Graduate School Newsblog

Month: April 2011

Tech Professor, Grad Students Introduce School Children to Life in Lake Superior

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Today and Tuesday, April 18-19, Professor Martin Auer (CEE) and his graduate students will bring hands-on science investigations about Lake Superior to CLK Elementary School students in Calumet. Each grade level will spend 55 minutes with the scientists, learning about Lake Superior.

This special event is part of CLK’s Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative Heritage Garden project and the school’s monthlong celebration of Earth Month, “3LK at CLK: Living, Learning and Loving the Keweenaw.”

The Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative connects schools and communities in the stewardship of Lake Superior and its watershed. The initiative is one of eight hubs statewide that are part of the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative, with support from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust and the Wege Foundation.

The Auer team’s activities will include

  • Lake Superior: big, deep, cold, and beautiful
  • Riding the Waves: field sampling equipment demo
  • Plankton: Lake Superior’s vegetable garden
  • From the Lake: sediment, benthos and fish

Auer’s research focuses on modeling of Great Lakes and inland waters and field monitoring and laboratory studies related to water quality modeling and management. He is familiar to many in the Keweenaw for his work with the Agassiz, which has become Tech’s floating ambassador, bringing people to the water and the water to people in the Lake Superior basin. Each year, Auer and colleagues host hundreds of K-12 students aboard the R/V Agassiz, where they learn how the Great Lakes are studied by scientists.

Published in Tech Today

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Tech Students Receive NSF Awards for Grad Study, Research

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The National Science Foundation has selected three Michigan Tech students and a recent graduate to receive highly competitive awards that support their research and graduate study. Another student, now at Northern Michigan University, will use his award to pursue an advanced degree at Michigan Tech.

Master’s student Chris DeDene and recent graduate David Schaeffer have received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. DeDene will pursue a PhD in Civil Engineering at Michigan Tech. Schaeffer will continue work on his PhD in Psychology at the University of Georgia.

Fellowship recipient Erich Petushek is completing his master’s at Northern Michigan University and will be coming to Tech, where he expects to pursue a doctorate degree in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors focusing on Biomechanics.

Graduate Research Fellowships support students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based degrees. Each fellow receives a three-year annual stipend of $30,000, a $10,500 cost-of-education allowance and access to the TeraGrid supercomputer network. The NSF selected 2,000 fellows from more than 12,000 applicants.

An additional 2,064 applicants received honorable mentions. Among them are Tech students Eric Peterson, a physics PhD student; Eric Wesseldyke, an environmental engineering PhD student; mechanical engineering student Andrew Tulgestke; and Jonathan Ebel, a master’s student in biological sciences. Anieri Morales of the University of Puerto Rico, who plans to pursue a graduate degree at Michigan Tech, also received an honorable mention.

Tech students Erin Thomas and John Lyons, who are earning PhD degrees in mathematical sciences and geophysics, respectively, were selected to participate in NSF’s East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes. The institutes place US graduate students in research labs throughout East Asia and the Pacific, to help students initiate scientific relationships that will lead to future international collaborations. The awards include airfare, lodging, living expenses and a $5,000 stipend.

Thomas will be conduct research in Beijing, while Lyons will travel to Japan.

To learn more about federal funding opportunities for graduate students, attend an information session at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in Fisher 131. Faculty, advisors, undergraduates and graduate students are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Jodi Lehman at 487-2875 or at jglehman@mtu.edu.

Published in Tech Today.

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Sustainability: at the University, in Town, and around the World

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Somewhere in Honduras, in a little village, on a white wall, there is this graffiti:

Ingenieros Sin Fronteras

That’s Spanish for “Engineers Without Borders.”

And the graffiti is signed, in a bold black stroke, Michigan Tech, USA.

That’s how far afield Michigan Tech takes its message–and makes its name known—as students reach out to help people in developing countries—all with an eye on sustainability.  The Sustainable Futures Institute alone is comprised of nine groups, 90 faculty and staff, 21 departments and 90 graduate students. Overall, on campus, there are 41 sustainability groups.

The list of their projects on campus and in the community are ambitious. Scores of recycling containers; firewood sales; solar water heating; using carpets and furniture with recycled components; harnessing wind energy; using biomass to make diesel fuel; planting herbs; protecting wetlands (“Dump no waste. Drains to Portage”).

See Tech Today for the complete news story highlighting the second annual gathering on campus sustainability that was held this week.

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Reminder: Dance and Dinner Hosted for Betty Chavis Scholarship Fund

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Two events will be held to honor Betty Chavis, and proceeds will benefit the new Betty Chavis Scholarship Fund.

Chavis came to Michigan Tech as an admissions officer in the 1980s; directed multiethnic programs; and then recruited students on behalf of the Graduate School. The community knows Chavis in part through her leadership in spearheading the annual Parade of Nations.

The first event on behalf of her scholarship fund is “So You Think You Can’t Dance: We’ll Show You How,” which will be from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 16, in the Memorial Union Commons. Admission is by donation. The event, hosted by the students and alumnae of the Society of Intellectual Sisters, is in conjunction with their 20-Year Reunion festivities during Spring Fling Weekend.

For more information, contact Darnishia Slade at dslade@mtu.edu .

The second event will be a banquet held at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, April 16, at the Magnuson Franklin Square Inn.

Tickets are $50 and are available at www.tickets.mtu.edu, by calling 487-2073, or at the SDC Box Office.

To give directly to the Betty Chavis Scholarship Fund, call the Michigan Tech Fund at 487-2310, or mail a check to the Betty Chavis Scholarship Fund, c/o Michigan Tech Fund, or visit www.mtu.edu/giving. For more information, contact Chris Anderson at csanders@mtu.edu, or Carol Argentati at 487-2474 or caargent@mtu.edu.

Posted in Tech Today.

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MSGC Awards Announced

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Faculty and students have received awards totaling $72,500 through the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Michigan Tech submitted 30 proposals, 16 of which received funding.  See the Tech Today posting for all awardees.

Graduate students receiving $5,000 fellowships are:

  • Dulcinea Avouris (Geology, GMES): “Triggering of Volcanic Activity by Large Earthquakes”
  • Baron Colbert (Civil Engineering, CEE): “Using Nonmetals Separated From E-Waste in Improving the Mechanical Properties of Asphalt Materials”
  • Sarah Gray (Mechanical Engineering, ME): “Bear Parathyroid Hormone as a Treatment for Osteoporosis in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy”
  • John Moyer (Mechanical Engineering, ME): “Effect of Simulated Low Gravity on Compressive Material Properties of Porcine Meniscus”
  • Alicia Sawdon (Chemical Engineering, ChE): “Production of Astaxanthin by Haematococcus pluvialis for Astronauts”
  • Christina Ylitalo (Biomedical Engineering, BME): “Controlling Inflammation Following Traumatic Injury Will Help Prevent Osteoarthritis”
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New Theses and Dissertations Available

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The Graduate School is pleased to announce new theses and dissertations are now available in the J.R. van Pelt and Opie Library from the following programs:

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Environmental Policy
  • Forestry
  • Geology
  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
  • Rhetoric and Technical Communication
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David Clark Represented Michigan Tech for MAGS Teaching Award

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David Clark represented Michigan Tech for the MAGS Excellence in Teaching Award
David Clark was selected by the Dean’s Advisory Panel to represent Michigan Tech as a nominee for the Midwestern Association of Graduate School’s Excellence in Teaching Award.  David was nominated by his department, Mathematical Sciences.

In his nomination letter, Dr. Gockenbach noted that, “Mr. Clark is a dynamic and innovative classroom teacher, and he has been a leader among both graduate students and faculty in promoting a thoughtful approach to teaching improvement.”

David is a PhD candidate in mathematical sciences, and is advised by Professor Vladimir Tonchev.

This is the inaugural year of this award. Full details on the nomination procedure are available online.

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Library Offers Copyright Workshop

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Do you need permission every time you use someone else’s work? Can you show an entire movie in your class? What is Educational Fair Use? The answers to these copyright questions and more will be explored by copyright librarian Nora Allred.

The workshop will be at 1 p.m., Tuesday, April 12, and repeated at 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in Library 244.

The Library offers weekly workshops all semester on different resources that will give you an academic edge or save time. Workshops take place on alternate Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 1 p.m., in Library 244. Each workshop is offered twice to accommodate class schedules.

Published in Tech Today

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“South Pacific”: an Epic Musical Extravaganza at the Rozsa

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The Tech Theatre Company, the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and a large cast of local actors, students, faculty and production crew bring Rodgers and Hammerstein’s epic musical “South Pacific” to the Rozsa Center stage at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 14-16.

James A. Michener’s exotic “Tales of the South Pacific” come to life in this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic. The musical takes audiences on a romantic journey to two islands in the South Pacific during WWII. The song “Bali H’ai” sets a mysterious tone, “Cockeyed Optimist” will charm one and all, and “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame” will get everyone’s toes a’ tapping.

According to Patricia Helsel, production director, “This is the first large-scale musical we’ve done at Michigan Tech for some time.” Choral Director Jared Anderson is the vocal coach and music director. Assistant Professor Joel Neves will conduct the KSO pit orchestra. Students and faculty have committed their talents to the design and production of what promises to be a phenomenal musical spectacle.

Mark Oliver, a seasoned community actor, is playing Emile. Chemistry senior Tanya Johnson plays Nellie. Christopher Schwartz, PhD candidate in biological sciences (research area: exercise science), plays Lt. Cable. Michigan Tech student Kiersten Birando, also a graduate of Houghton High School, plays the role of Liat. Alesha Fumbanks, a chemical engineering major, plays Bloody Mary. Chip Rohrer, a theatre and electronic media performance major, takes the role of Luther Billis.

1940’s haircuts are courtesy of Hairsmiths Inc. Bicycle props are from the Bike Shop. Portage Health sponsors the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

Ticket prices are $15 for the general public, $7 for students, and free for Tech students with ID. To purchase tickets, contact the Rozsa Box Office at 487-3200, the Central Ticket Office (SDC) at 487-2073, or go online at www.tickets.mtu.edu .

No refunds, exchanges or late seating, please.

submitted by Visual and Performing Arts
Published in Tech Today

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