Michigan Tech has appointed Alex Mayer as the Charles and Patricia Nelson Presidential Professor. Mayer, who holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, is recognized for his outstanding efforts to bring water-related research, education and outreach to the forefront at Michigan Tech.
Michigan Tech faculty, staff members and students received awards tallying $71,175 in funding through the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
At a recent student “Challenge Bowl” competition organized by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists at the University of Oklahoma, a team of Michigan Tech students came in third. They were the only team composed of undergraduates to make the final round and they were also the only team with any females to make the finals.
“This is the third year that Michigan Tech students have participated in this competition, and our students consistently perform extremely well,” said Wayne Pennington, interim dean of engineering and faculty advisor for the Michigan Tech student section of SEG. “This year’s team consisted entirely of undergraduates, and they were up against formidable opposition from advanced graduate students, defeating almost all of them. We are very proud of their performance, and I personally am very pleased that Neala Creasy and Stephanie Dow were the students who chose to compete on our behalf.”
The National Mining Competition announced the three winners from the 2013 event. First place Michigan Tech, second place University of British Columbia, and third place Edwards School of Business.
The winning Michigan Tech Mining team, “the fabulous four,” was Cora Hemmila, Matthew Younger, Matthew Schuman and Matthew Schwalen. The team advisor is James Murray Gillis, Instructor, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Director, Mine Safety and Health Training Program.
Three Michigan Tech students won scholarships at the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologist (AEG) 56th Annual Meeting in Seattle.
Lauren Schaefer, a geology PhD student, won the Tilford and Lemke scholarships. The Tilford scholarship is provided to a graduate student for field studies. The Lemke scholarship is provided for outstanding student abstract for the work, “Geotechnical characterization of materials for stability analysis of large volcanic slopes: Are studies for specific volcanoes justifiable?” Lauren is advised by Thomas Oommen (GMES).