College of Engineering Blog

The annual Staff Council Service Recognition Luncheon will be held at noon Wednesday, June 14, in the MUB Ballroom. President Glenn Mroz and Staff Council Chair, Jenn Biekkola will present awards for five-year increments of service to more than 150 staff members. Recent staff retirees will also be recognized.

A big “THANK YOU” for your service and commitment to Michigan Tech to the following staff members in the College of Engineering who will be honored for reaching a 5 year anniversary date this fiscal year.

First Name	Last Name	Service Years	Department
Christopher	Gilbertson	5	Civil & Environmental Engineering
John	Kiefer	10	Civil & Environmental Engineering
Rashelle	Sandell	20	Civil & Environmental Engineering
Joan	Becker	20	Electrical and Computer Engineering
Robert	Barron	30	Geological & Mining Eng & Sciences
Paul	Fraley	5	Materials Science and Engineering
Thomas	Wood	5	Materials Science and Engineering
Allison	Hein	25	Materials Science and Engineering
Nancy	Barr	10	Mechanical Engrg-Engrg Mechanics
Jeremy	Worm	10	Mechanical Engrg-Engrg Mechanics

Michigan Tech at Great Lakes Research Conference

Published June 1, 2017

Thirty-one faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, from Houghton and Ann Arbor, traveled to Detroit from May 15-19. 2017, to attend the 60th International Association of Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) conference at the Cobo Center. Michigan Tech engagement included exhibitor displays staffed by the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) and the Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI). Michigan Tech was a contributing sponsor made possible by support from the College of Engineering, College of Sciences and Arts, the GLRC and MTRI.

Ashley Hendricks, a graduate student in Environmental Engineering and advised by Dr. Noel Urban (CEE), won the “2017 David M. Dolan Memorial Fellowship” for pursuing graduate research involving modeling and statistics related to the Great Lakes.

Lucia Gauchia Participates in LATTICE Peer Support Symposium

Published May 31, 2017

Assistant Professor Lucia Gauchia attended the first symposium for a new national program, LATTICE, or Launching Academics on the Tenure-Track: An Intentional Community in Engineering. The four-day symposium, which took place May 18-21, 2017, on Bainbridge Island, WA, focused on career skills, self-reflection, and conversations about identity and the academy. The symposium featured:

a cohort of early-career engineers,
mentorship and networking with senior panelists,
and professional development workshop sessions.

LATTICE is funded by the National Science Foundation and sponsored by the University of Washington, North Carolina State University and California Polytechnic State University.

Gauchia has joint appointments with the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics. She holds an endowed position as a Richard and Elizabeth Henes Assistant Professor for Energy Storage Systems. Having held a faculty position for four years now, she recommends pursuing mentorship opportunities earlier. Nevertheless, the experience was a good one. She was able to join a community and share stories with women in electrical and computer engineering.

I especially enjoyed being able to engage and interact at a fuller level, with no burden of having to dissociate emotion from professionalism, work and research interest and career from personal life.Lucia Gauchia

Quincy Smelter Dedication

Published May 23, 2017

RIPLEY — The former Quincy Smelting Works site has been recognized as historic because of its uniqueness. On Friday, May 19, 2017, the site received a dedication as a historic landmark.

Wayne Pennington, dean of the Tech College of Engineering, said the university had a connection with the site when the university was called the Michigan School of Mines, and Tech is still involved with the site.

“Thank you for including us at this time,” he said of the landmark dedication.

Adrienne Minerick Chosen for STEM Leadership Fellowship

Published May 17, 2017

Adrienne Minerick (ChE) has been named as one of 26 women faculty members from 23 different universities across the US and Canada in the 2017-18 class of ELATE at Drexel Fellows.

ELATE at Drexel is a professional development program for women in the academic STEM fields. Each Fellow was nominated by her dean or provost and will contribute to institutional initiatives as she expands her leadership skills.

I’m honored to have been selected as an ELATE fellow and look forward to the opportunity to learn how to enhance Michigan Tech’s mission along with strategies to lead and manage change initiatives. Adrienne Minerick

Minerick is associate dean for research and development in Tech’s College of Engineering.

ELATE at Drexel is a one-year, part-time program that focuses on increasing personal and professional leadership effectiveness, leading and managing change initiatives within institutions, using strategic finance and resource management to enhance organizational missions and creating a network of exceptional women who can bring organizational perspectives and deep personal capacity to the institutions and society they serve.

“Michigan Tech is exceptionally pleased that Adrienne was selected for the 2017-2018 Fellowship program at Drexel University to continue with her leadership and professional development,” said Ellen Horsch, vice president for administration.

Adrienne is one of 10 individuals currently engaged in our Excellence in Leadership Development program, a professional development program designed and tailored to support specific growth and advancement at Michigan Tech. I truly look forward to Adrienne’s success as a leader and as a scholar.Ellen Horsch

By Jenn Donovan.

Service Recognition for Faculty and Staff

Published May 11, 2017

Tuesday (May 9, 2017), faculty and staff members, along with their guests, gathered at the Memorial Union Ballroom for an awards dinner recognizing 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service to Michigan Tech. Within the College of Engineering, the following employees were recognized:

25 Years

John Beard, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Allison Hein, Materials Science & Engineering
Alex Mayer, Civil & Environmental Engineering

30 Years

Robert Barron, Geological & Mining Engineering & Sciences
Stephen Hackney, Materials Science & Engineering

35 Years

William Bulleit, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Gopal Jayaraman (retired), Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

This year’s Staff Service Recognition luncheon will be held on Wednesday, June 14. Congratulations to all the honorees.

Opportunities in Forest Biomaterials Research

Published May 9, 2017

According to Mark Rudnicki, a professor of practice in forest biomaterials at Michigan Technological University, Michigan ranks ninth in the nation in acres of forest cover. It’s also home to several forest-related industries, including forestry and logging, wood products manufacturing and paper manufacturing. In 2013, Michigan Tech initiated the development of a broad coalition – with members from Michigan industry, government and academia – to facilitate the cultivation of new ways to use forest biomaterials.

The initiative has evolved into the Michigan Forest Biomaterials Institute (MiFBI) and Rudnicki is its executive director.

The mission of the Michigan Forest Biomaterials Institute (MiFBI) is to enhance quality of life in Michigan by fostering sustainable forests, communities, and economies through innovative and responsible production, use, and recycling of forest biomaterials.

MIFBI invites individuals and corporate entities (businesses, institutions, associations and government agencies) supportive of developing a forest bioeconomy in Michigan to join MIFBI as a Regular or Associate member.

2017 Research Excellence Funding

Published April 28, 2017

The Vice President for Research Office announced the 2017 REF awards and thanked the volunteer review committees, as well as the deans and department chairs, for their time spent on this important internal research award process.

Infrastructure Enhancement (IE) Grants
Dan Seguin (MSE/IMP)

Research Seed (RS) Grants
Daisuke Minakata (CEE)
Radwin Askari (GMES/EPSSI)

Portage Health Foundation (PHF) Mid-Career (MC)
CK Choi (MEEM)
Megan Frost (Bio Med)
Jeremy Goldman (Bio Med)

Original article by VPR.

Multi-Dimensional Manufacturing is Best Overall Venture

Published April 24, 2017

Jim Baker, executive director of Innovation and Industry Engagement and co-director of the Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship, and Lorelle Meadows, dean of the Pavlis Honors College, accompanied students Reggie Dillingham (SBE), Sachin Fernandes (ECE), Joseph Ryan (CS and PSY), Cedric Kennedy (SBE), Kyle Ludwig (ECE), Adam Weber (CNSA), Nick Dubiel (ME), Morgan Crocker (STC), Emily Jensen (SBE) and Brandon Talaska (ChE) who competed in the Central Michigan University New Venture Competition. The competition was held March 24, 2017.

Multi-Dimensional Manufacturing, a 3-D printing technology company founded by Nick Dubiel with support from Morgan Crocker and mentored by Jim Baker finished as the Best Overall Venture with a $30,000 cash prize and a year of mentoring from Blue Water Angels in Midland. The team is also a recent graduate of Michigan Tech’s National Science Foundation I-Corps Site Program.

Nineteen Inducted into Tau Beta Pi Honor Society

Published April 24, 2017

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