Graduate School Newsblog

Author: Debra Charlesworth

Students Earn NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

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Four Michigan Tech students have received graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Six other Tech students received honorable mentions in the competition. Nationwide, the NSF awarded 2,000 fellowships and 1,835 honorable mentions.

Mark Hopkins, (graduate student) mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics; Brennan Tymrak, mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics and Peace Corps Master’s International; Jennifer Fuller, civil and environmental engineering; and Liz Cloos, electrical and computer engineering, received NSF fellowships for graduate study. Bryan Plunger (graduate student, mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics), Alan Olds, Evan Lucas, Hilary Morgan (graduate student, geology), Byrel Mitchell (graduate student, mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics) and Patrick Bowen (graduate student, materials science and engineering) earned honorable mentions.

NSF graduate research fellowships recognize and support outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees. The fellows receive a $30,000 annual stipend for three years, plus international research and professional development opportunities and supercomputer access. Each fellow’s institution receives a $12,000 allowance.

“This group is exceptional and well deserving of the awards and honors,” said Jodi Lehman, coordinator of sponsored programs enhancement. Lehman worked closely with the NSF graduate research fellowship applicants. “Their success is also largely due to faculty and administrators who are committed to providing our students with the challenging academic experiences, innovative research, leadership training, and local and global outreach opportunities that make Michigan Tech applicants competitive.”

by Jennifer Donovan, director, public relations
Published in Tech Today

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It’s Boom Time in Small-town Wisconsin

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What’s causing the booms in Clintonville? Residents of the small Wisconsin town have been hearing deep, rumbling sounds from time to time since March 18. To find out why, a professor and his grad students are lending their expertise.

Greg Waite, assistant professor of geology, along with graduate students Josh Richardson and Kathleen McKee, installed four seismometers and eight sound sensors around Clintonville, with help from City of Clintonville workers. They are trying to record anything that could relate to the booms that began last month.

“These types of noises have been reported for small shallow earthquakes in many places worldwide,” Waite said. “However, the noises in Clintonville were somewhat difficult to explain, because earthquakes are uncommon in Wisconsin, and most of sounds were not accompanied by felt earthquakes.”

For the full story, see Boom.

by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor
Published in Tech Today

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Michigan Tech Remains the Nation’s Top Peace Corps Master’s International Graduate School

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Michigan Tech ranks as the No. 1 Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) university nationwide for the seventh consecutive year. With 31 PCMI graduate students currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers, Michigan Tech has earned top spot in the 2012 rankings of Peace Corps’ Master’s International and Paul D. Coverdell Fellows graduate schools.

The Peace Corps’ Master’s International program allows students to incorporate Peace Corps service as credit toward their graduate degree. The Coverdell Fellows Program provides returned Peace Corps volunteers with scholarships, academic credit and stipends to earn an advanced degree after they complete their Peace Corps service.

“The heart of the program is the students we attract, not just in numbers, but in quality,” said Professor Blair Orr (SFRES), PCMI director. “They bring an interest in the world at large and the desire to help others. They return from two years in a different country with stories of new friends, new ideas and a different perspective on how things do work and should work. They have succeeded professionally and personally in a different culture. Many of the skills and traits they acquire along the way are also the skills that employers are looking for.”

Michigan Tech became a Master’s International partner in 1995. Offering eight distinct graduate programs affiliated with Peace Corps, Michigan Tech has the largest number of Peace Corps Master’s International programs in the country. They include Applied Science Education, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Rhetoric and Technical Communication, Biological Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Applied Natural Resource Economics, and Forestry.

Michigan Tech’s PCMI graduate students have served in many countries, including Armenia, Belize, Bulgaria, Fiji, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Paraguay, Uganda and Zambia. More than 190 Michigan Tech alumni have served in the Peace Corps overall. There are also students enrolled in the program who are on campus fulfilling the academic portions of their master’s degree, including Megan Abbott, who recently returned from Belize, and Colin Casey, who is back from Uganda.

2012 Top Peace Corps Master’s International institutions:
(The number in parenthesis is the number of students enrolled in the program and serving overseas as of Sept. 30, 2011.)

  • Michigan Technological University (31)
  • Tulane University (27)
  • University of Washington (26)
  • Monterey Institute of International Studies (26)
  • University of South Florida (22)

About the Master’s International Program
Peace Corps partners with more than 80 colleges and universities nationwide to enable students to earn a master’s degree while serving in the Peace Corps. Students begin their studies on campus, serve overseas for two years, then return to school to finish graduate work. As part of the service, volunteers work on projects related to their master’s studies. The program began at Rutgers University–Camden in 1987 and since then, more than 1,000 volunteers have participated. For more information, visit Master’s Program.

About the Peace Corps
Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961, more than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 host countries. Today, 9,095 volunteers are working with local communities in 75 host countries. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment, and the agency’s mission is to promote world peace and friendship and a better understanding between Americans and people of other countries. For more information, visit Peace Corps.

by Jennifer Donovan, director, public relations
Published in Tech Today

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ESC/BRC Research Poster Forum Winners Announced

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The Ecosystem Science Center and the Biotechnology Research Center announced the award recipients of the eighth annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum, held March 30.

Graduate students received four grand prize awards and six merit awards. They were selected from among the 59 posters and abstracts about research related to ecology, the environment and biotechnology.

Each center also awarded a grand prize to an undergraduate researcher in a separate division of 17 submissions.

Posters are on display in the atrium of the Forestry building through April 13.

For more information, see ESC/BRC.

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Eighth Annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum

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All faculty, staff and students are invited to attend the Eighth Annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum, held from 3 to 5 p.m., Friday, March 30, in the Noblet atrium. Awards and pizza will follow.

Undergraduate and graduate students working in ecosystem science and biotechnology fields will present their research posters in separate competitions. Odd-numbered posters will present from 3 to 4 p.m., and even-numbered will present from 4 to 5 p.m.

To view the list of participants and their abstracts, see Graduate Students and Undergraduate Students.

For more information, contact Jill Fisher, program manager for the ESC, at jhfisher@mtu.edu , or Mary Tassava, program manager for the BRC, at mltassav@mtu.edu

Published in Tech Today

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Alumnus Presents at Humanities Distinguished Lecture Series

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Gerald Savage, professor emeritus at Illinois State University, will present “Beyond Politeness: How Might We Make Social Justice a Central Value in Technical Communication Education” at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 29, in the Noblet Forestry Lecture Hall. There will be a reception to follow in the atrium.

Savage received master’s and PhD degrees in rhetoric and technical communication from Michigan Tech in 1991 and 1995. He will discuss communication across national and cultural boundaries and focus on “inequities of power and hierarchy.”

Savage comes as a part of the Humanities Distinguished Lecture Series

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Students place at SEG Challenge Bowl

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Two students from the geological and mining engineering and sciences department were runners-up at the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) Challenge Bowl recently. Josh Richards, a PhD candidate in geophysics, and Chad (Danford) Moore, a senior in applied geophysics, took second place at the Sixth Annual Sooner Challenge Bowl at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

The SEG Challenge Bowl is an international contest testing students’ breadth and depth of knowledge about the field of geoscience. The quiz-show format features intense competition, as the contestants attempt to buzz in first with the answers to challenging geoscience questions.

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Be an MBA: Info Session

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The School of Business and Economics will host an information session for students who are interested in earning their MBA after their undergraduate degree at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 27, in Fisher 130.

Participants will get a chance to meet with MBA admissions staff, alumni and faculty members. Faculty are encouraged to inform students about this opportunity.

For more information, contact Jodie Filpus, MBA Admissions and Recruitment, at 487-3055 or at jrfilpus@mtu.edu .

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Tech Students Converge in Lansing for Graduate Education Day

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Four graduate students are going to Lansing for Graduate Education Day, Thursday, March 29. Governor Rick Snyder has declared the week of March 26 as Graduate Education Week, and more than 50 students from universities and colleges across the state will meet with legislators at the Capitol Building in Lansing.

Students will meet with their hometown legislators to discuss their studies and future plans and will also present their research and degree-related projects.

Attending from Michigan Tech are:

  • Mark Hopkins, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering from Charlotte. He will be discussing his work on in-space electric rockets.
  • Stephanie Groves, a PhD candidate in biological sciences from Scottville. She will be presenting on converting industrial waste to biofuels and other products.
  • Emily Gochis, a PhD candidate in geology from Ann Arbor. She will discuss geoscience education.
  • Andrew Drees, a PhD candidate in electrical engineering from Stevensville. He will discuss a “smart grid” power system for use on Michigan Tech’s campus.

The governor and legislature have acknowledged that graduate education is key to Michigan’s economic growth and stability. Graduate education in Michigan is highly productive, contributing directly to the well-being of the state and its capacity to meet the challenges of the future.

Last year, Michigan’s four-year public and private colleges and universities awarded more than 20,000 master’s degrees and 5,000 doctorates, with Michigan ranking ninth among states in the US for the number of research-based doctorates awarded.

by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor
Published in Tech Today

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