2016 TAMC Carmine Palombo Individual Award for Tim Colling

Tim Colling
Tim Colling

Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council Honors Michigan Local Technical Assistance Program Director

A Michigan Tech professor has been recognized by a state-wide transportation organization.

The Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council (TAMC) has honored Tim Colling (CEE/MTTI) with the 2016 TAMC Carmine Palombo Individual Award.

The award was presented by TAMC Chair Joanna I. Johnson at the annual TAMC Fall Conference on Oct. 13 in Marquette.

In 2015, the TAMC renamed the Individual Achievement Award in honor of Palombo for his years of service and dedication to the TAMC representing the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

Colling acknowledged that while the honor is called an individual award, it reflects the work and dedication of the entire team at Michigan Tech.

When told that Colling was going to be receiving the award that carries his name, Palombo said,

I can think of no more deserving person than Tim Colling to be recognized for all of his work in assisting the TAMC to get to where they are today.

Palombo further added,

His efforts and leadership have simply lifted the practice and promotion of asset management all across Michigan.

Colling worked as a civil engineering consultant for 10 years prior to starting work at Michigan Tech’s Center for Technology and Training (CTT).

In 2010, Colling assumed the responsibilities of director, including leadership of the Michigan Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP).

Colling and his team at CTT provide basic and advanced training on a wide array of topics to support the management of transportation systems.

Local Technical Assistance Program Director honored

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – The Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council (TAMC) has honored Tim Colling, PhD, P.E. with the 2016 TAMC Carmine Palombo Individual Award. The award was presented by TAMC Chair Joanna I. Johnson at the annual TAMC Fall Conference on Thursday, October 13, in Marquette, Michigan.

Read more at WLUC TV6, by Alissa Pietila.

CTT Staff

Experiencing WE16 (SWE’s Annual Conference)

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.

Western UP Center Highlighted by MMSCN

CSEOThe services of the Western UP Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education are highlighted in the October 2016  Michigan Math and Science Center Network  (MMSCN) newsletter.

The Michigan Tech Center for Science & Environmental Outreach is a lead partner in the Western UP Center since its creation in 2000.

The MMSCN newsletter is distributed to MDE, MI state legislature, STEM Council  and other stakeholders. Several additional Michigan Tech partners and collaborative grant funding agencies are mentioned.

Reagan May Drives for Diversity at NASCAR

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.

Read more on Facebook Notes, by Michigan Tech.

Reagan May
Reagan May
Reagan May's Racecar
Reagan May’s Racecar
NASCAR Driving for Diversity Combine 2016
NASCAR Driving for Diversity Combine 2016

SWE Team Shines at WE16

WE 16WE16 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.

Natural Resource and Environmental Career Paths

Joan Chadde, director of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, presented “Promoting High School Students’ Interest in Natural Resource and Environmental Career Paths” at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference in Madison last week.

The session described the program that provides 20 Detroit high school youth with a free opportunity to experience Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the campus of a natural resource university. Students complete pre/post surveys to measure changes in their interest in natural resource career paths. Many at Michigan Tech supported the program, including Housing and Residential Life, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, College of Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and many others.

NAAEE Conference 2016

Michigan Tech Ranks High Globally in International Collaboration, Engineering, Materials Science

M&M BuildingIn newly released US News & World Report global university rankings, Michigan Technological University ranked 136th out of 1,000 universities around the world in international collaboration.

Tech’s College of Engineering and Department of Materials Science & Engineering also ranked well. MSE placed in the top one-third at 273rd and engineering overall was 356th of the 1,000 universities ranked.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Jennifer Donovan.

Michigan Tech Joins Nanovation Partners in a Commercialization Agreement on Nanotube Processes

Michigan Tech and NanovationIntellectual property from UCSD, WSU, UCF, Michigan Tech, N2 Biomedical, and Nanovation Partners represents the most comprehensive portfolio available to license with respect to implant nanotube surface treatment.

Nanovation Partners, LLC and Michigan Technological University today announced a partnership agreement for commercialization of processes to nano-texturize medical implants. These advanced processes can simultaneously increase bone ingrowth and provide an antimicrobial barrier. The collaboration agreement extends Nanovation Partner’s leadership in commercialization of nano-texturing technology.

Craig Friedrich, PhD, Director of Michigan Tech’s Multi-scale Technologies Institute, commented, “What we’re developing is a surface treatment that’s more straightforward and economical than other processes. It speeds healing and is applicable to a broad range of implants. With this process, in conjunction with the technologies developed at other leading nano-technology universities and companies already in partnership with Nanovation Partners, we can fight infection and reduce inflammation. Our partnership with Nanovation Partners will speed and broaden the transfer of this technology to provide a clinical benefit for a broad range of patients.”

The partnership with Michigan Tech builds on Nanovation Partners’ strategic collaborations with leaders in nanotexturing technology,” —Dan Justin, President and CEO of Nanovation Partners.

Read more at PRWeb, by Dan Justin, Nanovation Partners.

Meeting for the Center for Novel High Voltage/Temperature Material and Structures

GLRCME-EM to Host Advisory Board Meeting

NSF I/UCRC Industrial Advisory Board Meeting for the Center for Novel High Voltage/Temperature Material and Structures begins today.

Today and tomorrow, ME-EM is hosting the semi-annual NSF I/UCRC Industrial Advisory Board meeting for the Center for Novel High Voltage/Temperature Materials and Structures (HVT) at the Great Lakes Research Center. The meeting is organized by Site Director Greg Odegard (ME-EM) and Co-Directors Julie King (CHE) and Paul Sanders (MSE).

Expected at the meeting are 40 faculty, graduate students and Industrial Advisory Board members from Michigan Tech’s ME-EM, Chem Eng and MSE departments; University of Denver, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne; Bonneville Power Administration, CTC Global, General Cable, Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Tri-State Generation and Transmission.

The mission of the HVT Center is to develop and evaluate new materials and structures for a range of HVT technological applications, particularly for the power transmission and aerospace industries.

The HVT Center has entered its third year of operation; this meeting is focused on the review of the current projects, proposals for future research and discussions on directions for Center growth. The Center is jointly funded by NSF and the Industrial Advisory Board member companies.

By ME-EM.

Unscripted—Be Aware: Cybersecurity

CybersecurityCybersecurity in cars made several headlines last summer. Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek’s carhacking research made for a viral WIRED article when they remotely took over a Jeep Cherokee on the highway; Bloomberg Business covered these vulnerabilities in a video interview at the Def Con hacking convention. At Michigan Tech, cybersecurity is an integral part of many researchers’ work. Steven Goldsmith, a research professor in mechanical engineering, started a new graduate course on automotive cybersecurity this fall and spoke with me about his work.

Read more at Unscripted: Science and Engineering Research, by Allison Mills.