College of Engineering Blog

3DPrint.com profiled “construction 3D printing pioneer” Megan Kreiger ’09 ’12 (B.S. Mathematics M.S. Materials Science and Engineering). Kreiger is the portfolio manager of additive construction (AC) and the U.S. Department of Defense’s subject matter expert of AC at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center. At Michigan Tech, she focused on distributed manufacturing, recycling, and consolidating literature on ultra-high-performance concrete.

Psychiatric News reported on a visit by Patricia Tourney (B.S. Civil Engineering) and one sister to the APA Library’s Garfield and Helen W. Tourney Rare Books Room. Tourney’s father’s donation of more than 450 books related to the history of psychiatry formed the core of APA’s rare books collection. Patricia and her sister remember their father as a collector—of everything, but especially books: he had more than 10,000 volumes in his collection.

Clemson News announced Kevin Tomsovic ’82 (B.S. Electrical Engineering) as the new executive director of the Clemson University Restoration Institute, the Duke Energy Endowed Chair in Smart Grid Technology and a professor of electrical and computer engineering. Tomsovic was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and also received numerous awards related to excellence in research, scholarship and creative achievement.

Florida’s Levy County Board of County Commission put out a press release announcing the appointment of Christopher Mills ’84 (B.S. Civil Engineering) to a two-year term on the county’s planning commission. Mills, who is a Florida Professional Engineer and a Licensed General Contractor, performed both engineering and contracting services in the southwest Florida area in his own practice.

North Dakota’s Grand Forks Herald reported on the announcement of Ethan Norstog ’17 (B.S. Chemical Engineering) as the new factory engineer at American Crystal Sugar Company’s factory in Moorhead, Minnesota. The position involves all aspects of assigned factory capital projects.

Penn State News profiled Andrew Barnard ’02 ’04 (B.S. M.S. Mechanical Engineering), director of the Penn State’s graduate program in acoustics. In 2022, Barnard joined the program as director. He now spends his time mentoring faculty, running a research lab with three students, meeting with first-year cohorts and teaches, alongside administrative duties. This is the only degree-granting graduate program for acoustics in the country.

The Portland Beacon reported on the sale of Portland Products, a manufacturer of mechanical assemblies for automotive and heavy truck customers located in Portland, Michigan. One of the new owner-operators is Rick Slater ’03 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering). Slater has experience in small business manufacturing in West Michigan.

WLUC TV6 covered a story on medical student Lindsay Sandell ’21 (B.S. Biomedical Engineering) being awarded a Copper Shores Community Health Foundation Tuition Assistance Scholarship at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, UP Region Campus. Scholarships are awarded based on criteria including the medical student’s desire to practice in the Upper Peninsula after residency training.

Ran An (Ph.D. Chemical Engineering), assistant professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, is the latest recipient of a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. His proposal, “Alternating Current Electrophoresis in Spatially Non-Uniform Electric Fields,” was chosen for funding by the NSF. An thanked his Ph.D. advisor Dr. Adrienne Minerick, postdoc mentor Dr. Umut Gurkan, and lab members Yi Yang, Qingrong He, Bowen Xu, and Dr. Cheng Wang.

The Ludington Daily News posted a story about a celebration of Andy Horujko ’42, a Michigan College of Mines engineering alumnus remembered for walking from Anchorage, Alaska, to the southern tip of South America to bring awareness to “the detriments of automotive emissions.” On March 27 the tales of Andy Horujko will be brought to life through a first-person portrayal by Lake County Historical Society president Bruce Micinski.

Sarah Zarzecki ’06 (B.S. Civil Engineering) was interviewed on the STEM Professionals Podcast as part of their Women in Engineering Success Stories series. The episode was titled “Exploring Impactful Engineering Roles (Beyond Traditional STEM Careers).” Zarzecki is a transportation engineer currently serving as the Transportation Design Department Manager and Colorado Transportation Leader at Stanley Consultants.

Jennifer Julien ’12 ’15 (B.S. Civil Engineering, M.S. Environmental Engineering) was profiled by DBusiness as one of three new members of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association’s board of directors. She left her engineering career to pursue opportunities in real estate with her husband John. Their latest venture, The Vault Hotel, was the renovation of the historic Houghton National Bank Building. It recently made the Conde Nast Traveler’s Top 15 Hotels in the Midwest.

Midland Daily News announced the promotion of Shane Bjorge ’98 (B.S. civil engineering) to city engineer of Midland. Bjorge previously held project management and engineering roles at Dow and Dow Corning. The city engineer is responsible for the design, construction, and oversight of all civil engineering-related projects for the city as well as compliance of private projects.

Industry Today picked up a ThermoAnalytics’ press release about Mark Hepokoski (M.S. Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics) being appointed chief scientist for physiology and comfort. His graduate work at Michigan Tech involved development of a complex model of the human body and applying machine-learning to thermal simulation and test data.

Gary Street ’62, B.S. Chemical Engineering, was interviewed by The Lode during Winter Carnival. Street invented the first all-nighter statue at Michigan Tech in 1961. He wanted to make the 1961 Carnival something special, since it was the 75th anniversary of the university. Today, the one-night statue build is one of Winter Carnival’s proudest traditions.

School Transportation News reported on Blue Bird Corporation naming Mike Boggess ’91 (B.S. Electrical Engineering) vice president of product development. While vice president of engineering with Proterra, he developed and launched a new EV architecture for transit buses. Before then, Boggess served as Blue Bird’s chief engineer for powertrain, chassis, and electrical systems. Blue Bird Corporation is the leader in electric and low-emission school buses.

Michigan Tech hockey’s fifth-year goaltender Blake Pietila is a candidate for the 2024 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey’s top player. Pietila is on the ballot for the fourth straight season and was a Top 10 Finalist in 2023. He graduated in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and is pursuing his MBA.

Michigan Tech football senior defensive lineman Samuel Kinne has been named a recipient of the 2023 Fall GLIAC Commissioner’s Award for the first time in his career. Kinne completed his bachelor’s in chemical engineering last spring, holding a 3.82 GPA, and will be completing his MBA this spring. He was a three-time GLIAC Academic Excellence team member and also was named to the CSC Academic All-District team.

Northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin’s BusinessNorth reported on Minnesota’s Iron Ore Alliance naming Mike Bakk ’01 (BS Mechanical Engineering) as its new co-chair. The alliance’s mission is providing a unified voice for modern iron mining in the state. Bakk first became a U. S. Steel employee in 1997 and is currently the director of operational readiness at Keetac. He has played a critical role in overseeing Keetac’s DR-grade pellet project.

UPWord quoted Austin Gongos ’18 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering) and Nathan Ackerman ’18 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering) in a story about how they came to found the Hancock-based outdoor gear business Chicken Tramper Ultralight Gear. Gongos and Ackerman met when they were both in a fraternity while studying mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. At Michigan Tech, the two had always talked about starting a business but weren’t sure what form it would take. The company grew from the two co-founders to nine additional employees and has reached customers through the company’s website and select retailers.

Renata Putzig, a 2015 graduate majoring in electrical engineering and audio production and technology, is a project engineer at Smart Monkeys, Inc. Putzig is part of a team of Tech graduates who have worked on the Sphere at Las Vegas. Specializing in audio-visual control design, implementation and support, Smart Monkeys works with a broad range of venues, from museums to theme parks. The technical consulting firm served as a principal design consultant to the Sphere Entertainment team for the Las Vegas attraction’s control system.

The Times of Northwest Indiana quoted Kendra Lachcik ’23 (B.S. Environmental Engineering) in a story about the Disney on Ice show “Magic in the Stars,” which features Lachcik skating in the role of Luisa Madrigal from “Encanto.” Lachcik has been skating since she was seven years old. Prior to being cast in Disney on Ice she was working for an engineering consulting firm.

Tech Briefs Magazine gave a preview of the upcoming webinar “Noise, Vibration, and Harshness Priorities for EVs,” which has Jeffrey Pruetz ’07 (B.S. Mechanical Engineering) listed as a speaker. Pruetz is a NVH and vehicle integration manager at FEV North America Inc. He is responsible for leading the vehicle integration team including NVH development and testing for battery electric, hybrid, fuel cell, and combustion vehicles in North America.

The 307th Bomb Wing of the U.S. Air Force mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about three new squadron commanders, including Maj. Timothy Pach ’06 (B.S. Civil Engineering), who took command of the 307th Civil Engineer unit. Pach earned his commission through Michigan Tech’s Air Force ROTC program. His career includes multiple deployments and a stint as an assistant civil engineering professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

GlobeNewswire, Yahoo! Finance and MarketScreener mentioned Michigan Tech in press releases about the appointment of Katie Ellet ’96 (B.S. Chemical Engineering) to the board of directors for Gevo Inc. Ellet serves as president, Hydrogen Energy and Mobility for North America at Air Liquide. She has held a wide variety of leadership roles in the chemical and energy fields for the last 27 years.