Tag: department of civil

Michigan Tech Global Campus Launches Third Thursday Interest Session Series

Published February 25, 2025

Michigan Tech Global Campus

Discover Michigan Tech’s Online Programs

Curious about whether an advanced degree is the right fit for you? Want to learn more about Michigan Technological University’s online graduate programs? What sets MTU’s programs apart from the rest? Then, attend one of the 45-minute Third Thursday virtual information sessions from Michigan Tech Global Campus.

These online information sessions, held on the third Thursday of most months, will feature some of Michigan Tech’s most popular online graduate certificates and master’s programs, such as the Tech MBAⓇ. They’ll also highlight new(er) online ones, such as foundational certificates in GIS and Cybersecurity and the manufacturing engineering degrees.

In these sessions, attendees will learn about

key reasons for earning this certificate and/or degree from Michigan Tech
the online program’s content, structure, and course delivery
exciting trends in the discipline and/or field
important deadlines and program start dates

Advisors will also be on hand to answer questions about admissions requirements and the application process.

Although the sessions are 45-minutes long, the hosts will stay for the full hour to address all your concerns and questions.

First on Deck for Third Thursday: The Online Tech MBAⓇ and MEM Programs.

Join the Global Campus Team on Thursday, March 20, at 11:30 AM (ET). This session will spotlight the online Tech MBA Ⓡ and the Master of Engineering Management (MEM) programs. The Tech MBA (online and in-person), in fact, is one of the Graduate School’s fastest growing and most respected programs.

The Tech MBA® and MEM have been here awhile. For several years, MTU has offered respected in-person versions of these programs. For instance, the Tech MBA® in its current form (30 credits) began in 2017. Next came the in-person and online versions of the MEM (2020, 2022).

What makes these programs stand out is their accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB), an honor bestowed on only 5% of the nation’s business schools. And like their in-person equivalents, the online MBA and MEM programs meet a strict set of standards, ensuring quality in curriculum, rigor, and research.

At this Third Thursday session, Dr. Mari Buche will discuss program details, such as degree plans and flexible course delivery options. You’ll discover which degree equips you with foundational business skills and which interdisciplinary degree best bridges business and engineering.

Next Up for April: The Online MS in Civil Engineering.

Alternatively, drop by on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at 11:30 AM (ET) to dive into the MTU’s popular, respected online master’s degree in Civil Engineering.

What sets this degree apart is its instructional team: professional engineers with decades of practical experience. Also, along with offering two in-demand focus areas–structural engineering and water resources engineering–the program also contains unique, sought-after certificates in both bridge design and timber building design.

At this information session, program experts will unpack how you can stack structural engineering certificates to customize a civil master’s that both builds on your undergraduate degree and strengthens your project management and leadership skills.

You’ll also learn about how you can integrate an asset management certification into your program. Asset management, the science and coordinated activity for the long-term care and maintenance of infrastructure systems, facilities, and other civil assets, is an in-demand skillset.

Visit the Third Thursday Page.

You can also read more about Third Thursdays, register for the online Civil MS event as well as additional upcoming sessions, and join the Global Campus mailing list on the event webpage.

Global Campus Grows

Published August 15, 2023

By Shelly Galliah

Michigan Tech Global Campus

Whether it’s been covering new education fellowship partnerships, reporting on Michigan Tech’s collaboration with the MEDC, writing about innovative mass timber research initiatives, researching the gifts of adult learners, welcoming new team members, or rushing to keep up with Global Campus Vice President David Lawrence, this blog writer has had a busy year. And while all these initiatives, and more, have been underway, I’ve also had to keep track of Michigan Tech’s new online courses and programs.

Recent Online Programs at Global Campus

For example, in the last year, the College of Business added the online Tech MBA and the Master of Engineering Management. Both are accredited, 10-course programs that, in various ways, leverage your STEM expertise. Whereas the Tech MBA provides foundational business skills, the MEM allows students to customize degrees that merge engineering and business. To promote these programs, Dr. Mari Buche, David Lawrence, and his Global Campus team graciously led several online virtual interest sessions, which were all well attended.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
President John F. Kennedy

Furthermore, the College of Engineering met the learning and leadership challenge with its Master of Engineering, a professional terminal degree. This degree allows students to focus on either a HEV (hybrid electric vehicle) track or an engineering track. For the engineering track, learners can combine courses from several disciplines. In fact, the master of engineering is ideal for those collaborating with their employer to develop a program to meet specific on-the-job needs.

More recently, the Department of Applied Computing has also added two new programs to its roster: Public Health Informatics and Foundations in Health Informatics. Both certificates can be stacked to form a master’s degree. Like other HI programs, these prepare students for diverse roles in the data-driven healthcare industry. Guy Hembroff, the Health Informatics director, also ensured that MTU’s CHI students have memberships in HIMSS. HIMSS (Health Information Management Systems Society) is a global society. It enables health information professionals to access resources, enroll in seminars, develop networks, search for jobs, and much more. In other words, it gives MTU’s Health Informatics students an edge.

Request Information About Global Campus Programs

Global Campus Bridge Courses

Bridge courses are short, intensive, preparatory online courses that help learners acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to enter advanced study. This study might mean an undergraduate program, graduate degree, or graduate certificate. Often, bridge courses are for students who are provisionally accepted into a program.

Linear Algebra: A Bridge Course Offered Through Global Campus

For instance, in September of 2022, Teresa Woods, Associate Teaching Professor in Mathematical Sciences and Linear Algebra aficionado, taught our first bridge course: Linear Algebra. Her ten-week, asynchronous online course was aimed at prospective students who needed the LA requirement to enroll in MTU’s Online Master of Science in Applied Statistics program.

Woods’ course covered fundamental linear algebra concepts as used in Applied Statistics. Some of the topics included systems of equations, vectors, matrices, orthogonality, subspaces, and the eigenvalue problem.

To learn more about this course, email Teresa Woods (tmthomps@mtu.edu).

Linear Algebra is once again running for the Fall 2023 semester. And there are still a few seats left. Right now, the proposed start date is Sept. 18, 2023.

Newer Professional Development Opportunities

Fundamental Courses and Bootcamps

Global Campus also had the privilege of working with subject matter experts to promote in-demand professional development courses. Also known as continuing education and career training, these courses allow those in the workforce to hone skills, acquire specialized training, develop leadership abilities, and stay up-to-date on current trends.

Currently, Michigan Tech offers both non-credit and for-credit pd courses.

For example, during the summer of 2023, APS Labs rolled out its short, but rigorous course on Diesel Engine Fundamentals. Despite the turn to EV, this course recognized that diesel engines weren’t going anywhere soon. That is, diesel engines are still in light-duty vehicles, medium and heavy-duty trucks; in commercial vehicles (trains, trucks, buses, barges, and boats); in army vehicles; and in generators.

This course was conveniently available in both online and in-person versions. Its goal was educating those pursuing careers in the automotive industry, commercial vehicles, power generation, or related fields.

A Diesel Engine, which was studied in the APS Labs short course for Global Campus — A Diesel Engine

Also, Kevin Johnson, Assistant Teaching Professor, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering, lent his significant expertise to summer students. He taught an an intense 20-hour in-person hydraulics bootcamp. In his course, students learned about several topics crucial to hydraulics, such as valves, pumps, motors, circuits, and closed-loop hydrostatic systems.

Upcoming Professional Development Courses

Python for Modern GIS

A person working on GIS with Python, one of the courses taught though Global Campus — GIS Workshop

Furthermore, recognizing the need for more Python professionals in the GIS world, Parth Bhatt (Assistant Teaching Professor / Researcher from the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences) is offering a 7-week, asynchronous, online course for Fall 2023.

His Python for Modern GIS and Remote Sensing course will help students learn beginning and immediate-level applications of Python for understanding and writing simple scripts, automating workflows, and solving day-to-day, real-world geoprocessing tasks in the ArcGIS ecosystem and open-source platform.

Dr. Bhatt, a dynamic teaching professor who lives and breathes GIS, is also on deck to develop online for-credit certificates for his department. Stay tuned for more developments.

And, yes, you still have time to register for Bhatt’s course.

Civil Asset Management

As well, the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering has recently added a 3-credit, synchronous online course in Civil Asset Management. This course is taught by Mark Declercq, who brings three decades of valuable, practical civil asset expertise to the classroom. In fact, as Grand Rapids Engineer, Declercq was one of the first experts with boots on the ground during that city’s massive flood event.

Civil Asset Management (CEE 5390) will help students develop long-term plans, as well as the strategic, critical thinking they need to recognize and maintain the value of our all-important civil assets. Declercq also maintains that to develop resilient and affordable solutions and to tackle upcoming sustainability challenges, engineers definitely need Civil Asset Management skills.

Keep Up With Global Campus as We Learn and Grow

In the future, Global Campus plans to offer additional non-credit and for-credit courses and programs. Our goals are advancing the personal development, career goals, and leadership opportunities that come with education. We also recognize the importance of challenging all learners to grow, to think creatively and critically, and to prepare for tomorrow.

We’ll keep you posted as we assist in developing and supporting new programs. For updates, read this blog or follow us on social media.

And remember, regardless of where you are in your educational journey, whether you want to take a course for fun or for your future, it is never too late to start learning.

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
Henry Ford