Alumni Gifts Underwrite New Computing Research Center

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.

Seventh Annual Student Research Forum Seeks Applicants

The Ecosystem Science Center, Biotechnology Research Center and School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science invites graduate students conducting research related to ecology, the environment or biotechnology to submit titles and abstracts for poster presentation at the seventh annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum.

New this year, undergraduate researchers who are advised by BRC or ESC members are also welcome to participate in a separate division.

The forum will be held on the afternoon of Friday, March 25, in the atrium of the Noblet. Abstracts are due electronically by noon, Friday, Feb. 25, to esc@mtu.edu.

The forum allows graduate and undergraduate students an opportunity to present their research to peers and faculty. This will provide a valuable experience for students preparing for poster sessions at regional or national meetings, give students well-deserved recognition for their work and serve as an excellent setting for students to showcase new results and see what others are doing.

We invite student participants to present their research findings as a research poster. Students are welcome to present advanced or preliminary research (proposals or preliminary data). Prizes will include one grand prize and up to four merit awards for each center. Each student may present only one paper but may be included as a coauthor on others. For details, see http://ecosystem.mtu.edu/2011%20guidelines.pdf.

For questions, contact Jill Fisher (SFRES) at 487-3564 or jhfisher@mtu.edu.

Published in Tech Today.

How to use a preflight profile

Preflight profiles in Adobe Acrobat® Pro can be used to check properties of a PDF document, as well as make some automatic fixes to them.  In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use preflight profiles developed by the Graduate School to check the image quality in a PDF file.

To begin, download a preflight profile and save it to your computer. Depending on your browser settings, you might need to right click on the link to save the file to your computer as a *.kfp (or*.xml) file. The Graduate School has created the four below:

  1. Graduate School All Items will show you all items that have errors (red “x”) or should be examined (yellow exclamation point).  It includes checking page size (red “x”), embedded fonts (red “x”), type 3 fonts (red “x”), image quality (yellow exclamation point), and color images (only important if saving printing costs is a concern for you).  This is the same checker that the Graduate School uses.
  2. Graduate School Embedded Fonts will show you all of the fonts that aren’t embedded and where type 3 fonts are used.
  3. Graduate School Images will show you which images have a resolution below 300ppi.
  4. Graduate School Color Pages will show you which pages are in color.

First, you need to open the preflight tool.  In Adobe Acrobat® XI Pro, the preflight tool is located in the “Print Production” section of the “Tools.”

GSG – Abstract submission and award nominations open

Graduate Research Colloquium

Graduate Student Government is pleased to announce that abstract submission for the annual Graduate Research Colloquium Poster and Presentation Competition is now open.

This years colloquium will be held on March 3rd and 4th in the Memorial Union Building. The closing date for abstract submission will be February 25th at 5 PM. Submit abstracts to Abdul A. Koroma via email at aakoroma@mtu.edu. Please specify if your abstract is for the presentation session, poster session or both. Cash prizes are awarded for first, second, and third place in both categories.

Outstanding Merit Awards

Nominations for Graduate Student Recognition Awards and Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award are due Friday, February 18th by 5pm.  Nominations are open for the following awards:

  • Exceptional Graduate Student Scholar
  • Exceptional Graduate Student Leader
  • Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award

The nomination materials should be sent to GSG representative Ali Mirchi at amirchi@mtu.edu or by campus mail to Graduate Student Government, (405 Admin) by February 18th at 5pm.  See the GSG web page for more details on materials needed in a nomination packet.

The winners will receive recognition and the student winners will be awarded a cash prize presented at the annual GSG Research Colloquium Banquet on March 4th, 2011 in the MUB Ballroom.

John Ball Zoo Society Wildlife Conservation Fund Invites Grant Applications

The John Ball Zoo Society’s Wildlife Conservation Fund in Grand Rapids, Michigan, helps to fund projects working to conserve wildlife and wild places around the world.

Many projects funded by the fund have been education-based, with an eye to helping communities learn about the wildlife around them. In addition, the fund has lent support to help conserve some of the lesser known taxa such as endangered reptiles and amphibians.

The fund gives special attention to projects involving animals native to Michigan.

Grants are awarded every year for one or more of the following purposes: to enhance or assist wild animal preservation, native and exotic, threatened and endangered, and their habitat management; to enhance or improve captive animal management, including environmental design; and to assist in the development of education programming in concert with the above purposes.

Grants generally range from $500 to $2,500.

Visit the Wildlife Conservation Fund Web site for complete application guidelines and information on previous grantees and their projects.

Why Teach? The Importance of K-12 Engineering Education

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).

Opportunities for study around the world

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 .

Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program

The EISENHOWER GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP (provides funding for the pursuit of Masters or Doctorate Degrees in transportation related discipline. The program objectives are: 1) to attract the nation’s brightest minds to the field of transportation, 2) to enhance the careers of transportation professionals by encouraging them to seek advanced degrees, and, 3) to retain top talent in the transportation industry of the United States. The Program is intended to bring innovation and enhance the breadth and scope of knowledge of the entire transportation community in the United States. The Eisenhower Graduate Fellowship Program encompasses all modes of transportation.

Individual students enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education located in the United States are eligible to apply.

Deadline March 12, 2011

Similar Government Grants
DOT Federal Highway Administration Grant
AASHTO Center for Environmental Excellence
Lead State in the Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance Systems Infrastructure Consortium