Graduate School Newsblog

Seminar (Jan 21): Submitting your thesis or dissertation to the Graduate School

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Are you planning on finishing your thesis or dissertation spring or summer 2010?  Do you assist students submitting theses or dissertations?  If you answered yes to either of those questions, please join the Graduate School at our next seminar designed to help students, faculty, and staff better understand current procedures and have all of their questions answered.

Join Debra Charlesworth of the Graduate School for a description of online submission of a thesis or dissertation from start to finish. This seminar will be useful to students preparing their documents as well as faculty and staff who assist students.  The seminar will be January 21st at 4:00pm.

Please register for the event at our online registration site:

http://www.gradschool2.mtu.edu/registration/events/

Once you register, you will receive a confirmation with the location and a reminder of the date and time.  Space is limited, so register early!

If you are unable to join us, please see our online seminar presented on May 21st.  Please note that the forms “TD-Bindery” and “Life after Michigan Tech” that were described in the seminar are now combined into one form titled the “Degree Completion Form.”

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Summer Undergraduate/Graduate Research Programs

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NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates:  http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm

NIH Summer Internship Programs:  http://www.training.nih.gov/student/sip/

GREAT Group Summer Undergraduate/Graduate Research Programs for Biomedical Students: http://www.aamc.org/members/great/summerlinks.htm

Search Pathways Undergraduate/Graduate/Postdoc Research Summer Opportunities: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/summerresearch.asp

If you are interested in looking for a summer research experience/program, please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu)

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Motivate Michigan Initiative: An idea-based competition

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As you know, the State of Michigan has been hit very hard by this recession.
CIBER Inc. along with our partners is giving you the opportunity to help improve
Michigan’s economy.   We would like to request your creativity and ideas on how
to help restore Michigan to its former glory, and as a result, you could win one
of 10 scholarships.

The “Motivate Michigan” initiative is an idea-based competition designed for
economic impact.  It is open to students in accredited Michigan colleges and
universities.  T eams and individual students are encouraged to submit ideas
online.  The ideas will be judged on creativity, originality, practicality, and
the potential economic impact to the state of Michigan.

Our committee will determine the top 10 ideas which will be posted online to
allow the general public to vote for the best idea.  The five students that
receive the most votes will then present their ideas to a panel of judges
consisting of representatives from our corporate sponsors (including Comerica,
Meijer, MEDC and others).  Winners will receive one of ten possible scholarships
ranging from 1% to 40% of the scholarship pool, which is currently at $71,000.

The winning idea will undergo a feasibility test and an implementation plan will
be developed, free of charge by CIBER Inc.

For more information or to s ubmit your ideas go to www.MotivateMichigan.org
during the months of January and February.  All entries must be submitted no
later than February 26, 2010.   Complete contest rules are available at
http://motivatemichigan.org/rules.htm

Students have always been seen as the innovators and our hope for the future.
That future has finally come.  Think of the next big idea and you could be a part
of the economic turn-around in Michigan (and win a scholarship).

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AIAA Graduate Fellowships: Open to International Students

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AIAA

The Foundation and the Technical Committees of AIAA present several funding opportunities.

Martin Summerfield Graduate Award in Propellents and Combustion

Eligible applicants will be actively participating in research endeavors in propellants and combustion as part of their graduate studies.

Guidance, Navigation, and Control

Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors that will impact one or more of the areas of guidance, navigation, and control as part of their graduate studies.

Gordon C. Oates Air Breathing Propulsion Graduate Award

Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors in air breathing propulsion as part of their graduate studies.

Orville and Wilbur Wright

Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors in engineering sciences.

John Leland Atwood

Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors in one of the 65 specialty areas represented by AIAA Technical Committees

Open Topic Graduate Award

Eligible applicants will be participating in research endeavors in one of the 65 specialty areas represented by AIAA Technical Committees

Open to any nationality.

Eligible applicants must have completed at least one academic year of full-time graduate work.  Applicant must have a grade point average of not less than 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.

Deadline: Jan 31

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Fusion Energy Sciences Fellowship Program

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Description: Offers talented students the opportunity to engage in the study and research of fusion energy sciences and technology, while fostering practical work experiences at recognized research facilities. Provides incentive and support to students as they continue their education in graduate school and prepare for careers in fusion energy.

Discipline(s): physical sciences; engineering; mathematics; related scientific disciplines

Eligibility: U.S. Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents. Undergraduate seniors; bachelor’s recipients; and first and second year graduate students at the time of application

Location(s): Various locations across U. S. Participating universities with practicums at various U.S. Department of Energy research facilities

Duration: Maximum 36 months with annual renewal

Deadline(s): January 31

Benefits: $24,000 annual stipend and full payment of tuition and fees; $750 per month practicum allowance; opportunity to attend professional meetings and to participate in long-term graduate research ad DOE fusion research facilities.

Funding source(s): U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences

How to apply: Application materials available at http://www.orau.gov/fusion.

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Haitian Devastation Impacts Campus

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by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor

The recent earthquake in Haiti has been felt here at Michigan Tech.

At least two students and one faculty member have ties to Haiti, and they have received mixed news: some good, much bad, some the worst.

Roxane Gay, a PhD candidate in the humanities department who has lived in Port au Prince, learned that her parents left Haiti last Sunday, missing the earthquake by just a couple of days. Most of her family survived, but she has lost at least one great uncle.

“His wife is missing,” Gay said. “And the building in which my parents live is flattened. So is the National Palace. In fact most of Port au Prince is destroyed.”

Gay’s father, Michael, is in the construction business and has just completed the Digicell Center, which is one of the few structures still standing. He is rushing back to Haiti this Friday to help move debris with his construction equipment.

The problems in Haiti are myriad, according to Gay: there are no building codes and no real infrastructure: no sewage system, plumbing, or trash removal, “and the roads are not good.”

Thus, rebuilding efforts will be even more complicated. “This is what poverty does,” she says.

“Where do you put the people?” Gay asks. “And the debris? The country is the size of Maryland. They need water, food and hospital care. The good news is, although the control tower is down, the airport can still receive planes.”

Gay gets her news from Haiti via texting and satellite phones. She also gets information via the Facebook page of fellow Michigan Tech Haitian Fredline Ilorme, a graduate student in the civil and environmental engineering department.

Ilorme reports that most of her family is also well, but she is still waiting to hear from some additional family members and friends. Kette Thomas, assistant professor of diverse literature in humanities, also has Haitian ties.

Gay is not hopeful for the future. “There’s not enough money in the world to fix what’s broken,” she says.

However, if people do want to help, she suggests the well-established organizations such as the International Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and Yéle Haiti, which was established by musician Wyclef Jean and seeks to achieve long-term progress in the country.

“Haitians are resilient people,” Gay says. “My dad is a proud Haitian.”

That’s why Michael Gay is rushing back to help his fellow islanders and others are coming to their aid. There’s much work to be done.

Published in Tech Today

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Patrick Martin Leads International Preservation Effort

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by John Gagnon, promotional writer

Michigan Tech’s industrial archaeology program, which enjoys worldwide stature, now has even more distinction.

Patrick Martin, chair of Social Sciences, has been named the president of The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH), which has a hand in helping identify sites around the world to be added to the United Nations’ World Heritage List–a compilation of natural and cultural places around the world that have “outstanding, universal human value.”

Specifically, TICCIH calls attention to industrial heritage sites, for its charge is to conserve, investigate, document, research, and interpret industry and its material remains.

Martin has been involved with TICCIH for about six years and was the only board member from the US. Members number about 400; they range from Barcelona to Sydney, Cape Town to Taipei, Helsinki to Houghton.

Martin says that Tech will benefit from this association. “This raises our profile,” he says. “More people”–he means students and scholars–“will know about us as we engage on a world stage.” His appointment is for three years. TICCIH holds a world congress every three years. The last one, when Martin was made president, was in September in Freiberg, Germany.

The World Heritage List, which is maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), includes 890 properties in 148 nations. At present, there are no industrial sites in the US on the list, only natural entities like Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National Parks and cultural sites like Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

Industrial heritage is the stuff of railroads, textile mills, and mining. Martin calls the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century “one of the most profound social revolutions in human history.”

“Industry has created the modern world,” Martin says. “The shape of our country, including places like the Copper Country, and many of the relationships between global powers have been heavily influenced by industrialization. It makes us who we are. Why are you and I here? Why is Michigan Tech here? It’s not like we fell out of the sky. All this action going on around us today is because of copper mining in the nineteenth century.”

Industrial heritage sites, then, can be an inspiration and a lesson, he says. “If we don’t understand how we got the way we are, it’s very difficult to map a good path into the future.”

TICCIH was formed about 30 years ago. Most of its activity has been in Europe, which, Martin says, leads the US in industrial preservation efforts. Martin hopes to expand TICCIH’s influence and membership to the US, Africa, and Asia. “We need to be global,” he says. “This will require financial efficiency.”

Accordingly, he has already instituted cost-cutting moves by publishing the quarterly newsletter online and conducting some meetings online.

For years, Michigan Tech, with Martin’s lead, has been the headquarters for the Society for Industrial Archeology. He says of his new duties: “It’ll be interesting and challenging, and it’s a great opportunity.”

As well, he says, the work dovetails with the University’s strategic goal of achieving international engagement.

Published in Tech Today

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