Category: Outreach

SWE Attends WELocal Detroit Conference 2023

Conference room with stage and tables of attendees.

Five student members of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) section at Michigan Tech and SWE advisor Gretchen Hein (MMET) attended the WELocal Detroit conference, held Saturday and Sunday (February 18–19).

The attending students were SWE President Aerith Cruz (junior, management information systems), seniors Lukas Pyryt (mechanical engineering) and Kathleen Pakenas (biomedical engineering), and second-year students Kathryn Krieger (environmental engineering) and Ella Merklein (biomedical engineering).

At the conference, Krieger and Merklein gave a presentation titled “SWE Section and Engineering Ambassadors Host K-5 Engineering Days.” Hein participated in a panel discussion titled “Journeys in Academia, The Perks and Challenges” with faculty from Kettering University.

“Attending the WELocal conference and presenting on our outreach programs was an empowering experience,” said Krieger. “It was a great opportunity to showcase the incredible work being done by our section and a reminder that by working together, we can make a meaningful impact on the next generation of engineers.”

“Being my first conference, I very much enjoyed attending the WELocal conference,” said Pyryt. “This was a chance for me to truly become an ally for SWE and learn more ways to support this organization. I am very thankful for all connections I gained at this conference, as well as new information gained in sessions helping push more to become a better engineer in the process.”

The section celebrated with the SWE-Wisconsin Professional Section the achievements of Andrea Falasco ’12 (BS mechanical engineering) who was selected as an Emerging Leader in Technology and Engineering (ELiTE). “It was great seeing my SWE friends again and meeting new ones at the conference,” said Falasco. “I am honored to be chosen for one of the New ELiTE awards and am grateful for those who nominated me. I learned a lot at the conference and hope to bring this insight back to work and home.”

The SWE section at MTU thanks our alumnae, corporate sponsors, and the College of Engineering for their support of our section and travel to conferences.

By Gretchen Hein, Advisor, Society of Women Engineers.

It’s Engineers Week 2023!

It’s Eweek 2023! Join us for some special events on campus at Michigan Tech.

We’re celebrating National Engineers Week (Feb. 19-25). Everyone’s invited to special events on campus sponsored by Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society student chapter at Michigan Tech.

Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951, Eweek is celebrated each February around the time of George Washington’s birthday, February 22, because Washington is considered by many to be the first U.S. engineer.

At Michigan Tech, the week is celebrated with special events on campus all hosted by student organizations. Everyone is welcome! Please feel free to stop by and check out Eweek events as your schedule allows:


Ever wanted to try your hand in the Michigan Tech Foundry? Make something small, come pick it up later, after it cools!

Monday, Feb. 20
Metal foundry in a box with Materials United, 1-3 PM
M&M Engineering Building U109


Do you know Michigan Tech Mind Trekkers yet? If not, you must!

Tuesday, Feb. 21
Demonstrations with Mind Trekkers, 11AM-1PM
Fisher Hall Lobby


Delicious cake from Roy’s Bakery – a great way to celebrate, relax for a while in the Engineering Fundamentals department, and add a treat to your day.


Wednesday, Feb. 22
E-Week Cake, courtesy of the Department of Engineering Fundamentals, 11AM-2PM
Dillman 112


The Tau Beta Pi “bent” is located on campus at Michigan Tech.

Thursday, Feb. 23
Tau Beta Pi Alumni Panel,
5-6PM
Dow Building, room 0642

Zoom: https://michigantech.zoom.us/j/82536199550

Panelists:

Katelyn Ramthun BME/ME) – Product Engineer at Plexus
Jennifer Larimer (ChemE) – Research Scientist at Dow
Quinn Horn (PhD MSE) – Principal Engineer at Exponent
Tim Obermann (MSEE) – Director of Power Tool Technology at Milwaukee Tool


Learn how to solder your own circuit board—with students in the Blue Marble Security Enterprise, at the team’s headquarters on campus.

Friday, Feb. 24
Circuit Boards with Blue Marble Security Enterprise, 4-6 PM
EERC Building – 0738


One important goal: to motivate youth to pursue engineering careers in order to provide a diverse and vigorous engineering workforce.

Nationwide, Eweek is a formal coalition of more than 70 engineering, education, and cultural societies, and more than 50 corporations and government agencies. This year’s theme: Creating the Future. Dedicated to raising public awareness of engineers’ positive contributions to quality of life, Eweek promotes recognition among parents, teachers, and students of the importance of a technical education and a high level of math, science, and technology literacy. One important goal: to motivate youth to pursue engineering careers in order to provide a diverse and vigorous engineering workforce.

Volunteer to Judge at Michigan Tech’s Design Expo 2023


Save the date! Design Expo will be held on campus at Michigan Tech on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, from 10 am to 2 pm.

Interested in supporting Michigan Tech students as they engage in hands-on, discovery-based learning? Volunteer to serve as a judge at Design Expo 2023.

A finger points at a small student-designed device on a table
More than 1,000 students showcase their team projects at Michigan Tech’s Design Expo, now in its 23rd year.

“We welcome judges from various professions, disciplines, and backgrounds to serve as judge,” says Briana Tucker, Enterprise Program associate director at Michigan Tech.

Now is the time to register to serve as a distinguished judge at Design Expo, coming up on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 from 10 am to 2 pm. This year the annual event will be held in person in two locations on campus at Michigan Tech: the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library, and the Memorial Union Ballroom.

Hosted by the Enterprise Program and the College of Engineering, Design Expo highlights hands-on, discovery-based learning at Michigan Tech. More than 1,000 students in Enterprise, Senior Design, and other Student Project teams will showcase their work and compete for awards.

In-person judging on the day of the event usually takes about an hour, depending on the number of volunteers.

Who should judge?

Sudents take part at design Expo while at their tables and posters.
A scene from Design Expo 2022
  • Anyone with interest in supporting our students as they engage in hands-on, discovery-based learning
  • Alumni
  • Industry representatives
  • Faculty and staff 
  • Community members

This year, prior to the event on April 18, judges will gain access to a digital gallery of student-created videos, in order to preview the videos prior to judging.

Design Expo 2023 is generously supported by industry and University sponsorship, including over 100 project and program supporters who make a strategic investment in our educational mission at Michigan Tech.

Sign up here to serve as a Distinguished Judge
at Design Expo on April 18, 2023.

Please visit Michigan Tech’s Design Expo Judges and Guests page for more information and to register to judge as soon as possible.

A judge talks to a student while other judges and students look on, at Design Expo
Volunteer judges play an important role at Michigan Tech’s Design Expo.

The Duties of a Design Expo Judge:

  1. Attend Design Expo for about an hour, sometime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 18, 2023, to visit assigned teams.
  2. Review and score assigned team videos via RocketJudge, an online platform prior to the start of Design Expo.
  3. Each judge will be assigned 3-5 teams to score throughout the judging period. 

“Whether a judge or simply a guest, your involvement in Design Expo is greatly valued by our student teams.”

Briana Tucker, The Enterprise Program

Questions? 

Feel free to contact Briana Tucker, Associate Director, Programming and Campus Engagement
The Enterprise Program at bctucker@mtu.edu

Aerial view of the Michigan Tech campus in the late spring.
Did you know that Design Expo at Michigan Tech is now in its 23rd year? Save the date: Tuesday, April 18, 2023!

Matt Jennings: Digging It—Volleyball at MTU

“Michigan Tech is a special and unique place that provides unlimited opportunity to its students, employees and the Houghton community,” says MTU Head Volleyball Coach Matt Jennings

Matt Jennings will share his knowledge on Husky Bites, a free, interactive Zoom webinar Monday, 2/13 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.

Matt Jennings

What are you doing for supper this Monday 2/13 at 6ET? Grab a bite with Dean Janet Callahan and Matt Jennings, Head Volleyball Coach at Michigan Tech. Joining in will be a former player, Jen (Jung) Lucas ’09, and a current player, Kaycee Meiners.

Women’s Volleyball first started at Tech in 1975. Jennings is the seventh Women’s Volleyball coach at MTU, having led the team over the past decade to the most wins of any previous coach. He is credited with transforming the program (In his first year as coach in 2012, the team at MTU went from a 2-25 record to a 12-19 record) but by building the team with an important emphasis on full athlete development. The team’s overall record for 2022-23 season: 20:10.

In addition to his job as coach, Jennings teaches Sports Psychology at Michigan Tech. During Husky Bites, he’ll talk about balancing academics and athletics, and what players bring forward—communication, teamwork, handling pressure, and resiliency.

Jennings earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Political Science from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 2003. He earned an MBA from St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa in 2006.

“There is no doubt that, with some sweat, sacrifice, and teamwork, the volleyball team can find success on many levels.”

Matt Jennings
Jen Lucas

Alumna Jen (Jung) Lucas ‘09 was a middle blocker on Tech’s women’s volleyball team while earning her degree in Scientific and Technical Communications at Michigan Tech. She’s now back on campus again, this time working as MTU’s assistant vice president of alumni relations.

As a volleyball player at Michigan Tech, she won the GLIAC Commissioner’s Award, presented to athletes that excel both in the classroom and on the fields of play. Lucas was chosen as Team MVP in 2006 and 2008; named the Raymond L. Smith Award Winner for Outstanding Senior Female Student-Athlete in 2009; earned All-GLIAC all four years of her career, earned All-Region and All-American accolades her senior year, and was named GLIAC North Division Volleyball Player of the Week a few times in her tenure. And she still holds a few school records (or the 2nd spot) in various blocking categories.

Kaycee Meiners is studying Biological
Sciences (Pre-Veterinary Studies) at Michigan Tech

“I’ve followed how well Matt’s led the program since he started here a little over a decade ago,” says Jung. “It’s so exciting as an alumna to see the program and current players succeed.”

In addition to some great memories and stories, during Husky Bites Coach Jennings and Jen will share what it’s like being an athlete at Michigan Tech, where the MTU volleyball program has been—and where it’s going next.

Coach Jennings, how did you first choose coaching and why volleyball? What sparked your interest?

Sports play a huge role in my family, my sister was a record setting setter at the D1 level and spent time coaching at the high school and youth club level; my grandfather played in the NFL for 8 years after his time as a lineman at Ohio State; and my mom was a three-sport athlete at Wisconsin Whitewater. She met my dad after college, while coaching and teaching at a high school outside of Chicago. Sports and coaching are in my blood!

I first started coaching in 2004 at a small college in Iowa. I had been working in Chicago in finance at the time when my college coach called me and told me about the position—head coach on the men’s varsity and women’s varsity teams, but paid like a graduate assistant. I took it, as I was becoming discouraged with my time in the finance world. I earned my MBA there while turning around the men’s team over a two-year span.  

November 5, 2022

After I earned my degree I took a shot in the contracting and finance worlds again—and was rescued by my sister’s coach at Eastern Kentucky University in 2007, where I was brought on as the first assistant. I’ve been coaching ever since.

Hometown, family?

My wife Mary and I are the proud parents of three. We came here together in 2012 from Pittsburgh and were married in Copper Harbor. Jack Henry is 5, Ellenor James is 3 (and in charge) and Connor Evan is 10 months. All three are native Yoopers!

I grew up in suburban Chicago and in the city itself. I’ve also lived in Pittsburgh, Richmond, Kentucky, the Quad Cities (Illinois & Iowa), and Orange County California. I’ve lived here in Houghton for over a decade now. My extended family is mostly based in Chicagoland, although my only sibling, Kelly, and her family live outside of Boulder, Colorado.  

What do you like to do in your spare time?

With three little ones under 5 years old, the concept of free time is relative these days. Fair to say I spend most of it loving and caring for my family. Outside of that, I love to travel, read, listen to music, and follow all things Chicago sports (besides the White Sox) and Buckeye football. I also enjoy spending time outside in the summer months in the Copper Country.

Jen and Stephen, digging living in the UP!

Jen, how did you first choose Michigan Tech? What sparked your interest?

I was part of the small percentage of my graduating class from Tech with a non-engineering degree, Scientific and Technical Communication (STC) from the Department of Humanities, but I’m forever grateful that I chose to attend and play volleyball at Michigan Tech. 

As a junior in high school, I was recruited to play collegiate volleyball by a variety of D1 and D2 programs, Tech being one of them. I knew that while volleyball was a passion of mine and was opening the door to a future I would have never had in my grasp without it, it also had an expiration date: after college, volleyball would no longer be a dominating factor in my life.  I would need to be prepared to enter the real world as a professional. 

So beyond the usual factors one considers when being recruited (what schools offered my degree of interest, and how did I fit into their volleyball program) I considered which University would set me up for the best success after graduation. Michigan Tech clearly was the top choice considering that, with its impressive rankings, job placement percentages, reputation, I also loved the community and culture on campus. At age 17  I made one of the best decisions of my life and committed to Michigan Tech. I am still thanking “younger me” for being so smart!

Jen and her folks at Christa’s poster at Michigan Tech’s Student Development Complex. Christa Jung Cooper ’09, Jen’s twin sister, serves as head women’s volleyball coach at University of New Haven, Connecticut.

Hometown, family? 

I was born in Nebraska, but spent most of my life in Minnesota. I have a twin sister (who also played volleyball with me at Michigan Tech) and we have 3 younger siblings. I met my husband, Stephen (who went to Iowa State), while living in St. Paul, Minnesota after graduation. We lived in Minneapolis for a few years and then in Salt Lake City for nearly 3 years until we moved to Houghton a year ago for my current role as Assistant Vice President of Alumni Engagement here at Michigan Tech. Though Stephen didn’t attend Michigan Tech, he has loved living in the UP.

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

No pets yet  (besides our robot vacuum we call “Richard”). Stephen and I like to stay active outdoors in all seasons whether that be hiking, biking, snow shoeing, kayaking, etc. I do hope to learn how to cross country ski one of these days as well. I enjoy watching and discussing all sports, but especially volleyball, football, and hockey. We also enjoy good food and drinks, so whenever we are traveling for work or for fun, we like to try different restaurants or local favorites.

In high school, says Kaycee, “the more I played the more I realized I wanted to take my game further and into the college level.”

Kaycee, how did you first get into volleyball? What sparked your interest?

I first got into volleyball by watching my sisters, who were in high school at the time, we would play outside as a family often and watching my sisters be successful on our high school varsity team made me want to be like them. Once I started playing though I instantly fell in love with it and never looked back, I played soccer as well when I was younger but ended up quitting to really focus on volleyball because the more I played the more I realized I wanted to take my game further and into the college level. 

Kaycee with her parents, Dan and Joan Meiners

Hometown and family?

I grew up in the town of DeForest, Wisconsin in a family of five. My parents, Joan and Dan Meiners are the biggest supporters of my volleyball career and continue to support me in everything I do. I have two older sisters who are both happily married and my biggest role models in life. My oldest sister and her husband are the parents of two little ones, a three year old and a two month old, who I absolutely love and adore. 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Outside of school and volleyball I enjoy reading, traveling and spending time with my family and friends (especially my niece and nephew!). I also enjoy volunteering at the local animal shelter and have on campus jobs that keep me busy but involved with life in Houghton! I don’t currently have a pet in Michigan with me, but back at home my family has a dog who I look forward to seeing every time I go home! 

Read more

MTU Spirit Times Two: Q&A with the Jung Twins

Shout Out: Matt Jennings, a Barrington High School alum who coaches volleyball

Coach Matt Jennings with members of the the MTU Women’s Volleyball team in November 2022.

Time to Give Back to the Pack

Paws courtesy of Echo, Dean Janet Callahan’s very own Siberian Husky. Meet Echo in the video posted further down in this blog.

Celebrate Winter Carnival 2023 from wherever you are and Give Back to the Pack on Feb. 8–10!

Your gift—big or small—will create an immediate impact on the lives of Michigan Tech students and the community.

Huskies from across the country and globe are coming together during this time-honored Michigan Tech tradition to make a difference in the lives of our 7,000+ students.

Give Back to the Pack starts at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8 as Winter Carnival recess begins on campus. It ends 48 hours later on Friday, Feb. 10. All giving will be routed through the website: giveback.mtu.edu. Gifts can be made in any amount and to any area of campus. Dozens of exciting giving challenges from departments and individuals across campus will increase the impact of gifts with dollar-for-dollar matches.

Curious to see all the giving challenges? Visit giveback.mtu.edu

In addition to making a gift, you can make a difference by spreading the word about Give Back to the Pack. Sign up to be an official ambassador for the 48-hour giving challenge, or simply tell others through your channels and help us spread the word.

Worth noting: Michigan Tech’s last giving day event was in April 2019 and raised $570,813 from 1,337 gifts.

This event celebrates what makes Tech special: our strong culture of philanthropy among alumni, faculty, staff, students and the community.

Thank you for supporting Michigan Tech. Together we can make a great impact for our University!

Go Huskies!

Play Give Back to the Pack – Days of Giving 2023 video
Preview image for Give Back to the Pack - Days of Giving 2023 video

Give Back to the Pack – Days of Giving 2023

Husky Bites Returns for Spring Semester 2023

Looking good!

Craving some brain food, but not a full meal? Join us for a Bite!

Grab some dinner with College of Engineering Dean Janet Callahan and special guests at 6 p.m. (ET) each Monday during Husky Bites, a free interactive Zoom webinar, followed by Q&A. Have some fun, learn a few things, and connect with one another as Huskies and friends.

The series features special guests—engineering professors, students, and even some Michigan Tech alumni, who each share a mini lecture, or “bite”.

The Husky Bites Spring 2023 series kicks off Monday (Jan. 23) with “Sliding into the Future of Mont Ripley,” presented by Nick Sirdenis, General Manager, Mont Ripley Ski Area. He will be joined by Dan Dalquist, ski Instructor for the Mont Ripley Ski & Snowboard School, and Josie Stalmack, student president of the Mont Ripley Ski patrol. We’ll hear about some new features at Mont Ripley currently in the planning stage, plus one now in the works. 

“Grab some supper, or just flop down on your couch. Everyone is welcome!”

Dean Janet Callahan

Additional topics and speakers coming up this spring semester include Making Skis (Jeffrey Thompson ‘12); Winter Carnival Geospatial Imagery (Joe Foster); Digging it—Volleyball at MTU (Matt Jennings); Solar Energy in Cold Climates (Ana Dyreson); Money Matters and MTU’s Applied Portfolio Management Program (Dean Johnson); Enterprise—Consumer Products Manufacturing (Tony Rogers); Bio-inspired Designs (Bruce Lee); the A.E. Seaman Museum—120 Years (John Jaszczak); and Birdwatching—Quality of Life (David Flaspohler). 

“We created Husky Bites for anyone who likes to learn, across the universe,” says Dean Callahan. “We aim to make it very interactive, with a ‘quiz’ (in Zoom that’s a multiple choice poll), about every 5-10 minutes. You’re bound to learn something new. We have prizes, too, for attendance.” 

You can also catch Husky Bites each Monday night at 6 pm ET via livestream on our College of Engineering Facebook page.

Get the full scoop and register! Check out recordings of all past sessions, too.

Heard on Husky Bites…

The desire to explore space is what drives me. Very early in my studies I realized that the biggest impediment to space exploration is propulsion. Space is just so big it’s hard to get anywhere. So I dedicated my professional life to developing new space propulsion technologies. There is other life in our solar system. That is a declarative statement. It’s time that we find it. The moons of Jupiter and Saturn hold great promise and I’m determined to see proof in my lifetime.

Prof. Brad King, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Ever since grade school, I planned on being an engineer. At first, I wanted to work at mission control at NASA. Later, I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. My mom and sister are nurses, and while I didn’t want to be a medical doctor, making medicines really intrigued me. Now as an engineer I can still make a difference without working directly with patients. I grew up in Pinconning, Michigan. My dad dropped out of school in 8th grade to help on the family farm. My parents instilled in me the importance of education and pushed me to get a bachelor’s degree. They were a little surprised when I took it so far as to get a doctorate degree.

Prof. Caryn Heldt, Chemical Engineering

Growing up I loved looking at a beautiful image of planet Earth, one with a very clear sky and blue water. However, as I began to learn how life on Earth suffers many difficult environmental problems, including air pollution and water contamination, I also learned that environmental engineers can be leaders who help solve the Earth’s most difficult sustainability problems. That is when I decided to become an engineer. The water quality and treatment classes I took were the toughest subjects for me. I had to work the hardest to understand the content. So, naturally, I decided to enter this discipline. And then, there’s our blue planet, the image. Water makes the Earth look blue from space. 

Prof. Daisuke Minakata, Civil and Environmental Engineering

I was born and raised in the City of Detroit. I went to Detroit Public Schools, and when I went to college I had to work to make ends meet. I got a job as a cook in the dorm, and eventually worked my way up to lead cook. I was cooking breakfast for 1,200 people each morning. One of my fellow classmates was studying engineering, too. He had a job working for a professor doing research on storm waves and beaches. I had no idea I could be hired by a professor and get paid money to work on the beach! I quit my job in the kitchen soon after, and went to work for that professor instead. My advice for students just starting out is to spend your first year exploring all your options. Find out what you really want to do. I had no idea I could turn a mechanical engineering degree into a job working on the beach. Turns out, I could⁠—and I’m still doing it today.

Prof. Guy Meadows, Mechanical Engineering, Great Lakes Research Center

I first became interested in engineering in high school when I learned it was a way to combine math and science to solve problems. However, I didn’t understand at the time what that really meant. I thought “problems” meant the types of problems you solve in math class. Since then I’ve learned these problems are major issues that are faced by all of humanity. As a chemical engineer I am able to combine my love of biology, chemistry, physics, and math to create fresh new solutions to society’s problems. One thing I love about MTU is that the university gives students tons of hands-on opportunities to solve real problems, not just problems out of a textbook. These are the types of problems our students will be solving when they go on to their future careers.

Prof. Rebecca Ong, Chemical Engineering

My Dad ran a turn-key industrial automation and robotics business throughout most of my childhood. In fact, I got my first job at age 12 when I was sequestered at home with strep throat. I felt fine, but couldn’t go to school. My Dad put me to work writing programs for what I know now are Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs); the ‘brains’ of most industrial automation systems. By the time I was in high school I was teaching classes at the local library on computer building, repair, and this other new thing called ‘The Internet’. A career in STEM was a certainty. I ended up in engineering because I like to build things (even if only on a computer) and I like to solve problems (generally with computers and math). 

Prof. Jeremy Bos, Electrical and Computer Engineering

The factors that got me interesting engineering revolved around my hobbies. First it was through BMX bikes and the changes I noticed in riding frames made from aluminum rather than steel. Next it was rock climbing, and realizing that the hardware had to be tailor made and selected to accommodate the type of rock or the type or feature within the rock. Here’s a few examples: Brass is the optimal choice for crack systems with small quartz crystals. Steel is the better choice for smoothly tapered constrictions. Steel pins need sufficient ductility to take on the physical shape of a seam or crack. Aluminum cam lobes need to be sufficiently soft to “bite” the rock, but robust enough to survive repeated impact loads. Then of course there is the rope—what an interesting marvel—the rope has to be capable of dissipating the energy of a fall so the shock isn’t transferred to the climber. Clearly, there is a lot of interesting materials science and engineering going on!

Prof. Erik Herbert, Materials Science and Engineering

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

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.

Read more

To the Moon—and Beyond

Watch

Mine Video for Michigan Tech 2022 Design Expo

SWE Students and Alumnae Host Girl Scouts Events

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.

Bill Rose: Forged in Fire, Sculpted by Ice—Keweenaw Geostories

Erika Vye and Bill Rose on the shore of Agate Harbor, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Prof. Bill Rose has been studying Central American volcanoes for almost six decades.

Research Professor Bill Rose, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences at Michigan Tech, shared his knowledge on Husky Bites, a free, interactive Zoom webinar on Monday, 11/21. Check out the Zoom recording and register for future sessions at mtu.edu/huskybites.

Everyone loves a great geoheritage stories (geostories for short)—and Prof. Bill Rose has many of them. Joining in, colleague, friend and former student, Erika Vye, Geosciences Research Scientist at Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center.

Together they co-created Keweenaw Geoheritage, an organization that focuses on education and opportunities for sustainable tourism based on significant geologic features and our relationship with them.

Erika Vye works at the Great Lakes Research Center (“and she is GREAT,” says Prof. Bill Rose.)

During Husky Bites, Rose and Vye will share the geostory about Le Roche Vert (the green rock). It’s the legend of a turquoise vein of rock that projected from the shoreline at Copper Harbor into Lake Superior, making for a spectacular site. It was located near the current site of the Copper Harbor Lighthouse, where travelers rounded the Keweenaw on their way westward. Known by Native Americans for centuries, the green rock was widely exaggerated and extolled by certain Voyageurs, who were French Canadian trappers and violent wild explorers. This led to the fame of copper and the public awareness of the possible riches of the Keweenaw, Isle Royale and Lake Superior.

They will also share a geostory about one theory concerning the Keweenaw Fault—the result of an important discussion and argument by geologists, done when geology was a very young science, full of uncertainty (it still is!). And they’ll tell the geostory of Billy Royal, Ed Hulbert and the wild boar—and how they found the C & H Conglomerate in 1868.

An underground concert at Delaware Mine that Bill Rose and Erika Vye organized as a geoheritage event.
“The best geoscientists have seen the most rocks,” he says. He started the Bill Rose Geoscience Student Travel Fund with $100K of his own hard-earned cash.

Vye is dedicated to developing sustainable economic opportunities and enriched relationships with the natural environment through formal and informal place-based education. “The emphasis is on broadening Earth science and Great Lakes literacy through interdisciplinary research and learning, community partnerships, and traditional knowledge,” notes Vye.

“Erika is my friend and she heads up geoheritage awareness efforts. She works with teachers, and is linked with Native Americans, environmentally-relevant groups. She works at the Great Lakes Research Center—she is GREAT,” says Rose.

“Bill is a great friend, mentor, and like family to me,” says Vye.

The two met many years ago at a conference when Vye was working in Munich, Germany. “I’d heard great things about the work he was doing here at Michigan Tech related to natural hazards, Earth science education, and social geology,” she says. “After meeting and learning more, I moved to Houghton a few years later to pursue my PhD with Bill (as his last PhD student!). We have since worked together on advancing geoheritage at the local, regional, and national scale.

“We are all connected by our relationships with geology.”

Erika Vye

“I have buckets of gratitude to work so closely with Bill on this beautiful work that we hope helps our community to thrive.”


“Life on the Keweenaw shore—come and visit paradise.”

Bill Rose

Prof. Rose, how did you first get into engineering?

I am not an engineer. I never got into it. When I arrived in Houghton as a young professor. I had a dual major in geography and geology, but the chance to work as a faculty member in an engineering department sounded good to me. It gave me a chance to go outside, working hands-on in the field, rather than being stuck in the lab. I chaired that engineering department for over eight years.

Prof. Bill Rose and his kin at a recent family feast!

Hometown, family?

Corrales, New Mexico. I have  two sons, five grandchildren. One son is a math teacher, the other a geoenvironmental engineer.

The incredible view from Bill and Nanno Rose’s deck overlooking Lake Superior and the north half of Silver Island.

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

I have dozens of hobbies, but no pets. As a retired faculty my favorite pastime is no meetings, no deadlines, just creative communications and being outdoors.

“I love being outside,” says Dr. Erika Vye.

Dr. Vye, how did you first get into geology? What sparked your interest?

I started my undergraduate studies at Dalhousie University in the theater department. I needed a science elective and fell into geology; I was hooked and switched majors. I am fascinated by the ways rocks and landscapes share stories about Earth’s history, providing us a window to learn about deep time and how our geologic underpinnings are the foundation for our sense of place, our identity. We are all connected by our relationships with geology.

Learning about Lake Superior and geology on the Inland Seas schooner tour.

Hometown, family?

I grew up on the east coast of Canada, just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia—I’ve moved from one beautiful peninsula to another! My parents still live there, and I have a brother, niece and nephew that live in New York City. I now live in Copper Harbor with my partner Steve; a small town of 100 folks in the winter is very much another beautiful family I am grateful to be a part of.

Water Walkers walking to Copper Harbor from Sand Point lighthouse

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

I love gardening, trail running, and am working toward my 200-hour yoga certification to deepen the practice for myself. I am honored to participate in local Water Walks held annually in our community. This Anishinaabe water ceremony is generously shared with our community by KBIC Water Protectors to raise awareness about the importance of water and the need for protection and healing of our water relationships.

Geostory Videos

Read More

Sniffing Volcanoes from Space

EARTH Magazine book review: “How the Rock Connects Us” shares copper country geoheritage

Forged in Stone and Fire

GLRC Summer and Fall 2022 Student Awards

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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