Students Archives | Page 22 of 24 | College of Engineering Blog

Geology Field Trip and Tours for Brimley Area Students

Published October 10, 2017

Copper Harbor Ted Bornhorst, executive director and professor, A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum and Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach, hosted a second group of students from Brimley Area Schools Sept. 20 to 22, 2017. Last year a similar special field trip organized by Bornhorst with Brimley teacher Mary-Beth Andrews was so successful that the Brimley school board funded a return visit. The student interest was twice as great this year with 45 eigth graders and 15 ninth and tenth graders participating, as compared to a total of 30 students last year.

The three-day field trip included an all-day geology field trip in the Copper Harbor/Eagle River area led by Bornhorst. In the evening, the group took a guided boat trip on the Isle Royal Queen, located in Copper Harbor, funded by the GM Ride the Waves program. Erika Vye, geoheritage specialist with the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach, was the tour guide on the boat. On campus, the group visited the mineral museum, did STEM tours/activities including presentations by Mark Rudnicki (SFRES) and Parisi Abadi (MEEM). The high school students did an exploration aboard the Agassiz led by environmental engineering students Aubrey Ficek and Marr Langlais. As part of their Keweenaw experience, the Brimley students did an underground tour of the Quincy Mine and took a visit to Keweenaw Gem and Gifts foundry.

By A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum.

Incoming Engineering Students Interviewed

Published August 31, 2017

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Michigan Tech welcomed more than 1,400 freshmen Sunday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Students chose Michigan Tech for a number of reasons, some for academics.

I heard it’s a really good engineering school. I was in Gross Point Robotics for four years and it kind of instilled in me that engineer spirit. Freshman Chemical Engineering Major Benjamin Syznowski

Some for the opportunities Michigan Tech offers off campus.

I like the area, I don’t know, it’s a really nice place, just kind of suited me I guess. Just kind of getting out and exploring, learning new things, meeting new people. Freshman Computer Engineering Major Tyler Arthur

Michigan Tech welcomes newest huskies

Hundreds of new students met on Walker Lawn this evening to become acquainted with Michigan Tech traditions. Some of the activities were broomball and making boats and statues.

eCYBERMISSION Team Thanks Michigan Tech for Support

Published June 29, 2017

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eCYBERMISSION Winners 2017 — The Whiz Kids stand with Army personnel to accept the winner’s trophy for 2017.

BREAKING NEWS—WE WIN!!!

The Whiz Kids presented their work at the eCYBERMISSION National Competition on Thursday, June 29, 2017, and learned that they had won the 8th grade competition on Friday, June 30.

Lake Linden-Hubbell “Whiz Kids” Win National Competition

Three eighth grade students at Lake Linden-Hubbell Middle School not only won a national championship, but may have helped create a solution to a local issue.

Although winning was great, Whiz Kid Gabe Poirier said that wasn’t the only benefit of completing the project.

“I think that one of the greatest parts was the realization that people like us that live in such a small area can do something bigger to benefit a lot of people,” said Whiz Kid Gabe Poirier.

Advisor Gretchen Hein said the trio plans to continue their work with stamp sands next year.

The Whiz Kids (Siona Beaudoin, Beau Hakala and Gabriel Poirier), an 8th grade eCYBERMISSION Team from Lake Linden-Hubbell High School greatly appreciated the support they received from Michigan Tech over the past year.

From October through June, they were advised by Gretchen Hein (CoE), faculty in engineering fundamentals, and Ryan Knoll, fourth-year chemical engineering student.

eCYBERMISSION is sponsored by the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) and is for sixth through ninth grade teams. This is our second year participating in this competition.

This year we competed at nationals, whereas last year we made it to regionals. Since we made it to the national level, we went to Washington D.C. this week.

As part of the week-long activities, we participated in STEM workshops, visited the National Inventors Hall of Fame, went on a tour of the Capitol building, participated in activities with the Army and presented our project for judging purposes.

From 1:30-4 p.m. today (June 29, 2017), you can vote for our team to receive the People’s Choice Award. The link to vote is here. You can also view our presentation, along with the other teams and the Awards Luncheon here. We’d like to win this award for our school and community.

eCYBERMISSION’s goal is for student teams to research and develop a process that will benefit their community. Because we live in the Copper Country, we wanted to focus on something related to that industry. Our elementary school, playground and football field were constructed on top of stamp sands which are materials that are left over from stamping the copper out of the mine rock. Also, many of our grandparents worked in the area mines. When we went to areas containing stamp sands, we noticed that few plants were growing on them. Then we visited places where the stamp sands had been remediated by placing 6″ – 12″ topsoil on top of the stamp sands and then planting various plants.

We wanted to see how plants would grow in different mixtures of stamp sand and topsoil, and how soil stressors would affect that growth. To test this, we completed two experiment.

For our first experiment, we planted four types of plants (Red Fescue, Red Clover, Alfalfa, and Trefoil) in five different quantities of stamp sand and topsoil. Our results showed that Alfalfa and Red Fescue had adequate plant growth in 100% stamp sand, with Red Fescue being the best.

In our second experiment, we tested different stressors with the plant types selected from the first experiment, which were Fescue and Alfalfa. These plants proved to grow the best in 100 percent stamp sand. The stressors were wind, wheel tracks,l and high water table.

Participating in eCYBERMISSION the past two years has been an enjoyable learning experience for us, and we will be able to apply what we have learned in our future endeavors. We were recently interviewed on the Keweenaw Report that can be read here.

When we competed at the regional competition, we came to Michigan Tech where Jeff Toorongian from the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning set up and ensured our virtual presentation worked with the eCYBERMISSION software.

When we made it to the national competition, we learned that only one adviser would be funded to travel with us. We were so happy when Chemical Engineering, Engineering Fundamentals and the Parent Fund supported Ryan’s travel. Ryan makes our team better. He has spent the school year and his summer working with us. He came to the regional competition even though it was his finals week.

In addition to funding Ryan’s travel, Engineering Fundamentals and the College of Engineering supported the poster printing costs. If they had not, our display would have just been print-outs. Instead, we learned how to make a Powerpoint poster and they funded the printing.

We are very thankful that the Parent Fund, Chemical Engineering, Engineering Fundamentals and the College of Engineering supported our project and helped to make us a successful team.

By Gretchen Hein.

Students Needed for AutoDrive Design Job

Published June 28, 2017

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The Electrical, Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Departments will hold a community forum at 5 p.m. this Thursday (June 29, 2017) in EERC 100 concerning the AutoDrive Autonomous Vehicle competition.

Michigan Tech is one of eight schools selected to participate in this three year competition. In this forum, we will discuss the high level details concerning the first year of the competition and ways the greater campus community can get involved.

The competition team is also currently looking for motivated students with engineering and software design experience to assist the team on critical design activities during the month of July. Several paid positions are available to exceptionally well-qualified students.

By Jeremy Bos.

Nineteen Inducted into Tau Beta Pi Honor Society

Published April 24, 2017

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Tau Beta Pi 2017 — Spring 2017 Michigan Beta – Tau Beta Pi Initiates

The College of Engineering inducted nineteen students into the Michigan Tech Michigan Beta chapter of The College of Engineering inducted nineteen students into the Michigan Tech Michigan Beta chapter of Tau Beta Pi this past last week.

Tau Beta Pi is a nationally recognized engineering honor society, and is the only one that recognizes the engineering profession. Students who join are the top 1/8th of their junior class or top 1/5th of their senior class. The society celebrates those who have distinguished scholarship and exemplary character and members strive to maintain integrity and excellence in engineering.

Spring 2017 Michigan Beta – Tau Beta Pi Initiates:

David Adamovicz – Mechanical Engineering
Adam Augustyniak – Mechanical Engineering
Ryan Beering – Geological Engineering
Kristen Bull – Materials Science and Engineering
Raymond Coyle – Mechanical Engineering
Zachary Garavet – Computer Engineering
Phoebe Glazko – Civil Engineering
Hunter Gulbranson – Chemical Engineering
Benjamin Hubbard – Mechanical Engineering
Rebecca Phipps – Chemical Engineering
Jacob Richards – Mechanical Engineering
Chelsey Rock – Materials Science and Engineering
Lucas Simonson – Electrical Engineering
Riley Stroven – Mechanical Engineering
Victoria Swanson – Civil Engineering
Michael vonKronenberger – Electrical Engineering
Sarah Wade – Computer Engineering
Kayla Wielgus – Civil Engineering
Tyler Wittmann – Environmental Engineering

Michigan Tech Biomedical Engineers take 2nd place at Stryker Engineering Challenge

Published April 18, 2017

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BME Team Robot — Congratulations to Zac, Peter, Ana-Lisia, and Sterling: the first all-BME team from Michigan Tech to compete at the 7th Annual Stryker Engineering Challenge; and the first Michigan Tech team ever to take 2nd place.

A team of biomedical engineering undergraduates from Michigan Technological University earned 2nd place at the 7th Annual Stryker Engineering Challenge competition in Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 30th and 31st.

Each year Stryker invites engineering student teams to its global headquarters to show off their engineering prowess while competing against 6 rival schools. During an overnight competition, they spent 14 hours planning, designing, prototyping and testing to prepare for a challenge created by Stryker engineers. This year’s challenge consisted of a superhero theme where each team had to design and construct a “semi-autonomous super-vehicle” using a robotics kit and other miscellaneous components.

Ana-Lisia Powdhar, Zachary Vanderstelt, Peter Beach, and Sterling Korstadt made up the Michigan Tech team. Associate Professor Keat Ghee Ong traveled with them and served as mentor. They competed against teams of mechanical and electrical engineering students from Purdue University, Notre Dame, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, and the Michigan Engineering Alliance (a combined team from Andrews University and Hope College). The team from Purdue took first place.

“It was the first time that biomedical engineering students from Michigan Tech have competed in the Stryker challenge,” says BME department chair, Sean Kirkpatrick. “Students have competed in the past, but this is the first time a Michigan Tech team has earned 2nd place. It demonstrates the way we approach biomedical engineering education at Michigan Tech—we focus first and foremost on rigorous engineering skills.”

The competition was comprised of three parts: Tech Challenges, a series of rapid-fire Jeopardy-style questions, with points going to the fastest correct answer among the teams. Then came “homework” given to the teams to do on their own time—various word problems pertaining to engineering, computer science, and design team dynamics. And finally, the main challenge: to design, build and test a robot able to complete a variety of specific tasks on Stryker’s challenge course. These tasks— all aimed towards collecting LEGO action figures to earn points in the competition—ranged from activating a magnetic sensor at a specific frequency to completing a circuit using components on the robot.

The teams were given 12 hours to construct their robots. “We worked hard from 8 pm to 2 am, and again the next day from 6 am to noon,” says BME student Peter Beach.

“We had a list of tasks that needed to be accomplished and no base to start from,” adds Ana-Lisia Powdhar. “Everything was built from scratch. Due to time constraints, we built our thoughts instead of writing it out first. The Stryker engineers helped us find flaws and we kept improving what we were doing.

“Sterling was constantly messing with the drive train design. Zac seemed to be downloading a new code every 10 minutes. And Peter and I never stopped working on the robot arm. Even after the challenge, we were all talking about what we would have done differently if we’d had the time.”

“The best part was having a functioning robot at the end of two stressful days,” adds Zac Vanderstelt. “We managed not only to effectively compete, but to also place second ahead of all of the Universities I grew up hearing about like Western Michigan, U of M, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Michigan College Alliances.”

Simplicity was the key to their success. “We learned it was better to think of a viable solution and go for it instead of debating every step of the way,” says Vandersteldt.

Sterling Korstadt agrees. “The most challenging part of the experience was trying to make sure to keep the design simple and not overthink the situation.”

Korstadt says he would consider Stryker as a possible career choice. “They are on the cutting edge of medical device development, and truly care about helping other people. Stryker also emphasizes team work and collaboration, something I believe is essential to developing a successful product.”

Powdhar’s take away from the experience: “I learned to just try it. If it fails, figure out why, fix it or try something else. Ask ALL the questions no matter how dumb they sound. And don’t give up, as cliche as that sounds. We were vigilant and determined,” she says.

“And I’d like to add that Dr. Ong was great. We were very happy that he was with us and we would do it again with him if we could.”

Stryker Corporation, active in over 100 countries, is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, offering products and services to help improve patient and hospital outcomes.

BME Robot — Michigan Tech’s 2nd place robot at the 7th Annual Stryker Engineering Challenge

BME Team — L to R: Michigan Tech’s all-BME team: Sterling Korstad, Peter Beach, Ana-Lisia Powdhar, advisor Keat Ghee Ong, and Zachary Vanderstelt

BME Stryker Second Place — The points board at the 7th Annual Stryker Engineering Challenge. Michigan Tech was proud to earn 2nd place.

BME Stryker Engineering Challenge — Testing the robot at the 7th Annual Stryker Engineering Challenge

Styker Engineering Challenge 2017 — Teams competing at the 7th Annual Stryker Engineering Challenge

Three Engineering Students Awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellows

Published April 12, 2017

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Three students from Michigan Tech have received fellowships from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP), one of the oldest and most competitive programs in the nation. In addition, three students received Honorable Mention, in the prestigious program.

Rebekka Guyon, Mary Kate Mitchell and Roger Guillory II were named GRFP Fellows. Violet Thole, materials research, Kelci Mohrman, physics, and Breeanne Spalding, biomedical engineering, received honorable mention.

Mitchell is an undergraduate chemical engineering major from Plymouth, Michigan who will graduate this spring. Her research focuses on the water-energy nexus, specifically developing more energy efficient methods to remove boron during seawater desalination.

“Current reverse osmosis methods are energy intensive so it is valuable to explore alternative options,” says Mitchell who is appreciative of the prestigious distinction. “I am very grateful to receive this fellowship and want to thank my many mentors I’ve had, throughout my career in industry as well as Michigan Tech.” She says the GRFP will be an invaluable asset to her graduate school career.

Guillory is a biomedical engineering major from Houston, Texas, whose research focuses on evaluating degradable metals (zinc based) for cardiovascular-stent applications. He says the GRFP award is a validation of sorts for the research conducted at Michigan Tech.

“This fellowship proves to me that the work we do here in our labs, and at Michigan Tech have a considerable impact outside of our University and respective disciplines.”

Guyon is a geological engineering major from Detroit. Her research is focused on reducing dust emissions from mine tailings by utilizing bacteria already present within the tailings. Dust emissions impact human health, especially among the Native population where research indicates these dustings have doubled the risk of lung cancer and cause higher incidences of respiratory disease.

“I feel fortunate to receive this prestigious honor,” Guyon says. “Additionally, this is a significant recognition of the mentors, faculty and students that I have worked with over the past few years. Michigan Tech has a very strong intellectual community, so I’m fortunate to conduct my research here.”

Pushpalatha Murthy, dean of Michigan Tech’s Graduate School says, “Being a recipient of the Graduate Research Fellowship or Honorable Mention status in this very prestigious competition speaks to the high caliber of our students and the dedication they have for both intellectual pursuits and serving society. The NSF-GRFP is unique in that it emphasizes commitment to both intellectual inquiry and service to society and are looking to support individuals who have the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers as well as have a broader impact on society. These awards are a well-deserved recognition of the superior accomplishments of our students and the quality and dedication of Michigan Tech faculty, staff and programs. Crafting a winning proposal is a lot of effort and I want to congratulate the students for their accomplishments and thank the dedication and passion of the faculty and staff who helped them. I look forward to great contributions for our students.”

THE NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.

By Mark Wilcox.

Tech Enterprise Wins ASME Award for Advances in Mechanical Engineering Education

Published April 5, 2017

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The Michigan Tech Enterprise Program has been selected to receive the Donald N. Zweip Innovation in Education Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

The award recognizes mechanical engineering/engineering technology and closely related programs/departments for exceptional and innovative engagement in and fostering advances in mechanical engineering education, particularly those who have demonstrated exemplary contributions to the advancement of mechanical and multi-disciplinary project-based engineering education.

Donald N. Zwiep, a pioneer and champion of project based learning in mechanical engineering, showed the value of real-world projects and collaborative learning as an exceptional pedagogy. A long-serving mechanical engineering department head at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a dedicated ASME member and past president, he was uniquely positioned to strengthen the bonds between the Society and the engineering departments through outcomes based accreditation, project based learning, and engagement of both students and faculty in their professional society.

Michigan Tech’s Enterprise Program will receive their award during the Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. The ceremonies are part of the ASME Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit, April 18-19 in Washington, DC.

The award includes a $2,000 Honorarium and Certificate to the program and travel support to the conference.

The Enterprise Program will give a 10-15 minute presentation during the awards luncheon.

Engineering Graduate Students Excel at ACS 2017 Student Research Symposium

Published March 29, 2017

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Ameya Narkar received first prize for his poster presentation at the 2017 Upper Peninsula American Chemical Society Student Research Symposium, which was held Saturday, March 25, 2017, in Marquette.

The title of the poster was “Effect of Addition of Acrylic Acid (AAc) on the Wet Adhesion Properties of Mussel-inspired Hydrogels at Multiple pH Values.” Narkar is a PhD student working in the research lab of Bruce Lee.

Muxue Zhang, a graduate student in environmental engineering, was awarded third place at the symposium.

Zhang, a second-year master’s student, presented on her thesis work about predicting the reverse osmosis (RO) rejection of toxicologically relevant organics for direct potable reuse application in wastewater reclamation processes.

She works with Daisuke Minakata (CEE). Her work is part of a funded water reuse project looking at the intrinsic interactions between a wide variety of organics and RO membrane using computational chemistry tools.

The purpose of the event is to provide a venue for students to present their research in chemistry, chemical engineering and related fields. This symposium is an excellent opportunity for students, faculty and the community at large to learn about the interesting research being conducted in the UP. It was hosted by the ACS Upper Peninsula Local Section on the campus of Northern Michigan University.

Gerdau Steel Tour 2017

Published March 29, 2017

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Steel Twenty-two Michigan Tech students returned from a three-day, all-expense-paid tour of Gerdau’s Long Steel North America facility in St. Paul, Minnesota yesterday. The trip was hosted by Career Services and made possible through a grant from the Association for Iron and Steel and Gerdau, a Michigan Tech corporate partner.

Gerdau is a leading supplier of long steel worldwide and the world’s largest automotive industry supplier. From process engineers to quality managers, Gerdau has a strong tradition of hiring Michigan Tech students for internships and full-time employment.

During the tour, students took a firsthand look at the steelmaking process and networked with Gerdau plant leadership and Michigan Tech alumni. Stacey Donnelly, experiential education and career development assistant in Career Services, accompanied the students on their trip.

Jessica Geroux, a mechanical engineering student, said,

The St. Paul Gerdau Mill graciously hosted us, sharing professional and personal insight from a panel of esteemed Tech alumni, while granting us an inside glimpse into the steel industry through an intensive, educational tour of the mill.

Story by Career Services.

Category: Students

Michigan Tech welcomes newest huskies

BREAKING NEWS—WE WIN!!!

Lake Linden-Hubbell “Whiz Kids” Win National Competition

Spring 2017 Michigan Beta – Tau Beta Pi Initiates: