Author: Debra Charlesworth

Rail Transportation Program Announces Cross-Disciplinary Scholarship Opportunities

Over $10,000 in designated railroad scholarships are available for graduate or undergraduate students in any discipline with an interest in railroad transportation. Interested students are encourage to apply for AREMA, CSX Transportation and UP Railroad scholarships.

CSX Transportation offers two $1,000 Diversity Scholarships open to all undergraduate students in any discipline with an interest in railroad transportation. Preference will be given to females and minorities involved in rail activities.

UP Railroad has three scholarships available to students (graduate or undergraduate) in any discipline with an interest in rail transportation. Each scholarship is worth $2,000.

American Railway and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) has two $1,000 scholarships available for Rail Engineering and Activities Club (REAC) members. One scholarship will be available to an officer of REAC and another awarded to a student involved with the club. All applications to AREMA are eligible for over $37,000 of other AREMA scholarships. In the past, Michigan Tech students have received numerous AREMA scholarships.

CSX and UP applications must be received by Bill Sproule by Friday, March 5. AREMA scholarships must be received by AREMA by Friday, March 12. Only one AREMA application is necessary for all available AREMA scholarships.

Guidelines and applications
can be downloaded online.

Published in Tech Today

Notes from Iraq

We had a chance to talk with Lt. Col. Otha Thornton via email and a 15-minute telephone call.

The former leader of the Army ROTC program, who also was our commencement speaker in May of 2009, is stationed in Iraq at Camp Victory in north Baghdad. He is helping facilitate the drawdown of troops, but his biggest and most challenging job is what he calls “casualty operations,” which involves taking care of the wounded and the deceased.

“Probably one of the toughest jobs I’ve had,” he says. “We track the fallen from the time they go down until they get to the US. To perform these duties–from the front of the spear–truly reinforces the gravity of our business.”

How is he treated by locals?

“Very well. I deal with both civilians and military. They’re appreciative of what we’re doing.”

The war is divisive on the home front. What’s the mood among the soldiers?

“The morale is pretty good. They’re highly disciplined. They understand why they’re here and what they’re doing. In the military, you pray for peace but prepare for war.”

Are you in harm’s way?

“Yes.”

Are you scared?

“No. I believe when it’s a person’s time to go, it’s time to go. I wake up and take care of my profession for the day. Then the next day I get up and do it all over again.”

Is the American public well-informed or misinformed about the war?

“Generally pretty well informed. They realize that Iraq can be a regional model of democracy.”

Where is your family?

“My wife and son are in Maryland. I talk to them at least once a week. The technology to do that from the battlefield is wonderful.”

Do you miss Houghton?

“Oh, yeah. I’m coming home in April and I’ll be up to visit in the spring or fall. I’m counting the days.”

Over 20 years in the military, Thornton has served in 22 countries but never traveled far from his values. “I am extremely proud to be an American,” he says.

He was stationed at Michigan Tech from 1999 to 2002 and served as a recruiter, public affairs officer and assistant professor of military science. While here, he earned a master’s degree in rhetoric and technical communication. He received the Outstanding Alumni Award in 2003.

by John Gagnon, promotional writer
Published in Tech Today

Getting Rid of the Bad Stuff

MBA student Cynthia Hodur learned firsthand about getting rid of trans fats, those ubiquitous bad food particles. On a student team in Dana Johnson’s operations and quality management class, she researched and applied her knowledge to a local hospital project and got great results.

“Instead of reading about it, we actually did it in a real-world way that will help the community,” she says of her experience on behalf of Portage Health. The hospital was the first in the Upper Peninsula to go trans-fat free, with help from the Tech students.

Hodur appreciated the opportunity to tackle such a timely problem with her team’s two-pronged approach, especially since she works as a facilities and event coordinator at the Memorial Union.

“First, our research group focused on policy,” she says. “We looked at what had been done globally, with the United Nations, and then we researched further from there: federally, state, and at the organizational level.”

She says the American Heart Association’s trans-fat lawsuit with McDonald’s restaurants was important. In the suit, McDonald’s was supposed to change its oil, but it didn’t. She had inside knowledge there, having worked for the American Heart Association at the time.

“We were working with the schools then,” she says, “building on an existing program.”

That background information also helped her at Tech, where her second group–applying the information they’d gleaned–looked at recipes and various food products to get rid of the trans fats at Portage Health.

“We looked at everything from cookbooks to working with vendors to vending machines,” she says. “We found substitutes for cooking, like applesauce for oil, and for baking, where a substitute for shortening has been used successfully, for example.”

Along the way, she learned from her teammates.

“There was a variety of people, and we were paired by interests,” she says. “One of the women was a Six Sigma Greenbelt expert on flowcharts!” So, Hodur’s process-chart-producing expertise was accelerated.

And they weren’t all MBAs, said Johnson, an associate professor in the School of Business and Economics. They had graduate students from civil engineering, mechanical engineering and elsewhere. Focusing on the same goal, Johnson said, they would come at it from different angles.

Johnson also stressed the importance of “students working with a real, live project, instead of case studies, which become outdated very quickly.”

The project did indeed take a well-rounded approach to the problem. “The students looked at cost benefits, working with vendors Sysco and Reinhart, even Portage Point (the hospital’s long-term senior housing operation), and its food service customer relations,” she said.

They worked closely with Paul Skinner, director of Portage’s nutritional services, she said. He was important from a management perspective, and he was in charge of recipes.

“We looked at processes and procedures to make sure they are accurate,” Johnson said, noting that they even looked at the definition of “trans fat-free,” which can still include .49 grams of trans fats. Portage Health went below that measure, she said.

“The costs involved in going trans fat-free were not as significant as they thought,” she added.

She also sees potential for future work.

“We plan on helping them with their seating capacity at Portage Health,” she said. “We’ll be working with them as they expand their capacity, using a green perspective to identify environmentally friendly dinnerware.”

They also plan on looking at the recycling in the hospital to make it more cost effective and efficient, Johnson said.

“We’ll be looking at Styrofoam,” she said, “how it can work within a recycling system.”

This marks the fourth year for the class tackling problems for Portage Health, and she’s also placed three interns into the organization.

Hodur truly enjoys the graduate school experience, including the Portage Health project, and her position at the Memorial Union. She has her sights set on a future marketing position.

“My husband and I moved here because we love the area,” she said. “Working and taking classes at Michigan Tech have been a nice bonus.”

by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor
Published in Tech Today

Nominations Open for Dean’s Fellowships

Nominations are now open for the Graduate School Dean’s Fellowship.  Nominations are due no later than 4pm on March 1, 2010 in the Graduate School.

This fellowship assists with the recruitment of highly talented applicants to Michigan Tech’s PhD programs.

Please see our web page for full details on eligibility and the application procedure.  Questions may be directed to Debra Charlesworth.

Business Plan Competition Deadline Approaches

Want to see your business ideas grow? Enter the first Michigan Tech Business Plan Competition.

Wednesday, February 3, is the registration deadline for the competition, hosted by Michigan Tech’s Institute for Global Learning and Entrepreneurship, the School of Business and Economics and the Michigan Tech SmartZone. Michigan Tech graduate and undergraduate students as well as Finlandia University students are eligible to enter.

If you’re interested in entering a team, send an email to remark@mtu.edu by 5 p.m., Wednesday. In the email, list the names and email addresses of all team members and a one paragraph summary of your business idea.

Ten teams will be selected to present their plans to a panel of judges. Prizes will be awarded to first, second and third places.

Announced in Tech Today

Call for Abstracts for the Annual ESC/BRC Graduate Research Forum

Graduate students from any department conducting research related to ecology, the environment or biotechnology are invited to submit titles and abstracts for poster presentations at the sixth annual ESC/BRC Graduate Research Forum from 3 to 5 p.m., Friday, March 26, in the atrium of the UJ Noblet Forestry Building.

The purpose of the forum is to allow graduate students working in these fields an opportunity to present their research, provide valuable experience preparing for regional or national meetings, showcase new results and find out what others are doing.

Abstracts must be submitted electronically to esc@mtu.edu as an attachment in Word by noon, Friday, March 5.

Posters will need to be set up by noon, Thursday, March 25, to allow time for judging, and there will be a pizza social following the forum from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday.

A poster presentation workshop will be given by David Flaspohler (SFRES) and Erik Lilleskov (SFRES) from 4 to 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 12, in the Noblet Forestry Building G002.

For more information, contact Jill Fisher at jhfisher@mtu.edu .

Nominations for Summer and Fall Finishing Fellowships Open

Nominations for summer and fall 2010 finishing fellowships are now open.  Nominations are due no later than March 18, 2010 at 4pm.

Students are eligible if all of the following criteria are met:

  1. Must be a PhD student.
  2. Must expect to finish during the semester supported as a finishing fellow.
  3. Must be eligible for Research Only Mode during the semester supported is requested.

Please see the application page for complete information on eligibility and the application procedure.

Reminder: Nominations for the DeVlieg Fellowship due February 4th

The Graduate School is accepting nominations for the 2010 DeVlieg Foundation Graduate Fellowships.  Applications are due in the Graduate School no later than 4 pm on February 4, 2010.

This year, The DeVlieg Foundation will provide $3,000 for up to four doctoral students and $1,500 for two master’s students in support of research in engineering or a closely related field. Only US citizens are eligible for the fellowships, which may be used to supplement other fellowships or assistantships.  Complete details on eligibility and application process can be found on our web page.

Please contact Debra Charlesworth with any questions.

Graduate Students and Programs in the News

Humanities PhD candidate Roxane Gay’s father, Michael Gay, was interviewed on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” on Monday, Jan. 25. A Haitian-American contractor, Gay is in Haiti helping clear debris and plan for reconstruction after the island nation’s devastating earthquake. The NPR broadcast is available online.

Last week Ruth Archer, director of graduate business programs, was featured in the article, “How Online Universities Really Stack Up,” on Janine Swenson’s blog, internetevolution.com . According to their website, “Internet Evolution aims to view the future of the Internet through a prism of pragmatism.” The blog discussed online education and included input from a professor, course developer and student. More information is available on the SBE news website.

A news story about Michigan Tech’s research regarding the Haitian disaster was featured in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, Jan. 24.

Published in Tech Today

Record Enrollment for Spring 2010

The final preliminary spring 2010 enrollment numbers are out and the Graduate School is pleased to announce that  Michigan Tech has a record enrollment of graduate students.

Total graduate headcount is 1189 which is an increase of 212 or 21.7% over the spring 2009 numbers.

Total graduate student credit hours are 8162.5 which is an increase of 1411.0 or 20.9% over the Spring 2009 numbers.

Total 1st time master’s students are 71 which is an increase of 21 or 42.0% over the spring 2009 numbers.

Total 1st time doctoral students are 31 which is an increase of 6 or 24.0% over the spring 2009 numbers.

The Graduate School would like to thank everyone involved in achieving these numbers from our graduate students, faculty, directors and assistants, to the Registrar’s office for diligently working to recruit and enroll the newest students in our programs.  These numbers are very encouraging and are moving us closer to our goal of having 1250 graduate students at Michigan Tech.

For more information about future recruiting efforts and ways the Graduate School can assist programs with recruiting, please contact Jacque Smith, director of graduate marketing and advancement.

Read more in Tech Today.