collaborations, and exciting premieres. These concerts feature music from the standard repertoire and often utilize innovative formats that include visual art, the spoken word, and dance. Plus, the ensemble takes to the road to play concerts throughout the Great Lakes region. SWS invites renowned guest conductors and performing artists to work with them, like Frank Battisti, Bill Berz, and Scott Robinson.

The Campus Concert Band was founded to enable the marching drill ROTC band continue to play in the spring semester. The band plays a variety of traditional and contemporary concert band literature as well as popular works. It also performs around the community at a variety of venues. The ROTC band is no longer, but the Campus Concert Band continues to play on.

Matt Bettwy conducts the Huskies Pep Band during a hockey game at Michigan Tech.

But perhaps the most famous of the three bands is the Huskies Pep Band. They are known by many names: The Pride of Pastyland, the Cream of the Keweenaw, the Second-best Feeling in the World, the loudest, most spirited pep band in the nation. We love this scramble band for its energy, colorful hats and dress, and joviality. From its humble beginnings in 1928 as the Michigan Tech ROTC Band under the baton of E.E. Melville, the Michigan Tech Huskies Pep Band has grown to become one of the most recognized bands in all of college hockey. We bet there were no bassists and guitarists in that original incarnation like there are now! The Huskies Pep Band is open to any Michigan Tech student that likes it louder, faster, and higher! No audition required.

Prof. Christianson, how did you first get into music? What sparked your interest?

Band directing is a Christianson family tradition. I am the fifth consecutive generation in my family to become a band director. My grandmother was a pianist and my father a band director. So I was exposed to music at a very young age. Even though I grew up in Fargo, ND, we had all these amazing bands come to play there: Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton are just a few. My father took me along to see them, and I dreamed of going on the road with one of those bands.

To become a professional musician, I knew I had to go to music school, which took me to Minnesota State University Moorhead. 

New York was next, where it took a little while to get established, but I landed a job playing with Ray Charles’ band. And then built a varied, interesting, and successful career as a musician.

When was this photo taken of Mike Christianson? We hope to find out during Husky Bites!

Hometown and Family?

Fargo, North Dakota is my hometown. My wife is Cyndi. Our daughter, Michelle, represents the sixth consecutive generation in my family to become a band director, and our son, Aaron, when at Michigan Tech, was a student director of Pep Band.

Is there a band you think of when you think of the Pep Band?

I saw all the great big bands with my dad as a kid. But years before I took the Tech job, I asked my father which band he enjoyed seeing the most. It was Spike Jones and the City Slickers. Not only were they terrific musicians, but they were a really goofy comedic band. They wore these crazy outfits and props. They played well and had so much fun doing it. My dad saw all these jazz greats, but still enjoyed Spike Jones the most. That stuck with me. And I see it in this Pep Band. That joy that comes from playing music and having fun with it.

The Huskies Pep Band is open to any Michigan Tech student. No audition required! Note: we’re pretty sure “ASS” (in this case) is short for “alto sax”.

How did you become a band director?

I worked at New Jersey City University and volunteered to be the band director while a professor went on sabbatical. I really enjoyed the experience and decided to start a town band in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, where my family lived. It was a great learning experience. I put up flyers and posted online to recruit members. At our first meeting we had five flute players show up out of eight musicians, so a little imbalance. But they kept coming, and bringing their friends. Eventually we grew into a delightful band of friends, neighbors, and music professionals. Many musicians stepped in and wanted to be a part of it. I met some fantastic musicians along the way and learned a variety of music styles. I was with that community band for twelve years.

How did you get into teaching music?

Remember that interim band director position? Well I loved being a band director so much, I asked “How can I get a job doing this?” That’s when they told me to get a doctorate. So I enrolled at Rutgers to get my DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts). And I ended up here because they offered me a job!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

If I’m not playing music, I’m probably writing it. I am not a composer. But one of my favorite teachers of all-time, Ludmila Ulehla, taught our composition class. She served as the chair of the Department of Composition at the Manhattan School of Music from 1972 to 1989.

Ludmila laid it out as follows: “Write a piece of music for your best friends. Otherwise, no matter what you write, it will never compare to Beethoven or Bach. And it will always be played last. And how good is it going to sound, anyway, when played by skilled musicians who have spent hours practicing and refining the Greats, but not so much time with your music? So, identify four favorite musicians who happen to be your friends. They are the ones most likely to practice and play your piece, and you win. They’ll do their best. They won’t be critical. And they will love you for it.”

Laura Bufanda’s career goal is to work in advertising as art director. She’s well on her way!

Laura, how did you first get into music? What sparked your interest?

I began playing the Euphonium in 4th grade (about 17 years ago) after both of my older brothers had gotten involved- I was always inspired to join Band because of their interest in it–and with a strong interest of my own, through elementary dance and music classes.

What is it like playing in the Huskies Pep Band?

For me it’s been a great experience for getting out and getting involved. As someone who isn’t super into sports, I still found games fun to attend with the Pep Band (my favorites are volleyball and hockey).

The most memorable experience happened during my first year, the “Flooter/A.S.S. Thanksgiving,” basically a “friendsgiving” shared by the Flute and Alto Sax sections of the Pep Band. This one event introduced me to many of the people I would be living with, and the house I would be living in for the majority of my time at MTU—some arm-wavers and some instrumentalists—all of my housemates were heavily involved in Pep Band throughout their years. It was something we all had in common. I’ve always been a big fan of band camp, too. That almost goes without saying. I’m what some may call a “band nerd”, but all growing up and to this day I have always loved band camp rehearsals and getting to meet all of the new members.

What are you hoping to do after graduation?

I am pursuing the world of art direction and advertising design. Growing up, I was always very interested in art of all mediums. After graduating from high school I chose to continue my path in digital media by completing a photography certificate program. Over time, I have grown more interested in the other areas of digital design. I’ve gained experience in graphic design to help me toward my goal of becoming an art director.

Hometown, family?

I grew up in Burlington, Connecticut with my Mom, Dad, and two older brothers (three are Michigan Tech alumni). I have been a permanent resident of Michigan since I graduated from high school in 2015.

Any hobbies? Pets? What do you like to do in your spare time?

Outside of Michigan Tech, I enjoy photography, graphic design, horseback riding, camping/adventuring, and exploring Detroit. I have 2 dogs: Mylee, a maltese/shih-tzu; and Hana, a maltese.

Says Matt: “The Copper Country Color Tour 2021 (I’m in the gray), a fall road bike ride put on by the MTU cycling club.”

Matt, how did you first get into music and engineering? What sparked your interest?

I started playing trumpet in fifth grade, found I loved it, and followed the hobby ever since. It was my favorite school activity for many years and I briefly considered a career in music, but late in high school I settled on engineering after taking physics class in high school and loving that, too. My interest in both subjects was roughly equal. The better financial and career prospects of engineering is what tipped the scale for me.

Hometown, family?

I’m from Sussex, Wisconsin, a town about 30 minutes west of Milwaukee. I grew up with my parents and one brother, who attends Columbia College in Chicago studying music business.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Outside of music and school/work, my biggest hobby is cycling. I race road bikes quite seriously during the summer months. I taught the beginner road cycling PE class at Michigan Tech in fall 2021. I mountain bike more casually during the spring and fall. It certainly helps that some of the best mountain biking trails in the Midwest are right here in the Keweenaw. I also occasionally like to hike, camp and explore the outdoors.

Listen

View (and hear) some recent concerts:

Superior Wind Symphony Reparations is a collection of 19 pieces of music by Black composers performed in 2021.

Superior Wind Symphony performs Centurius in February 2022

The Huskies Pep Band play their classic opener, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the theme song from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Huskies Pep Band still brought joy during lockdown. Who can forget the Virtual Fight Song video!

Read more

All That Jazz: Christianson a Member of Grammy Nominated Ensemble

Making Music

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