Students Archives | Page 23 of 23 | College of Engineering Blog

After School Science and Engineering Classes for Grades 1-8

Published January 11, 2017

There will be six sessions of after school science and engineering classes for grades 1-8 from Jan. 23 to March 3, 2017. The sessions will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Room 104 of the Great Lakes Research Center.

These sessions offer hands-on explorations taught by Michigan Tech science and engineering students.

Class Offerings:

Gr. 1-2 Transportation and Engineering: Mondays

Students will design candy cars, a bridge to hold the most weight, a boat that floats, a brain helmet that survives a crash, planes, trains and more.

Gr. 3-5 Geology Playgrounds: Wednesdays

Beaches, waterfalls, lakes, sledding hills — discover how some of these favorite places to play were formed. Each week, we will explore different geologic activities which have created cool features and shaped our home — the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Gr. 6-8 Fascinating Plants: Thursday

Explore the amazing world of plants — visit a research greenhouse, conduct experiments on effects of road salt and acid rain, design a water treatment system using plants, try to make sugar like a plant, meet a botanist and find out how forest plant materials can replace plastics and provide medicine and food.

Cost is $75 per student. Register by Friday, Jan. 20. Pay by credit card by calling the Michigan Tech Cashier at 7-2247. Your space is not reserved until payment has been received.

Click on 2017 Winter MTU After School Classes January 23 – March 2 or wupcenter to register online.

Questions? Call 7-3341 or email Joan Chadde.

Note: Houghton school bus will drop off students at Michigan Tech by 3:50 p.m.

Coordinated by Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach.

Design Expo 2017 Registration Now Open

Published November 28, 2016

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Design Expo 2017 will be held in the MUB Ballroom on Thursday, April 13th. Save the date.

Design Expo highlights hands-on, discovery-based learning at Michigan Tech. More than 600 students on Enterprise and Senior Design teams showcase their work and compete for awards.

A panel of judges, made up of distinguished corporate representatives and Michigan Tech staff and faculty members, critique the projects. Many team projects are sponsored by industry, which allows students to gain valuable experience through competition, as well as direct exposure to real industrial problems. Design Expo is co-hosted by the College of Engineering and the Pavlis Honors College.

Registration is now open for Senior Design and Enterprise teams. Visit the Design Expo website to register before the deadline, Monday, Feb. 6.

We need faculty, staff, and professionals to serve as distinguished Design Expo judges. Interested? Register to be a judge or RSVP to let us know you’re coming.

By the College of Engineering and Pavlis Honors College.

IRES Denmark: Summer 2017 Research Opportunities for Students

Published November 22, 2016

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International Research Experience for Students (IRES)
Biosensor Development, Summer 2017

Aarhus University in Denmark and Michigan Technological University offer summer research opportunities in Denmark from May to July 2017.

Explore sensor development and biomarker discovery to improve detection of cancer, malaria, and more with this international research opportunity.

Students in all years are welcome to apply, however, research experience is desirable for applicants. Desired majors include chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, chemistry, biology, and biochemistry. Four undergraduate and one graduate student will be accepted into the program. Applications are due by February 17, 2017.

The program will last for a total of 8 weeks, beginning in May and ending in July. This includes a 1 week orientation at Michigan Tech. A $4500 stipend will be provided, along with housing and travel.

LEARN MORE.

Three Students named University Innovation Fellows

Published November 22, 2016

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Three Michigan Tech students are among 169 students from 49 higher education institutions worldwide to be named University Innovation Fellows.

The three Tech students are Rachel Kolb, Kyle Ludwig, and Adam Weber.

The University Innovation Fellows program empowers students to become agents of change at their schools. Fellows work to ensure that their peers gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to compete in the economy of the future and make a positive impact on the world. To accomplish this, the Fellows advocate for lasting institutional change and create opportunities for students to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity at their schools.

Fellows design innovation spaces, start entrepreneurship organizations, host experiential learning events and work with faculty to develop new courses.

Kolb says she is excited to be named a University Fellow as well.

It’s such a unique opportunity through which I can help induce change on the Michigan Tech Campus—something I now recognize as an important part of our success as an educational institution.

The third-year mechanical engineering major from Alma, Michigan described the process of becoming a University Innovation Fellow.

Michigan Tech Students to Compete in the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition

The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is one of the largest business competitions in the country celebrating its seventh year highlighting the best and brightest early-stage business to regional investors. The competition continues to showcase the state as a powerhouse for business opportunity and the next generation of technology.

Out of the 27 semi-finalists that were selected to compete for up to $20,000 in cash prizes, two of the teams were from Michigan Tech and both have ties to the Pavlis Honors College. Kyle Ludwig, a University Innovation Fellow and PHC Custom Pathway student, is a member of the team of student founders for Tru, which is developing tools to enable healthy meal planning.

Tech Students Named University Innovation Fellows

Congratulations to Rachel Kolb, Kyle Ludwig, and Adam Weber who have been named University Innovation Fellows (UIF) by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). This global program trains student leaders to create new opportunities for their peers to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity.

Rachel, Kyle and Adam were sponsored by Pavlis Honors College Assistant Dean, Mary Raber. The Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship will fund the Fellows’ six week online training along with their travel to the annual University Innovation Fellows Silicon Valley Meetup in March of 2017.

Experiencing WE16 (SWE’s Annual Conference)

Published November 3, 2016

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Participants respond to their experiences with WE16, the world’s largest conference and career fair for women in engineering and technology. The event took place October 27-20, 2016, in Philadelphia. Learn more about Michigan Tech’s involvement in the conference.

Mackenzie Brunet

Mechanical Engineering Major

The conference was a great way for me to experience what it is truly like to be a woman in engineering. Some of the sessions I went to really spoke to me in a way I hadn’t thought they were going to, but am very glad they did. It was neat to see that there are so many women out there who have the same drive and passion as I do. Overall I couldn’t be more appreciative of the experience I was given.

Hannah Cunningham

The greatest take away I got from conference was that I don’t have to have everything figured out now. Sure, I should have a loose idea of what I would like to accomplish in life, but I have no idea the opportunities that will be thrown my way years from now that will shape me and my choices. This conference reinforced my conviction to be open to new experiences in my professional and collegiate development.

Jessica Geroux

National conference is a wonderful experience that helps to not only inspire its attendees, but motivates them to change the world. Attendees get to meet women who have taken the world by storm, promoting women in engineering and women’s rights. This conference allowed me to not only meet my new role models, but also learn more about myself and my fellow Huskies who attended conference. I look forward to sharing the knowledge and skills gained from conference with our local section and attending WE17 in Austin, Texas next year.

Carly Gloudemans

There was one session that really stuck out to me..it was called something along the lines of ‘Women in Comics’ and it focused on how women’s roles in the comic industry are changing from eye candy to the hero, as well as more involvement and actual drawing of the comics in the offices/real-world side of things. One speaker was a mid-30s aged woman who originally got her degree in accounting and felt lost when she got to an age where she thought it was time to “enter the real world” and give up her comics. To adjust to this, she opened up her own comic store which doubles as a hang out spot for people to read the comics. The store features comic books with women in leading roles and also comics made by women. Her comic shop is also the meeting location for different groups (knitting, ukalele, etc.) in order to make it more laid back and seem like home to various types of people. The take away from her speech was that a lot of time, people (especially women in engineering) might feel uncomfortable trying to assume a role/career that might make them feel different than themselves. If you ever find yourself not fitting in or feeling uncomfortable, create that space for yourself where you DO fit in. Not everyone is going to fit into this cookie-cutter world of adult professionals and that’s okay, just find a place where you do “fit in” and can be yourself, like her comic shop, and also don’t lose who you are along the way of finding that comfortable place.

Stephanie Peterson

Collegiate Leadership Institute Participant

I really liked the variety of topics that were covered which ranged from networking to managing money. As somebody who is looking for a full-time job, I feel like I was able to obtain a lot of great advice that will help me to both land a job and build meaningful professional relationships.

Reagan May Drives for Diversity at NASCAR

Published November 1, 2016

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Fourth year mechanical engineering student Reagan May did a Snapchat Takeover with Michigan Tech for three days starting October 17, 2016. The event was the NASCAR Drive for Diversity (D4D) Combine at Daytona International Speedway. The D4D program aims to attract minority and female individuals to the sport. There were 17 people competing for the available spots.

Learn more about the event in Reagan May Racing in her Twitter feed and Facebook feed, as well as the Twitter feed of Rev Racing, which is the home of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program.

Reagan May has distinguished herself on the racetrack many times. She sees herself as an automotive designer some day, in addition to making it as a NASCAR driver or car engineer.

VIDEO: Reagan May at NASCAR Drive for Diversity
VIDEO: Reagan May Thanks Sponsors at NASCAR Drive for Diversity

Closed captioning available.

Humans of Tech—Reagan

I started racing go-karts when I was 10, and I fell in love with the sport. I race super-late models throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest. I have always loved working on cars, and what I learn in the classroom helps me understand how the car suspension works.

Reagan May's Racecar — Reagan May’s Racecar

NASCAR Driving for Diversity Combine 2016

SWE Team Shines at WE16

Published November 1, 2016

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WE16 is the world’s largest conference and career fair for women in engineering and technology, with more than 9,000 women at all stages of their engineering careers.

Participants

Michigan Tech’s Society of Women Engineers Collegiate Section has historically been very active at the National Conference. At this year’s WE16, it was no different. The students who traveled with us were:

Leah Bectel, Environmental Engineering
Mackenzie Brunet, SWE Section First-Year Student Travel Grant Recipient, Mechanical Engineering
Romana Carden, Environmental Engineering
Erica Coscarelli, Environmental Engineering
Hannah Cunningham, Biomedical Engineering
Jocelyne Denhof, Mechanical Engineering
Jessica Geroux, Mechanical Engineering
Carly Gloudemans, Environmental Engineering
Akhila Reddy Gorantla, Materials Engineering
Madison Mroczynski, Civil Engineering
Stephanie Peterson, Environmental Engineering
Laura Schimmel, Mechanical Engineering
Lauren Sandy, Biomedical Engineering
Karsyn Van Laanen, Chemical Engineering
Lily Williams, Mechanical Engineering
Baileigh Zimmerman, Chemical Engineering

Collegiate Section

Advisers Gretchen Hein and Beth Hoy also travelled with the group. The section received the Silver Collegiate Section Award, which is based on the section’s involvement in SWE.

Team Tech Competition

Michigan Tech and Caterpillar Inc. were both rookies in the SWE Team Tech competition, a design contest sponsored by Boeing which was launched in 1992 as a way to emphasize the key role of teamwork and industry interface in the engineering educational process. An innovative approach to an interesting engineering problem proved to be a successful partnership when the team won first place at WE16, the world’s largest conference for women in engineering and technology. The winning project is entitled “Wheel Tractor Scraper Bowl Optimization System.”

Team Tech calls for collegiate teams of 4-12 members from at least three different engineering disciplines to work with an industry partner in order to solve an engineering design problem. The team submitted progress reports and design documents to Boeing, ultimately qualifying them to present at the SWE annual conference held on Friday, October 28, 2016, in Philadelphia.

Michigan Tech’s team partnered with Caterpillar Inc. to create a solution to the issue of inefficient filling on Caterpillar’s wheel tractor scraper (WTS) machines. To solve this engineering challenge, the team conceived, designed, prototyped, and tested an ultrasonic sensing system that can accurately determine the height of dirt within the WTS bowl. The team also conceived a method to relay that information to the operator, along with a video feed looking into the bowl. Perhaps most importantly, the team designed and developed a scale-model test rig that provides proof of concept of the system without costly on-machine testing.

During the competition, 11 teams presented their design ideas to the judges, and results were announced at Celebrate SWE, a dinner event on Saturday night of the conference. Third place was awarded to University of Wisconsin- Madison working with Xymox Technologies, Inc., and second place was awarded to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo working with St. Jude Medical.

The Team Tech team was composed of members from two different Enterprise programs within the Pavlis Honors College—Blue Marble Security and Consumer Product Manufacturing. The advisors were Dr. Archer (Electrical & Computer Engineering) & Dr. Rogers (Chemical Engineering). The student team members submitting the final proposal were: Team leader Ester Buhl, Electrical Engineering, Brianne Anderson, Mechanical Engineering, Derek Chopp, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Sandra Cvetanovic, Electrical Engineering, Alexis Dani, Computer Engineering, Jennifer Dzurka, Mechanical Engineering, Anna Marchesano, Chemical Engineering, and Jonathan Quinn, Mechanical Engineering.

Buhl, Marchesano, and Chopp represented the team at the competition. Caterpillar engineers and Michigan Tech alums Brent Woodard (’11 BSME) and Britta Jost (’02 BS Mathematics, ’04 MSME) mentored the team and provided technical advice.

Collegiate Leadership Institute

Three students, Stephanie Peterson, Romana Carden, and Jocelyne Denhof participated in the Collegiate Leadership Institute (CLI). The program’s overall goal is to prepare women engineering and technology students to gain employment within the engineering sector and become leaders in their field. CLI attendees are provided resources to jumpstart their professional development, broaden their networking opportunities, and help facilitate their eventual transition into the workforce. Stephanie found that:

I really liked the variety of topics that were covered which ranged from networking to managing money. As somebody who is looking for a full-time job, I feel like I was able to obtain a lot of great advice that will help me to both land a job and build meaningful professional relationships.

Academic Leadership for Women in Engineering

Renee Oats, PhD student in Civil Engineering, and Tayloria Adams, PhD in Chemical Engineering, Michigan Tech, 2014, participated in Academic Leadership for Women in Engineering (ALWE) Program. This NSF funded program is designed to provide best practices to advance in academia while creating opportunities and mechanisms to network across institutions.

Graduate Student Poster Competition

Renee Oats and Patricia Thompson, Michigan Tech Civil Engineering alumna, were selected to participate in the WE16 annual graduate student poster competition. The poster competition was organized by Kaitlyn Bunker, PhD Electrical Engineering 2014 from Michigan Tech.

eCYBERMISSION Presentations

Gretchen Hein, Engineering Fundamentals, presented on two topics: “eCYBERMISSION: A Great Way to Explore Science and Engineering”, and “How do Faculty Ensure Student Competency at Course Completion?”. The first presentation was done with Erin Lester, eCYBERMISSION Volunteer Manager, and Siona Beaudoin, Lake Linden-Hubbell eighth grader and eCYBERMISSION participant. The second presentation was on work completed in the first-year engineering program with Mary Fraley, Amber Kemppainen, and AJ Hamlin. Gretchen is currently the Women in Academia Chair for SWE.

Invent It. Build It.

Invent It. Build It. is an annual SWE conference activity for middle and high school girls. The purpose is to introduce girls and their families to the field of engineering. This year a record number of more than 1200 girls participated, including Siona. Hannah Cunningham volunteered at the day-long event.

Outstanding Collegiate Member

Tech alumna Liz Dreyer (BS Electrical Engineering, Michigan Tech, 2012) was awarded the Outstanding Collegiate Member award by the Society of Women Engineers on Saturday, October 29. Each year, the Society honors ten collegiate members who have made an outstanding contribution to SWE, the engineering community, and their campus. Dreyer was cited specifically

For leadership and innovative efforts to grow SWE’s presence on campus, particularly among graduate students, and for advancing the overall interests of women in STEM fields across the globe.

This acknowledges Dreyer’s role as Graduate Member Coordinator for SWE as well as her outreach efforts for women engineers in Liberia. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI.

SWE 2016 Section Students — SWE Section Students along with Beth Hoy, Adviser and Anna Marchesano, Michigan Tech alumna, May 2016.

SWE 2016 Team Tech — Michigan Tech’s Team Tech

SWE 16 Award — Ester Buhl, Derek Chopp and Anna Marchesano, Team Tech Representatives at WE16 receiving their award from SWE President, Jessica Rannow.

STEM Outreach During Fall 2016 at Michigan Tech

Published October 5, 2016

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Brimley Area School Students Visit Michigan Tech

Thirty middle-school students, plus two science teachers, and two chaperones from Brimley Area Schools visited Michigan Tech and the Keweenaw Peninsula from Sept. 28-30, 2016. The outreach event was hosted by Ted Bornhorst, Executive Director, A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, and Joan Chadde, Director of the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach. The Brimley Area Schools student population is 54 % Native American and 51 % low income. Students participated in a half-day of STEM activities on campus with Brian Barkdoll and “Kiko” de Melo e Silva, faculty and research scientist, respectively, in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Dr. Sarah Sun in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.

“We were pleased to provide this unique opportunity for the Brimley students that may spark their interest to pursue a STEM degree at Michigan Tech,” explained Bornhorst.

“This was a great group of students,” observed Chadde. “We plan to work with them to make this an annual visit.”

Brian Barkdoll and Brimley Area Schools Students

Kiko de Melo e Silva and Brimley Area School Students

Sarah Sun and Brimley Area School Students

SIS & SAAM Hold Annual Meeting

The students of SIS (Society of Intellectual Sisters) and SAAM (Society of African American Men) alumni participated in several STEM activities just like their parents did at Tech! Joan Chadde facilitated several Family Engineering activities for the students, who ranged in age from 3-17 years. A favorite activity is the “Hot Chocolate Machine where students stack 10-15 cups to let gravity do its thing and mix the milk power and cocoa powder—and Voila! Hot chocolate!”

Category: Students