Graduate School Newsblog

Author: Debra Charlesworth

Nominations for The DeVlieg Foundation Fellowships open

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Nominations are now open for the DeVlieg Foundation Fellowships.  There are a number of changes to the competition this year, so please read the announcement carefully.

All graduate programs may nominate one eligible PhD student per program.  There will be two recipients – each will receive a stipend for summer 2012 plus support for one credit of tuition.  Eligible students will meet all of the following criteria:

  1. Must be a graduate student in one of the fields supported by the DeVlieg Foundation:
    1. Engineering or a closely related field, OR
    2. Wildlife/biology
  2. Must be a US citizen or permanent resident.
  3. Must be enrolled in a PhD program.
  4. Must be nominated by student’s graduate program.  Each PhD program may nominate one student.

Nominations are due no later than 4pm on February 16, 2012 to the Graduate School. Please address to the attention of Debra Charlesworth.

There will be no applications accepted this year for students at the MS level.

Please see our web page for details on the application procedure and materials needed.  Each program may determine its own internal selection procedure.

Please contact Debra Charlesworth with any questions.

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2012 Sumitro Fellows Program

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Application Deadline: January 15, 2012

The United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO) is pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2012 Sumitro Fellows Program. The Sumitro Fellows Program is a $10,000 travel/study grant for postdoctoral scholars, PhD candidates, senior academics, and otherwise professionally qualified candidates to engage in field research. One Fellowship is available for a United States citizen/permanent resident for research relating to the political economy of Indonesia. One Fellowship is also available for an Indonesian citizen with a project related to the Indonesian-United States relationship.

The Sumitro Fellows program honors Dr. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, Indonesia’s senior economist and co-founder of USINDO, who passed away in 2001. An architect of Indonesia’s modern economy, Professor Sumitro headed the faculty of economics at the University of Indonesia, and was later a Minister of Trade and Minister of State for Research.

Eligibility Requirements

American applicants for the Sumitro Fellowship must be United States citizens or permanent residents in the United States with a specific project on Indonesia’s political economy. Applications outside the scope of economics or political economy will not be considered.

Indonesian applicants for the Sumitro Fellowship must be Indonesian citizens with a specific project on any aspect of the Indonesian-U.S. bilateral relationship. Applications related to solely American topics, Indonesian topics, or to non-U.S./non-Asian themes will not be considered.

For more information, please go to:

www.usindo.org/usindo-grants/sumitro-fellows or email sumitro@usindo.org.

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IIASA Young Scientist Summer Program 2012

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Application Deadline: January 16, 2012

Each summer, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), located in Schloss Laxenburg near Vienna, Austria, hosts a selected group of graduate students, primarily doctoral, from around the world in its Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP). These students work closely with an IIASA senior scientist mentor on a project
proposed by the student, related to his or her graduate research.

Fellows selected by IIASA will receive funding to cover travel to IIASA and a modest living allowance.

IIASA is an international institution, supported by the US and 17 other member nations, engaged in scientific research aimed at providing policy insight on issues of regional and global importance in the following fields:

Program Areas

  • Energy
  • Transitions to New Technologies
  • Advanced Systems Analysis
  • Ecosystem Services and Management
  • Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases
  • Evolution and Ecology
  • World Population
  • Risk Policy and Vulnerability
  • Water

Global Program Areas

  • Energy and Climate Change
  • Food and Water
  • Poverty and Equity

Detailed information about each program is on the IIASA website: www.iiasa.ac.at/

For questions, please contact either Tanja Huber at Huber@iiasa.ac.at, or Margaret Goud in the U.S. at IIASAyssp@nas.edu.

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Board of Control Approves New Degree Programs

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At its regular meeting on Friday, Dec. 9, the Board of Control approved two new master’s degree programs, two new bachelor’s programs and a new PhD program. The new degrees–in medical informatics, biomedical engineering, biochemistry and molecular biology, physics and physics for high school teachers–now must go to the academic affairs officers of the Presidents’ Council, State Universities of Michigan, for review and approval.

The new master’s degrees reflect Michigan Tech’s commitment to providing the kind of education that industry is seeking. “The demand for master’s degrees is growing in industry,” said Provost Max Seel, “and we are trying to be proactive in meeting that need.”

The advancement of technology in the medical field, accompanied by the need to track and analyze vast amounts of data while keeping sensitive data confidential, created the need for the biomedical and medical informatics programs, he added.
The master’s degrees are professional degrees, designed to prepare students to work in the increasingly complex and demanding STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) specialties, Seel explained.

The University has also put in place an accelerated master’s degree framework, Seel noted. “We want students to know that at Michigan Tech, you can go straight through to a master’s degree,” he said.

The accelerated master’s program will enable students to complete a master’s degree in a shorter period of time than previously was possible. Biomedical engineering, the School of Technology and mechanical engineering are the first ones planning to offer an accelerated master’s degree.

The new PhD is a nondepartmental program in biochemistry and molecular biology, drawing on existing faculty and existing courses, Seel said.

The two new physics degrees are a Bachelor of Arts in Physics and a Bachelor of Arts in Physics with a concentration in secondary education.

“The motivation for offering a BA degree in physics is to give students who are not planning to study physics in graduate school a strong foundation in physics but significantly fewer physics course requirements than our current BS programs,” Seel explained. “The resulting flexibility will allow students to pursue other scholarly interests and career goals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, business, entrepreneurship, medicine and law. Physics can provide an excellent foundation for interdisciplinary endeavors in all of these fields.”

Seel said the University is also following a recommendation of the Gender Equity report of the American Physical Society to increase participation of women in physics. The recommendation reads: “Make it easier to enter a physics program after the first year to allow for late starters or those with lower initial preparation in mathematics. Create flexible tracks for physics majors to allow interdisciplinary studies or to pursue an education degree.”

The BA in Physics with a concentration in secondary education is designed to prepare more students to become high school physics teachers.

“The preparation of teaching professionals in the sciences has become an issue of national concern,” President Glenn Mroz said. “We are very fortunate in our local school districts to have excellent high school teachers with strong science credentials, but this is simply not true nationally. And if students don’t have good science teachers in K-12, they will not be prepared to pursue the math and science-related degrees in college that are in the highest demand for jobs.”

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

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Nominations open for MAGS Excellence in Teaching Award

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Nominations are now open for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Excellence in Teaching Awards.  Michigan Tech may nominate one student at the MS and PhD level.  Nominations are due to Debra Charlesworth no later than 4pm, January 18 2012.

Eligible students

  • will be enrolled at Michigan Tech for spring 2012 and have a teaching appointment
  • will have earned the Michigan Tech Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award
  • will have an excellent teaching portfolio and student evaluations

See the application page for complete details on what is required for a nomination.  Note that a new requirement this year is a 10 minute video showing the nominee’s “Teaching in Action.”  Note that the deadline for the video only has been extended to February 6, 2012.

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December 14: Graduate School Brown Bag Lunch and Learn

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Has the end of the semester left you feeling overwhelmed and wondering how you can manage the demands of your work, school, and family?

If so, on December 14th from noon – 1pm, join presenters from Counseling and Wellness Services as they present tips relevant to time management for graduate students.  We’ll provide soft drinks (soda and water), chips, and desert – bring your own lunch.

Register online to save your seat and receive the location of the seminar.  Seating is limited – register early!

Questions?  Contact Debra Charlesworth.

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Student Veterans Honored at Midyear Commencement

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For the first time at Michigan Tech, graduating student veterans will be honored at commencement with red, white and blue cords in recognition of their service to the country.

Three graduates will wear the cords this fall and be recognized by President Glenn Mroz during commencement on Saturday, Dec. 10, in the SDC Wood Gym. The students are:

  • Mike Geiersbach of Wheeler (Marine Corps/Military Police), who served more than four years and is graduating with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.
  • Sue Larson of Waupaca, Wisc. (Air Force), who served six years and is receiving an MS in Environmental Engineering Science.
  • Matt Smith of Hancock (Air Force/Security Forces), who served two years and is receiving a BS in Electrical Engineering Technology.

Larson, a graduate student, said: “I think it’s great that Michigan Tech is so supportive of the student veteran population and has chosen to distinguish us in this way. It will be an honor to be among the first veterans to wear the new red, white and blue cords.”

The presentation of the cords reflects the growing number of activities and services on campus that focus on students who are veterans or children of veterans. This initiative is being coordinated by Veterans’ Services/Registrar’s Office and the Vice President for Student Affairs Office.

Submitted by Kathy Pintar, veteran school certifying official, registrar’s office
Published in Tech Today

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Education in Tune with Industry Raises Michigan Tech’s Job Placement Rate to Nearly 95 Percent

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As Michigan Governor Rick Snyder takes the podium at Delta College today to talk about the need for more highly skilled workers to meet Michigan employers’ needs, Michigan Tech reports that its job placement rate has risen to an astonishing 94.6 percent.

At its most recent Career Fair in September, the University hosted 720 recruiters from 245 companies. Students participated in more than 4,200 interviews at the event and in the days immediately following it. The University has another Career Fair scheduled for February 2012.

“Employers measure us by the performance of our alumni working at their companies,” said Jim Turnquist, director of Career Services. “We have a reputation for excellence.”

And employers are willing to pay for excellence, Turnquist noted. For example, the average salary reported by a 2011 Michigan Tech graduate in software engineering was $67,000; biomedical engineering, $60,000; and electrical engineering, $58,561. The national average salary of a 2011 college graduate was $51,171, according to the latest report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

In Snyder’s fifth special message to the Legislature since he took office Jan. 1, the governor is expected to outline his plan for improving ties among employers, educators and students to better match job skills to employers’ needs.

“At a time when many are questioning the value of a college education, we stress an education that meets both the needs of the students and the requirements of industry. It’s part of our DNA at Michigan Tech,” said President Glenn Mroz. “We work hand in hand with the industries that employ our graduates, through co-ops, internships and our signature Enterprise Program–where students work in teams to solve industry problems–to make sure our graduates are well-qualified to enter the workforce.”

During the economic downturn in 2009, the University’s traditionally high job placement rate dropped to 83.1 percent, still well above the national average of 63.7 percent. But Turnquist saw the economy starting to take a turn for the better in late 2010, as more recruiters began coming to campus.

“Companies are retooling and reengineering, and they’re hiring our people to do it,” he said.

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

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Jackson Teacher Honored

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A teacher in Jackson won a national award for his teaching of high school astronomy and attributes the honor in part to Michigan Tech.

Mark Reed, who teaches at Jackson High School and Lumen Christi High School, won the Thomas J. Brennan Award for 2011 from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Reed was cited for exceptional commitment to classroom or planetarium education.

He is involved with Tech’s Michigan Teacher Excellence Program (MiTEP). He spent a week on campus in 2011 and will spend another week in 2012. He describes the classes and fieldwork as “wonderful”–“They get the creative juices going.”

At Tech, he worked with faculty and doctoral students, including Professor Bill Rose (GMES) and graduate student Mark Klawiter (GMES).

MiTEP is funded by the National Science Foundation to improve Earth science education nationwide.

Participation can lead to a master’s degree in applied science education.

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US Department of Homeland Security Summer 2012 Research Experiences

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offers a variety of summer research opportunities.  See their web site for more information:

http://www.orau.gov/dhseducationprograms

DHS HS-STEM Summer Internship Program

  • Undergraduate students
  • 10 week research experience
  • $5,000 stipend plus travel expenses
  • Areas of research:
    • Engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological/life sciences, environmental science, emergency and incident management, social sciences
  • Projects offered at:
    • National research laboratories: Argonne, Idaho, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, Sandia, Savannah River
    • DHS laboratories: Transportation Security Laboratory
    • Other research facilities, including Air Force Research Laboratory, Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute, National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • Locations include CA, CO, ID, IL, MD, NM, NJ, OH, SC, TN, WA, VA
  • U.S. citizenship required
  • Application deadline: January 5, 2012

DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions

  • Early career faculty teamed with undergraduate and graduate students
  • 10-week summer research experiences at university-based DHS Centers of Excellence nationwide
  • Faculty and student stipends, housing allowances, travel expenses
  • Areas of research:
    • Homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics
  • Faculty apply for up to $50,000 in follow-on funding at end of summer
  • US citizenship required
  • Faculty application deadline: January 8, 2012

Questions regarding DHS Education Programs can be sent via e-mail to
dhsed@orau.org.

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