Interesting stories about and for our students.
December 3, 2009—
Michigan Technological University will honor the achievements of over 400 graduates at Midyear Commencement Saturday, Dec. 12.
A total of 308 bachelor’s, six associate, 91 master’s and 24 PhD degrees will be awarded.
George Butvilas, a member of the Board of Directors of Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc., will be the commencement speaker. At the ceremony, he will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Business.
Michelle Mitcham, assistant professor, Psychological and Social Foundations, University of South Florida, will speak on “Beyond the B.S.: Graduation to Dissertation,” at 1 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4, in the Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library. She will talk about navigating graduate school.
For further information: Tech Today
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 review process can be found on our web page.
Each graduate program may nominate up to two doctoral students and one master’s student.
Nominees should provide the following information:
Students will submit a completed application to their graduate program director.
Each graduate program may set their own internal deadline for review. Each graduate program will review their applicants, and may nominate up to two doctoral students and one master’s student. Graduate programs will deliver completed applications to the Graduate School in either paper or electronic format. If delivered as an electronic document, please e-mail a single PDF file to Debra Charlesworth.
Due to University holidays and staff vacations, the Graduate School will be closed from December 24 – January 3.
The Graduate School will also be closed from 11:30am – 1:30pm on Friday, December 18th.
The Graduate School’s web page can provide assistance for many questions regarding:
Happy holidays and new year!
Published in Tech Today
Since mid-July, Michigan Tech students, staff and faculty have had a state-of-the-art way to practice their oral presentations: project them on a large-screen monitor in a study room in the Van Pelt and Opie Library. Large-screen monitors (42 inches) have been installed in rooms 302 and 303, two of the larger study rooms on the third floor of the library.
The monitors, which can easily be connected to a laptop computer, are open to all. The rooms may be reserved at the circulation desk or through Zimbra.
The technology was purchased with funding from the Friends of the Van Pelt Library, which obtains funding from donations and proceeds from its book sale. The next Friends Book Sale is April 9, 2010, with a presale for members on April 8. To become a member, make a donation at: www.lib.mtu.edu/friends/friends.htm .
“The students were asking for this, and when we proposed it to the Friends, they agreed to support it right away,” says interim Library Director Ellen Seidel.
Suggestions for the library can be sent to: reflib@mtu.edu .
November 16, 2009—
Conservation could be Amber Roth’s middle name. She loves anything to do with nature. Birds, trees, grasses, ecosystems: she’s fascinated by it all.
So after tucking a Bachelor of Science in Conservation Biology and International Relations and a Master of Science in Wildlife Ecology under her belt, the Green Bay native came to Michigan Tech to earn a PhD in the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science (SFRES).
Roth studies how to manage aspen forests to produce the maximum amount of biomass per acre without harming wildlife habitat. “It’s a management trade-off question,” she explains, and the basis of her PhD research
But Roth was raised by a devoted bird-watcher, and a tiny songbird that is facing hard times has also captured her heart. She has become an active member of the Golden-winged Warbler Working Group, an international conservation organization that spans two continents.
Weighing only 9 grams (equal to 4 dimes), the golden-winged warbler incredibly flies thousands of miles twice a year, migrating from its breeding grounds in the northern Midwest to its winter home in Central and South America. The tiny bird makes the long migration 6 to 10 times in a lifetime.
Its fuel efficiency is the equivalent of several hundred thousand miles per gallon,” Roth says with a smile.
But the far-flying warbler is in trouble. There used to be as many as half a million of the birds, and now there are fewer than 200,000. “Its numbers are declining sharply, and we don’t know why. We don’t know where the patient is bleeding,” says Roth.
The Golden-Winged Warbler Working Group got a small grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to try to determine what’s happening to the bird. Their research is a collaborative effort involving American, Canadian and Latin American scientists.
Some of the researchers are examining the bird’s genetics, to locate genetically pure populations. Only one has been found so far, in Manitoba, Canada. Others are studying the biochemical signature in the golden-winged warbler’s feathers, which can reveal where the young birds go after their first migration. And a third group is working to connect where the birds winter in Central and South America to where they breed.
It’s a real skin-and-bones project,” says Roth. But money isn’t the only resource the researchers need.
Michigan Tech has contributed 21 mist nets—fine nylon nets used to safely capture birds for study before releasing them. “These are older, damaged nets that I have in my lab, and the Latin American scientists know people who can repair them so that they can be reused,” SFRES associate professor David Flaspohler explains. Flaspohler is one of Roth’s PhD advisors, the other being Chris Webster.
If the nets were purchased new, they would cost as much as $100 each.
Like most of the other things she’s ever done, Roth says her work with the Golden-winged Warbler Working Group is helping prepare her for her dream career. With work experience in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and her PhD from Michigan Tech, she’s looking forward to climbing what she calls her “career triangle”—comprising research, education and conservation management. “I like being involved in all three,” she says, “the research, the outreach, and the management on the ground.”
Do you understand the rules of intellectual property – copyright, patents and scholarly publishing? These are critical to your success in graduate school and your career.
We’re looking for 30 students in science, technology, engineering and math fields to participate in an on-line course that will be interactive and dynamic. You will learn more about these important aspects of responsible conduct for research, collaborate with students online with a wiki and blog, and evaluate a new way of teaching these concepts. Visit:
http://www.mtu.edu/gradschool/admissions/orientation/rcr/ip.html
to learn more. Register online today to reserve your spot:
Published in Tech Today
Graduate students in Michigan Tech’s Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) programs will be able to get their required medical exams and lab tests at a major discount, thanks to a new partnership between the University and Portage Health.
The health care provider will offer PCMI students at Tech a 20 percent discount on any balance they owe after insurance payments for exams and tests required by the Peace Corps, plus an additional 10 percent prompt-pay discount, for a total discount of 30 percent.
That can add up to quite a sum. “The personalized medical exams and tests that the Peace Corps requires of each applicant can, in the most expensive cases, cost up to $5,000,” said Blair Orr (SFRES), director of the University’s seven PCMI programs. “The Peace Corps only reimburses $125 to $290, so the cost can be a serious obstacle to many students who would like to enroll in the program.”
Portage Health is pleased to be able to offer the discount, said Brian Donahue, chief financial officer. “We have a strong history of collaboration with Michigan Tech, and this is an excellent program that we are proud to be able to support.”
Michigan Tech President Glenn D. Mroz praised Portage Health for the partnership. “Each volunteer goes abroad to make a positive influence in people’s lives,” he said. “We are grateful that the people of Portage Health recognize the importance of facilitating the global reach of our Peace Corps Master’s International programs at Tech by making a positive contribution to our student volunteers’ lives.”
The PCMI programs accept approximately 20 new students a year, a number that Orr hopes to see increase to approximately 35.
The Graduate School is pleased to announce the arrival of new theses and dissertations from our recent graduates in the J. R. Van Pelt Library and John and Ruanne Opie Library. The names of our graduates, their degrees, advisors, and titles of their research are listed below.
Carrie Andrew
Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Science
Advisor: Erik Lilleskov
Dissertation title: Response of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi to Elevated Atmospheric CO2 and O3 within Northern Deciduous Forests
Yolanda Beltran Vargas
Master of Science in Industrial Archaeology
Advisor: Patrick E Martin
Thesis title: Industrial Archaeology of the Hacienda Santa Brigida, Mineral de Pozos, Guanajuato, Mexico
Abigail Clarke-Sather
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Co-advisors: John W Sutherland, and Qiong Zhang
Dissertation title: Decentralized or Centralized Production: Impacts to the Environment, Industry, and the Economy
Gregory Albert Galicinao
Master of Science in Environmental Engineering
Advisor: Martin T Auer
Thesis title: Determination of Methyl mercury Flux from Onondaga Lake Sediments using Flow-Through Reactors
Russell Johnson
Master of Science in Rhetoric and Technical Communication
Advisor: Erin Marie Smith
Thesis title: “Father I had a Feeling Today”: Postmortem Educational Media Fandom
Ming Ning
Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
Co-advisors: Richard E Brown, and Bahne C Cornilsen
Dissertation title: Molecular Interaction between Perthiolated Beta-cyclodextrin(CD) and the Guests Molecules Adamantaneacetic Acid (AD) and Ferroceneacetic Acid (FC); and the Effect of the Interaction on the Electron Transition of CD Anchored Particles
Lucas Spaete
Master of Science in Forest Ecology and Management
Advisor: Ann L Maclean
Thesis title: Utilizing FIA Data for Mapping Standing Biomass in the Upper Great Lakes Region: An Evaluation
Andres Tarte
Master of Science in Environmental Engineering
Co-advisors: Kurtis G Paterson, and Qiong Zhang
Thesis title: Identifying Indicators of Sustainable Development Using the Global Sustainability Quadrant Approach
Laura Walz
Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Michael Robert Neuman
Dissertation title: Microfabricated Thermal Sensors for Skin Perfusion Measurements
Jing Zhong
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Chunxiao Chigan
Thesis title: Development of NS-2 Based Cognitive Radio Cognitive Network Simulator
Peng Zhou
Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science
Advisor: Soner Onder
Dissertation title: Fine-grain State Processors
Published in Tech Today
The University Transportation Center for Materials in Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure (UTC-MiSTI) has selected Russell Lutch as its Student of the Year. He receives a $1,000 award, travel and registration expense reimbursement to attend the annual Transportation Research Board conference in Washington DC, and a certificate from the US Department of Transportation.
As one of the first students funded in collaboration between Michigan Tech’s Rail Transportation Program (RTP) and the UTC-MiSTI, Lutch evaluated the sustainable use of concrete ties in arctic conditions. He participated as a graduate student mentor in the 2009 UTC-MiSTI Summer Scholars Program, and as co-advisor of an undergraduate team he investigated the material and the life-cycle of cross-tie alternatives for rail applications. For his graduate work, Lutch investigated railroad track structure, focusing on prestressed concrete railroad ties for heavy haul freight transportation. His study is a part of the project, “Synthesis of Railroad Engineering Best Practices in Deep Seasonal Frost and Permafrost Areas,” sponsored through the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and conducted under Michigan Tech’s RTP.
Lutch’s advisor is Devin Harris (CEE). In his graduate scholarship, Lutch presented, “Causes and Preventative Methods for Rail Seat Abrasion in North America’s Railroads,” at the 14th ASCE Cold Regions Engineering Conference, and “Prestressed Concrete Railroad Ties in North America,” at the 2009 American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA) Conference.
Upon the completion of his MS in Civil Engineering, Lutch will be a structural engineer with Kiewit Construction Company in Omaha, Neb.
