Graduate School Newsblog

Scholarships Available for Little Huskies

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Parents and guardians of young children are invited to apply now for The Access to High Quality Early Childhood Education Scholarship Fund.

The purpose of this scholarship is to allow Michigan Tech’s most needy families access to high-quality early childhood education at Little Huskies Child Development Center. Applicants may be undergraduates, graduate students or low-income employee families. Award amounts may vary from partial subsidies to full tuition scholarships.

Completed applications can be submitted by email to eva@gretchenshouse.com for more information. The application deadline is July 2.

Published in Tech Today.

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Steel Bridge Team Earns Two Firsts, Fourth Overall in National Competition

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The Steel Bridge team brought home two first places and placed fourth overall in the National Student Steel Bridge Competition at Clemson University May 25-26. The Tech team earned first places for lightness and construction efficiency.

Teams from 47 universities in the US, Canada, Mexico and China competed in the national event, sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Participants had to design a bridge strong enough to hold 2,500 pounds and span an imaginary river, while minimizing both the amount of steel used and the construction time.

Teams were scored on how long it took them to assemble their bridges compared to the number of team members working on them; how much their bridges weighed; how little their bridges deflected when weight was added; and whether their structures could hold 2,500 pounds. The aesthetics of the bridges also affected the final score.

Tech’s team spent two months designing their 22-foot bridge, another three months fabricating each part and a month practicing assembling the bridge in the shortest possible time.

Then they participated in a regional practice run in the spring, and the top two teams advanced to the national competition.

“The team did an absolutely terrific job,” said Adam Newton, a graduate student in civil engineering and team captain. “Everyone was responsible for achieving the spectacular results.” He noted that during practice the day of the competition, the assembly team had its fastest run ever, and at the competition itself, the assembly team scored its second-fastest build time. “I am very proud of the team and their accomplishments,” Newton said.

Faculty advisor Devin Harris (CEE) agreed. “Overall, they did a great job and proved that Michigan Tech is always going to be a major player in this competition,” he said.

Team members, in addition to Newton, were Patrick Grodecki, Matt Schwalen, Alex Seidl, Keven Rey, Nate Schultz, Brandon Abel, Andrew Erickson, Ellen Englund, Wes Karras and Joel Ortman.

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

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Summer 2012 Finishing Fellowships Announced

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The Graduate School is pleased to announce the recipients of the summer 2012 finishing fellowships. The fellowships are made available by the support of the Graduate School.

The recipients are:

  • Sigridur O. Bjarnadottir, PhD candidate in Civil Engineering
  • Baron W. Colbert, PhD candidate in Civil Engineering
  • Azad Henareh Khalyani, PhD candidate in Forest Science
  • Subhasish Mandal, PhD candidate in Engineering Physics
  • Sunand Santhanagopalan, PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Finishing fellowship applications for fall 2012 are due no later than 4pm on Wednesday, June 13th.  Application procedures and photographs of recent recipients can be found online.

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DeVlieg Recipients Announced

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Patrick Bowen, PhD candidate in Materials Science and Engineering

The Graduate School is pleased to announce that two students have earned fellowships from The DeVlieg Foundation.  The DeVlieg Foundation has generously provided support for graduate students pursuing research in engineering, wildlife, and biology at Michigan Tech.

The recipients this year are:

  • Patrick Bowen, PhD candidate in Materials Science and Engineering
  • Nan Pond, PhD candidate in Forest Science

Photographs and details of awards and fellowships coordinated by the Graduate School can be found online.

Nan Pond, PhD candidate in Forest Science
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A Growing Concern

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Amber Campbell
Campbell turns bright idea into a "growing" business.
When daylight starts to last well into evening, and Houghton-Hancock area residents get in gardening mode, there’s not a lot of choice at the local discount stores: petunias, impatiens, marigolds, geraniums. Or geraniums, marigolds, impatiens and petunias.  But what if you want to grow campanula, with its delicate, bell-shaped lavender blooms? Or morning glories to attract butterflies? Fennel and cilantro and sweet banana peppers to spice up your summer cooking?

When Amber Campbell, an MBA student and avid gardener, thought about that, she saw a business opportunity. With the help of Tech’s Small Business and Technology Development Center and the MTEC SmartZone’s Entrepreneur Support Center, she has turned a bright idea into a going, growing business: G&A Farmer’s Market and Garden Center on Sharon Avenue in Houghton.

She opened in May in a small plastic greenhouse filled with brilliantly colored bedding plants, feathery herbs and hardy vegetables. Later in the growing season, she plans to add a fruit and vegetable stand, selling fresh, local berries, tomatoes, peppers, green beans and Asian vegetables such as garlic chives and bok choy.

In China, where Campbell grew up, she and her family grew and ate their own fruits and vegetables. “I remember how fresh and good they were,” she says. “I am bringing my own good memories to life here.”  Campbell credits graduate students Fahimeh Baziari and Alex Wohlgemuth from Tech’s Peace Corps Master’s International Program with volunteering to help fence her site, and Tech master gardener Lynn Watson, who “gave me lots of useful advice on gardening.”

For the full story, see Garden.

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

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Michigan Tech Brown Bat Research

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Red Orbit, a science news website, published an article about Michigan Tech research into the origins of little brown bats. Assistant Professor Joseph Bump and Alexis Sullivan report on the work in the July 2012 issue of the journal Ecological Applications. To read the story, see Brown Bats.

Sullivan, lead author on the paper, is currently pursuing dual masters of science degrees in Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology as part of the ATLANTIS program.

Published in Tech Today.

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How to check PDF conversion settings for images and embedding fonts

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Creating high quality images and embedding all fonts are two requirements of creating a thesis or dissertation.  These two requirements will ensure that your document is presented at the highest quality and that the document appears the same on any computer, regardless of the fonts that are available.  This tutorial will show how to check and select the conversion settings in Word to make sure your document meets the requirements.

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How to create bookmarks using Word and Adobe Acrobat

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Having bookmarks that replicate the table of contents (TOC) is a helpful feature to navigate a thesis or dissertation.  Bookmarks allow the reader to see a TOC wherever they are in the document, and navigate easily to that section of the document.  This tutorial will show you how to create bookmarks using Word and Adobe Acrobat on the PC. This tutorial assumes that you are using the Graduate School’s template to create your dissertation or thesis.

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International Climate Change Policy and Technology Fellowship Program

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Now Accepting Applications for MS/MA or PhD Graduates and recent Alumni in Engineering, Physical Sciences, or Public Policy

Application closes midnight EDT, Sunday, June 17, 2012 – visit http://www.orise.orau.gov/ccpt/ to get started NOW!

Opportunity in Washington, D.C. to contribute to a multilateral initiative to promote industrial efficiency in major economies through the Clean Energy Ministerial (www.cleanenergyministerial.org). The Fellowship position would involve frequent interactions with international counterparts and some international travel.

Prior industrial efficiency experience and demonstrated project management skills are both required.  Preferred qualifications include international experience and prior work in energy and/or climate change policy.  Familiarity with energy management is also desirable.

Stipends range from $50,000 to $100,000 depending on academic level, skills and experience.

Additional allowances for medical insurance or transportation may be provided.

Questions?

E-mail Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) at ccpt.fellowship@orise.orau.gov .

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