College of Engineering Blog

DoD Guidance on Medical Research

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IMG_8369Dr. R. Keith Martin, Senior Science Advisor, Tunnell Government Services visited campus on Thursday, September 10 to discuss research programs and funding opportunities in the life and medical sciences within the Department of Defense.

Dr. Martin presented two sessions: “Understanding Military Medical Research Programs,” and “The Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium.” Both seminars were in the MUB Ballroom A-1.

Dr. R. Keith Martin has had a successful career as a researcher and senior leader in the area of medical and health science research and development. He has served in many leadership roles within the US Army and Department of Defense including Military Deputy to the Principal Assistant for Research and Technology at the Army’s R&D Headquarters, where he exercised executive oversight of the planning, management and execution of >$1.4B of annual R&D funding for medical programs.

Dr. Martin retired from military service as a full Colonel and now works for Tunnell Government Services as a senior science advisor to help connect researchers from academia and industry with the medical research programs supported by the Army and the Department of Defense.

In addition, Dr. Martin engaged in discussions on research programs and opportunities funded by the Department of Defense.

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Center for Automotive Research Visits Tech

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Researchers from CAR, the Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, visited Michigan Tech on Thursday, September 3.  Valerie Sathe Brugerman and Greg Schroeder from the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor discussed CAR’s research areas and potential collaborations in several sessions on campus.
The visit is co-sponsored by the School of Forestry and Environmental Science, and the College of Engineering.

CAR, the Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, visited Michigan Tech
CAR, the Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, visited Michigan Tech
CAR, the Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, visited Michigan Tech
CAR, the Center for Automotive Research, Ann Arbor, visited Michigan Tech

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I-Corps Workshop Opportunity For Innovators

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The Pavlis Honors College and the Office of Innovation and Industry Engagement held a workshop for faculty, staff and students to consider participating in an Innovation Corps (I-Corps) workshop, offered through the NSF funded I-Corps Sites Program. This workshop offered a valuable opportunity to advance technology-focused business start-up ideas towards commercialization and follow up on funding through SBIR, STTR and private investment. The program is also open to community innovators.

The workshop was conducted in August over a four-week period. Participants also worked on customer discovery. The team-based program structure is similar to the national program that NSF has developed with the help of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs for early-stage technology start-ups. This was a great opportunity for teams to determine and document the commercial potential of their technology through customer discovery using the Business Model Canvas and Lean Start-up technique.

Graduates of this I-Corps Site Program workshop will be better positioned to successfully apply to the National I-Corps program, and graduates of the national program have gone on to achieve higher rates of SBIR/STTR awards than the general population. The program is transformative based on how they approach their research, teaching and other projects they engage in.

The teaching team included Jim Baker, John Diebel and Mary Raber, all of whom have been involved as leaders of technology startups, have participated in the NSF I-Corps training as mentors and who have been trained in the Lean Start-up methodology. Also a team of mentors experienced in the start-up process were available to help navigate the customer discovery process.

I-Corps Workshop Opportunity For Innovators
I-Corps Workshop Opportunity For Innovators
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NSF Research Center RFP Networking/Pitch Social Session

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ERCThe National Science Foundation just released their RFP for Engineering Research Centers with a Letter of Intent deadline of Sept. 25. Teams are already discussing ideas, so an open networking/pitch social session was held campus community involved. The session was at the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge with snacks and drinks provided.

According to the NSF, the goal of the ERC Program is to integrate engineering research and education with technological innovation to transform national prosperity, health and security. ERCs create an innovative, inclusive culture in engineering to cultivate new ideas and pursue engineering discovery that achieves a significant science, technology and societal outcome within the 10-year timeframe of NSF support.

Adrienne Minerick, associate dean of research and innovation, College of Engineering
Adrienne Minerick, associate dean of research and innovation, College of Engineering
Adrienne Minerick, associate dean of research and innovation, College of Engineering
Adrienne Minerick, associate dean of research and innovation, College of Engineering

For more information, visit the National Science Foundation or the Engineering Research Centers. Contact Adrienne Minerick, associate dean of research and innovation, College of Engineering at minerick@mtu.edu with any questions.

Invitation Flyer: RFPERC PDF

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How to Land a Job in STEM, from Women Who Have Done It

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image122968-horiz2GoodCall, a website of consumer-oriented education news, published an article about how women can land a job in STEM fields, featuring tips from Associate Professor Adrienne Minerick (ChE), associate dean of Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering.

Read the whole article at Good Call

In addition, GoodCall, a website offering consumer and student advice, quoted Professor Adrienne Minerick (CoE), associate dean for research and innovation in Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering, on why engineering is a STEM degree in high demand among employers. See the website for more information.

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Connecting People and Geology on Volcanoes

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image124601-horizIn October 2011, heavy rainfall poured down the sides of El Salvador’s San Vicente Volcano, nearly four feet of water in 12 days. Coffee plantation employees, working high up on the volcano’s slope began noticing surface cracks forming on steep slopes and in coffee plantations. Cracks herald landslides—places where the wet, heavy upper layers, saturated with water, slide over the less-permeable rocky layers underneath. The workers radioed downslope, keeping close tabs on the rainfall gauge network.
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Lake Superior Day

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img_0099by Joan Chadde

The beauty and bounty of Lake Superior was celebrated Sunday at the Third Annual Lake Superior Day in Copper Harbor. Community volunteers, along with the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, organized the festival with lots of special activities at the 6th Street Dock along the Copper Harbor Boardwalk. Activities included:

Community picnic
Canoe races and kayak demonstrations
Interactive art (paint the model freighter)
Remotely-Operated-Vehicle demonstrations by Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center
Presentation on the health of Lake Superior by Great Lakes scientist Martin Auer (CEE)

Live music, poetry and more
From 1-4 p.m. a special highlight was the opportunity for festival attendees to find out how scientists study the Great Lakes by taking a 40-minute scientific excursion aboard Michigan Tech’s research vessel, Agassiz. The excursions are part of the Ride the Waves Program funded by a grant from General Motors.

Lake Superior Day is celebrated throughout the Lake Superior basin on or close to the third Sunday in July in many communities around Lake Superior. Learn more about Lake Superior Day events around the lake.

Lake Superior Day (2014)
Lake Superior Day (2014)

MORE PHOTOS from 2014 Lake Superior Day

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Bringing Back the Magic in Metamaterials

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image124459-horizA single drop of blood is teeming with microorganisms—imagine if we could see them, and even nanometer-sized viruses, with the naked eye. That’s a real possibility with what scientists call a “perfect lens.” The lens hasn’t been created yet, but it is a theoretical perfected optical lens made out of metamaterials, which are engineered to change the way the materials interact with light.
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