Graduate School Newsblog

Category: News

Interesting stories about and for our students.

Sustainable Futures Institute Poster Session on Monday

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submitted by Denise Heikinen, Sustainable Futures Institute

The Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) is sponsoring a poster session on Monday, June 22, in Memorial Union Ballroom 2 from 1 to 2:15 p.m. The event is open to the campus and local communities.

Both undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty members from across the campus community will be displaying posters illustrating sustainability research and initiatives. These posters represent a broad range of sustainability action taking place at SFI and on the Michigan Tech campus.

Several posters in this year’s session will highlight the progress of ongoing research by the students involved in the Sustainable Futures Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeships program and its Wood-to-Wheels projects.

Since the poster session coincides with meetings of the SFI Advisory Board, members will be on hand. Attendees will have the chance to meet and mingle with board members, who represent the following: Caterpillar, Dow Corning, General Motors, The Great Lakes Commission, Kimberly-Clark, US Air Force, Steelcase, Motorola, Los Alamos National Laboratory of the Department of Energy, Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Southern University and A&M College, and the USDA Forest Service.

This poster session is intended to strengthen the network of scholars interested in promoting the important research, education and outreach work in sustainability on the Michigan Tech campus and in the community.

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Graduate Students Present at the 2009 Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial Archaeology

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An incoming faculty member and several Michigan Tech graduate students of the Industrial Heritage and Archaeology program of the Department of Social Sciences presented papers at the 2009 Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial Archaeology, held May 28-31 in Pittsburgh.

  • master’s student Seth DePasqual, “Winning Coal at 78 Degrees North: Mining, Management and Negotiations at Old Longyear City”
  • master’s student Megan Glazewski, “Discovering Landscape Gardening Practices within Industrial Landscapes of the 19th Century: William Kemble’s Cottage, Cold Spring, New York”
  • doctoral candidate Cameron Hartnell, “High Arctic Coal Mining: The Strategy of the Arctic Coal Company”
  • doctoral student Marc Henshaw, “The Steamboat Industry in Brownsville, Pa.: The Beginnings of the Industrialization in the Upper Monongahela Valley”
  • doctoral student Erik Nordberg, “The Nordberg Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee: History, Archives and Research Potential”
  • incoming Associate Professor Fredric Quivik (Social Sciences), “What Has Happened to Other Gritty Cities: Putting Paterson into Context”
  • doctoral candidate Scott See, “National Heritage Area Candidate: The Iron Ranges of Lake Superior”

The society awarded Michigan Tech alum Marco Meniketti ’98 (MS in Industrial Archaeology) its 2009 Robert M. Vogel Prize. The award honors the author of the best article to appear in the society’s journal, IA, every three years.

Conference organizer and doctoral candidate Bode Morin (Industrial Heritage and Archaeology) was quoted in the May 29 issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here.

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Michigan Tech Tops in the Nation for Women Earning Engineering PhDs

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by Jennifer Donovan, public relations director

Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering graduates a higher percentage of women with PhDs in engineering than any other engineering school in the nation, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) reports.

Forty percent of Michigan Tech’s engineering doctoral degrees were awarded to women, according to the ASEE’s annual report, “Engineering by the Numbers.” The report is based on data from 2008. The next highest percentage of women PhD recipients in engineering was 38.7 percent, at the University of Rochester.

“What great news,” said Jacqueline Huntoon, dean of the Graduate School. “I congratulate the faculty in our College of Engineering and the Graduate School staff on recruiting and retaining these outstanding women. Michigan Tech’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) focus makes it challenging for us to maintain high levels of gender diversity on our campus because STEM programs tend to attract males. We plan to build on this success and continue to increase the diversity of our students.”

According to the report, only engineering schools that award at least 25 doctoral degrees during the year are ranked. There were 100 engineering schools nationwide that awarded 25 or more PhDs during 2008.

In undergraduate engineering degrees, Michigan Tech ranked third in the nation in numbers of bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering; 11th in numbers of civil engineering bachelor’s degrees; 16th in both computer engineering and electrical engineering; and 22nd in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded by the College of Engineering.

“At a time when the state, nation and world need more women in engineering, I am pleased that the percentage of women receiving engineering PhDs at Michigan Tech is the highest in the nation,” said Tim Schulz, dean of the College of Engineering. “As these young women rise to leadership positions in industry, government and academia, they will serve as excellent role models for future generations.”

View the full ASEE report at www.asee.org/publications/profiles/upload/2008ProfileEng.pdf .

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Ulrich Hansmann Wins 2009 Michigan Tech Research Award

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Tech Today

by Jennifer Donovan, public relations director

Ulrich Hansmann, professor of physics and leader in computational and biophysics research, has received the 2009 Michigan Tech Research Award.

He developed seminal numerical techniques for modeling the workings of living cells and led efforts to apply computational algorithms to protein physics. He recently was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), a recognition of excellence by his peers and one of the highest honors in his field.

Hansmann is a pioneer in computational modeling of protein folding, a molecular process that, when it goes awry, can give rise to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s. His work could help uncover the underlying processes causing proteins to misfold, potentially leading to effective therapies.

“Uli’s achievements in the protein-folding problem–one of the most significant challenges in science today–have been astonishing,” Robert H. Swendsen, professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University, remarked.

“Uli is one of Tech’s leading computational scientists, with his outstanding work and international reputation among leaders in his field,” said David Reed, vice president for research. “He has taken the lead in trying to build computational capacity at Tech, and we look forward to continued advancement in this area through the current Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative in computational discovery and innovation.”

Ravindra Pandey, chair of the physics department, also had high praise for Hansmann. “We are extremely proud of Professor Hansmann’s achievements in computational biophysics,” Pandey said. “He is an internationally known scientist in protein folding. He has established a well funded research group here at Michigan Tech and conducts extremely productive collaborative work with several national and international research groups.”

A leader in a computational approach to understanding the complex interactions in biological systems in a new, interdisciplinary field known as systems biology, Hansmann organized three international workshops on computational biophysics in systems biology. While continuing to teach and do research at Michigan Tech, he also helped the John von Neumann Institute for Computing in Jülich, Germany, develop a computational biology and biophysics research group.

“Not all key processes or molecules are accessible by experiments; simulations are sometimes the only technique to detect hidden processes or proteins,” Hansmann explained. “A systems biology approach that aims at deciphering the life functions in a cell requires a close interplay between experiments and computing.”

The physicist’s research goals include analysis and interpretation of biological data through modeling of molecular networks and simulation of cellular biophysics. He hopes this will enable scientists to analyze and predict complex diseases at a molecular level.

Although Hansmann is doing cutting-edge work, he is in no way proprietary about it. He already has developed a software program called Simple Molecular Mechanics for Proteins (SMMP) that is freely available as open source software on the Internet. One of his ongoing research goals is to develop public software for molecular simulation of cells.

As a teacher, Hansmann is devoted to helping students from a variety of fields, including physics, computer science, chemistry and biology, learn how to use supercomputers in their research. He also mentors community college students from underrepresented and disadvantaged populations through the Michigan Colleges and Universities Partnership (MICUP) program at Michigan Tech.

Born in Germany, Hansmann received his PhD in Physics from Freie Universität in Berlin. He has taught physics at Michigan Tech since 1998. His research is supported by the National Science Foundation.

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Spring 2009 BRC Travel Grants Announced

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Tech Today

The Biotechnology Research Center has announced the recipients of its 2009 Spring Travel Grants:

* Postdoctoral Scientist Yordan Yordanov (SFRES) will receive $500 toward his podium presentation at the 4th International Symposium on Plant Dormancy, to be held in Fargo, N.D., in June.

* Graduate student Sarah Kiemle (Biological Sciences) will receive $500 toward her podium presentation at the 2009 Phycological Society of America Annual Meeting, to be held in Honolulu in July.

* Graduate student Johnathan E. Lawrence (Biological Sciences) will receive $500 toward his poster presentation at the Experimental Biology 2009 Conference, held in New Orleans in April.

* Graduate student Angela Lucas (Biological Sciences) will receive $250 toward her poster presentation at the Experimental Biology 2009 Conference.

* Graduate student Anahita Pakzad (ME-EM) will receive $500 toward her podium presentation at the TMS 2009 Annual Meeting, held in San Francisco in February.

* Graduate student Ratul Saha (Biological Sciences) will receive $500 toward his poster presentation at the American Society for Microbiology 109th Meeting, held in Philadelphia this month.

* Graduate student Zijun Xu (Biological Sciences) will receive $290 toward his poster presentation at the 51st Annual Maize Genetics Conference, held in St. Charles, Ill., in March.

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Graduate Students Earn Honors

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CEE Professors, Graduate Student Win Rudolph Hering Medal
Alex Mayer and David Hand, both professors of civil and environmental engineering, and Karen Endres, a former PhD student, have been named winners of the 2009 Rudolph Hering Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers. The award is given annually for the best paper on environmental engineering or water resources published in an ASCE journal during the previous year.

Their award-winning paper is titled “Equilibrium versus Nonequilibrium Treatment Modeling in the Optimal Design of Pump-and-Treat Groundwater Remediation Systems.”

The prize is a prestigious one among environmental engineers. The medal will be presented at the Environmental and Water Resources Institute Annual Congress May 17 in Kansas City.

Graduate Student Awarded Travel Assistance to Railway Conference
Graduate student Shane Ferrell, a member of the Rail Transportation Program, was awarded $1,800 in travel assistance from the International Heavy Haul Association to attend its June 2009 conference in Shanghai, China.

The Rail Transportation Program at Michigan Tech was established by the Michigan Tech Transportation Institute in 2007. The program provides rail-related education and research activities, engaging students and faculty with industry partners.

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Graduate student and faculty talk about rail transportation

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Pasi Lautala, director of the Rail Transportation Program, and graduate student Shane Ferrell, president of the Rail Engineering and Activities Club (REAC), were invited guests of Dick Storm recently on his “Keeping It in the UP” radio program on WOLV 97.7.

To download an MP3 file of the interview, which focuses on rail transportation in North American and rail activities at Michigan Tech, click here.

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Faculty, Grad Students Design Activities for High School Biology Competition

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The 20th Annual Department of Biological Sciences Bio-Athlon for high school students will be held Wednesday, May 5, on campus. The Bio-Athlon is the department’s outreach program, which serves to stimulate interest and problem solving in biology among area youth. Sixty students from 15 Upper Peninsula high schools will participate in activities designed by Michigan Tech faculty members and graduate students of the department.

Each team will be comprised of four students, who will not have had formal course work in biology beyond the traditional sophomore-level high school general biology class. All teams will tackle the same four problems:

* “Dissection,” designed by Associate Professor Ronald Gratz

* “Windows to the Microscopic World: Freshwater Algae Unite!” designed by doctoral candidates Meagan Harless and Sarah Kiemle

* “Field Identification,” designed by Associate Professor Robert Keen

* “Fundamental Biological Principles,” designed by Professor of Practice Karyn Fay, Senior Lecturer Alice Soldan and graduate student Tara Waybrant

Students will be judged on organizational skills, knowledge of facts and concepts, laboratory skills and creativity.

Each member of the first-place team will receive a $200 US savings bond; the second-place team will receive a $100 US savings bond; and the third-place team will receive a $50 US savings bond. As well, a plaque will be awarded to each of the three teams. Every participant will receive a certificate of participation and a Bio-Athlon T-shirt.

Funding is provided by Michigan Tech Admissions, the Department of Biological Sciences, the Michigan Tech Fund and the following alumni: Mark Cowan, M.D.; Robert DellAngelo, M.D.; Olive Cornish Kimball, D.Ed., Ph.D.; and Sandra Lewin, of the Michigan Tech Fund.

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Board of Control Approves Nine New Degrees

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By Marcia Goodrich, senior writer

Nine new degree programs–most of them in computer engineering and business–were approved last Friday at the Board of Control meeting.

The board’s action included final approval for a Master of Science and a PhD in Computer Engineering, which were initially approved at the Board’s March meeting and sent to the State Academic Affairs Office for review and endorsement. Computer engineering is a hybrid discipline born of computer science and electrical engineering.

One of the seven new degree program proposals approved to advance to the State Academic Affairs Office is a Master of Science and PhD in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors.

Applied cognitive science applies the principles of cognitive psychology to develop practical solutions for real-world problems such as effective teaching methods.

Human factors is a multi-disciplinary science within the framework of cognitive science that focuses on human needs in the design of products, work processes and technological systems. It is an emerging discipline critical to technological advancement.

The six remaining new degree proposals are all for bachelor of science degrees with majors in various business disciplines, including accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and operations and systems management.

The new BS degrees replace the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) with concentrations in specialty areas, which the School of Business and Economics now offers. The BS adds recognition to the degree and should help increase the job placement rates at graduation.

“These new degree programs will enable Michigan Tech to remain ahead of the curve–academically and in terms of preparing students for a changing job market,” said President Glenn Mroz.

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