Graduate School Newsblog

Category: News

Interesting stories about and for our students.

Library Hosts “Wilson Web” Workshop

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

The third workshop, at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 8, repeated Wednesday, Feb. 16, will address important changes to the H. W. Wilson databases.

Long considered the breadbasket of the General Education curriculum, these databases are migrating from FirstSearch to the WilsonWeb platform.

Wilson Web is a new, easy-to-use way of searching across the library’s Wilson databases that cover business, education, humanities, biological and agricultural sciences, and more using a single search. Searches link you to full-text publications and allow refinements, including “peer reviewed only.” The workshop will demonstrate this new user interface with enhancements, including text-to-speech.

This spring’s workshops will focus on resume building, material science resources, managing citations and many more. The library welcomes feedback and ideas for future workshops. Email them at library@mtu.edu.

Published in Tech Today.

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Alumni Gifts Underwrite New Computing Research Center

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The new Paul and Susan Williams Center for Computer Systems Research will soon provide a space where Michigan Tech’s computer scientists and engineers can put their heads together.

Equipment and furnishings for the 10,000-square-foot center are made possible by a gift from Paul Williams, a 1961 electrical engineering graduate. Williams, of Torrance, Calif., is a retired engineer who spent nearly all of his career with Hughes Aircraft.

Donations from other alumni are underwriting the costs of remodeling the fifth floor of the Electrical Energy Resources Center, which will house the new facility. The space was formerly occupied by the Seaman Mineral Museum. The construction project is funded by gifts from the James Fugere Foundation and the Dave House Family Foundation, along with numerous other donations alumni have made over the last several years.

The Williams Center will support research on real-time, high-performance computing and information processing; computer-aided design of digital systems; and embedded and distributed computer systems.

“Our aim is to bring together people from all parts of campus with a common interest in computing systems research,” said Dan Fuhrmann, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The Williams Center will be for faculty and students alike, for graduate students and undergraduates. It represents a huge leap forward in realizing Paul Williams’ vision of state-of-the-art facilities in electrical engineering, computer engineering and computer science, that were simply not available at Michigan Tech in 1961.”

Williams is also supporting Tech’s Paul and Susan Williams Endowed Scholarship, to be awarded annually to a graduate of his other alma mater, Negaunee High School. Preference will be given to electrical engineering majors.

The center has been a cooperative effort. “We’re excited about working with the Department of Computer Science on this,” said Fuhrmann. “We’ll be looking at experimental architectures, new applications and new ways of doing computing.”

Steven Carr, interim chair of computer science, is equally enthusiastic. “It’s a really neat opportunity for our departments to collaborate in a much more defined way,” he said. “We have always worked well together, and there are faculty in both departments who have the potential to cooperate closely on large projects. The center will play a big role in making that happen.”

The Williams Center concept grew from the Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative in computational discovery and innovation. “It’s helping realize the goals of the SFHI, to raise the level of computing studies campus wide,” Fuhrmann said. “As we develop the resources made possible with this gift, we’ll be reaching out to others on campus for interesting computational problems.”

A grand opening for the center is expected in August. The facility will house 10 faculty offices, a conference room, a seminar room, two small meeting rooms, common areas for graduate student desks and lab space and a social area overlooking the Keweenaw Waterway. “It was designed to draw people together,” Fuhrmann said. “And the fact that it was made possible entirely through alumni donations is just phenomenal.”

Published in Tech Today.

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Why Teach? The Importance of K-12 Engineering Education

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The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) invites you to join us in this exciting dialogue entitled: Why Teach? The Importance of K-12 Engineering Education. The event will take place on Monday, January 24, 2011 at 6pm in Fisher 133. Dr. Charles Margraves from the Mechanical Engineering department will provide insight into the importance of staying connected to our youth through teaching, and Dr. Shari Stockero from the Mathematical Sciences department will discuss the NOYCE program. Refreshments provided. For more information contact KL Jordan (kari@mtu.edu).

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Opportunities for study around the world

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IPS will host an information session, “Scholarships, Grants and Fellowships for Study Abroad and Other International Opportunities,” from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 20, in ChemSci 101.

It’s never too early to begin thinking about money for international opportunities. US undergraduate or graduate students interested in fellowships, grants and scholarships, will want to attend this session.

Presenters will include Joe Kalliokoski, representative from the Rotary Club of Houghton; Associate Professor Mary Durfee (SS); and Greta Gustafson, study abroad coordinator.

Students will receive guidance on the many opportunities available, including eligibility requirements, application processes, service requirements and financial aid.

Students will also receive tips on how to construct a competitive application. A question-and-answer session will be held at the end.

Following are the session details:

  • 6 p.m.–Introductions
  • 6:15 p.m.–Joe Kalliokoski, Rotary Club
  • 6:30 p.m.–Mary Durfee, campus advisor for Boren and Fulbright programs
  • 7:15 p.m.–Greta Gustafson, class of ’74 Gilman Scholarship
  • 7:30 p.m.–Questions and Answers

For more information on funding, see Financial Aid .

For questions, contact Greta Gustafson, study abroad coordinator, at 487-1876 .

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Annual Martin Luther King Week

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Michigan Tech celebrates its annual Martin Luther King Week. Events include King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech; a peace march in the spirit of the great peacemaker; actor Barry Scott’s tribute to his idol; and a closing banquet that features Charles Pugh, president of the Detroit City Council, a respected journalist turned popular civic leader.

Here is a schedule of events, beginning today:

Monday, noon–“I Have a Dream” speech, Memorial Union steps, followed by a candelight vigil and a peace march to the Rozsa Center.

Monday, 1 p.m.–Reception, Rozsa atrium.

Monday, 2 p.m.–Actor Barry Scott’s tribute to King, Rozsa Center.

Tuesday, noon–Traveling Trunk exhibit in the Van Pelt and Opie Library; includes photos, videos, speeches and background information.

Wednesday, noon–Blood drive, Van Pelt and Opie Library Reading Room

Friday, 4 p.m.–Basketball invitational, SDC Wood Gym

Saturday, 9 a.m.–Service Saturday at the Keweenaw Family Resource Center’s Tree House, where there will be stories and snacks for the children.

Saturday, 6 p.m.–Banquet, Memorial Union Ballroom, features Charles Pugh, president of the Detroit City Council. Admission is $15 a person.

For more information, contact the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at 487-2920.

Published in Tech Today.

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Engineering Physics Graduate Student Wins Competition

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Abhishek Prasad, a graduate student in physics, won an award at the 2010 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting, which drew 6,000 participants.

Prasad earned first place among 50 finalists in the sciences and arts competition at the meeting. His entry, titled “Stem of nanoflowers,” was artificially composed of multiple scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures.

Prasad also presented a paper, “(CdSe) ZnS Core Shell Quantum Dots Decorated Zinc Oxide Nanowires for Solar Energy Harvesting Applications,” which appeared in Symposium W: Nanowires–Growth and Device Assembly for Novel Applications.

The MRS meeting was held in Boston from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3. Prasad is a doctoral student who works in Professor Yoke Khin Yap’s (Physics) research group.

Published in Tech Today

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International Students Win Cookbook Competition

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Komal Tayal’s tandoori chicken recipe placed second overall in a cookbook competition sponsored by the Daily Mining Gazette.

Tayal won a gift certificate for one of the businesses that advertised in the cookbook. Her recipe and Sahil Thakkar’s phada lapsi are featured in the ethnic section of the 2010 cookbook, published just before Christmas.

Tayal is a graduate student in mechanical engineering. Thakkar is an undergraduate in electrical engineering technology. Both are from India.

Published in Tech Today.

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Parental Accommodation Policy

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Lihui Hu and Zhonghai Wang with their new baby, Alex.
Lihui Hu and Zhonghai Wang with their new baby, Alex.

The Graduate School was recently featured on the TV6 news in regards to the new Parental Accommodation Policy.  The interview features Lihui Hu, new mother and PhD student in computer science, and the director of graduate marketing, Jacque Smith.

The new policy allows new parents, through either birth or adoption, to take an excused absence from their classes and provides extensions to academic deadlines.  It also provides funded students with paid leave for six weeks.

See A (Graduate) Student Affair to view the original Michagan Tech News Story.

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Tech International Grad Student Enrollment Bucks National Trend

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First-time international graduate student enrollment is up 3 percent nationwide this year. At Michigan Tech, it’s increased more than 16 percent.

Why is Michigan Tech bucking the trend?

“There are a couple of reasons,” says Jacque Smith, director of marketing for the Graduate School. “First, it has to do with the types and quality of programs we offer.”  Many of Michigan Tech’s programs are in STEM fields. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. These specialties–which have long been a focus at Michigan Tech, especially in graduate education–are in growing demand around the world.  Also, interest in the MBA program is growing, according to recruiters worldwide. The MBA program is offered through the School of Business and Economics.

“Our programs and research are what the world wants,” Smith says, and the numbers seem to be proving that point. The largest gains among first-time international graduate student enrollment nationwide were in the physical and earth sciences, at 9 percent, while engineering rose 3 percent. However, at Michigan Tech, first-time international graduate student enrollment in engineering rose 20.4 percent.

The Council of Graduate Schools, which released the enrollment report, also said that overall (not just first-time) international graduate student enrollment rose only 1 percent nationally in 2010, down from 2 and 3 percent in 2009 and 2008, respectively. During the same time, Tech’s overall international graduate student enrollment increased 13.5 percent.  Michigan Tech’s growth also bucked a trend among Midwest schools, whose international graduate student enrollment showed no growth overall.

Nationally, the countries contributing the largest number of first-time international grad students were China, with 20 percent, and the Middle East and Turkey with 7 percent. India and South Korea showed 3 percent declines nationwide. At Michigan Tech, however, numbers of first-time international graduate students from India increased 18.5 percent.

“It’s a reflection of our global recruiting efforts,” Smith says. “For example, our faculty members’ research is growing in prominence, and our alumni are making impacts all over the world that help us to recruit students in their home countries.”  And when those international students do enroll at Tech, they bring some impressive credentials with them.

According to the Graduate School, international students are often among the top candidates for admission to graduate programs nationwide.  “They bring global perspectives to our campus and community and help our domestic students gain experiences with other cultures,” Smith notes. “They also help everyone on campus learn more about what is happening in other parts of the world and how events are viewed by people from different cultures,” says Dean Jackie Huntoon (Graduate School).

Approximately 45 percent of Michigan Tech’s graduate students are from abroad, and India and China make up more than 70 percent of international graduate student enrollment here.  “The international students who come to our campus continue to help the University become better known and respected around the world,” Huntoon adds. “They also contribute to economic development, in Michigan and elsewhere, where they help fill corporations’ needs for STEM-educated people.”

Published in Tech Today.

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