Graduate School Newsblog

NSF Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service Program

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NOTE: This is an institutional level, limited submission solicitation.  Students cannot apply directly.

NSF is seeking applications for the Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship
for Service program. The program seeks to increase the number of
students entering the fields of information assurance and computer
security and enhance capacity to produce such students and
professionals. The program is composed of two tracks. The first, a
Scholarship Track, provides funding for students completing the final
two years of undergraduate, two years of master’s level, or the final
two years of Ph.D.-level study in the relevant fields. Upon graduation,
awardees are required to serve two years in the federal government. The
Capacity Building Track provides funds to institutions to improve
quality and increase production of such professionals in these key
areas. $11.3 million is available for FY 09; 6-8 Scholarship Track
awards and 7-9 Capacity Building awards will be granted. Applications
are due February 2, 2010.

More information

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The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship

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The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship is a highly competitive, portable fellowship that is awarded to U.S. citizens and nationals who intend to pursue graduate study in one of the 15 supported disciplines. NDSEG confers high honors upon its recipients, and allows them to attend whichever U.S. institution they choose. NDSEG Fellowships last for three years and pay for full tuition and all mandatory fees, a monthly stipend, and up to $1,000 a year in medical insurance.

All applicants are required to submit the application online by 1:00 p.m. EST, January 4, 2010. All materials must be submitted electronically or received by this deadline.

Contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) if interested in applying.

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AT&T Labs Fellowship for Women and Minority in Computer and Communications-Related Fields

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AT&T Labs Fellowship are available to outstanding under-represented minority and women students who are U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents and who are pursuing Ph.D. studies in computer and communications-related fields. If you really want to make a difference as a professional scientist, we can help you get started.
Program Description

The ALFP program awards a three-year fellowship and is contingent on an annual review demonstrating that the recipients are making satisfactory progress toward their PhD.

Each fellowship recipient participates in a research summer internship during their first summer in the program.  During the summer, students work as a part of research teams on various projects within AT&T Labs.  You can learn about AT&T Research by viewing our current research areas and sample projects from prior years.

Eligibility

  • Students must be seniors graduating in the current academic year or in their first or second year of grad school.
  • They must be female or members of a minority underrepresented in science fields (Hispanic, African-American, or Native American).
  • They must be enrolled, or planning to enroll, in a graduate school program leading to a PhD.
  • They must be U.S. Citizens or permanent residents.
  • The student’s major field  must be in computer science, math, statistics, electrical engineering, operations research, systems engineering, industrial engineering, or related fields.

What the Fellowship Provides

  • All educational expenses during the school year, including tuition, books, fees, and approved travel expenses.
  • Education expenses for summer study or university research.
  • A stipend for living expenses (currently $2380 per month, paid for 10 months of the year, plus a $500 book allowance).
  • Support for attending approved scientific conferences.
  • A summer internship during the student’s first summer in the program.
  • A mentor who is a staff member at AT&T Labs. The program emphasizes personal interaction with your mentor. For the typical recipient, this component of the program is often the most important one of all.

Applying for a Fellowship

Important Dates

Applications are accepted beginning September 5.  The on-line application form must be submitted and all supporting materials must be mailed to the address below by January 31.

Requirements

Complete this on-line application, which requires the following items. Please be sure to select the ALFP program.

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AAUW International Scholarship for Women

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AAUW International Fellowships are awarded for full-time study or research in the United States to women who are not United States citizens or permanent residents. Both graduate and postgraduate study at accredited institutions are supported. Several fellowships are available for study outside of the U.S.

Deadline is December 1st.

Application Information

Please contact Jodi Lehman with any question (jglehman@mtu.edu)

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Tech and Portage Health to Offer Medical Discount for Peace Corps Students

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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.

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NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program

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NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program

NASA announces a call for graduate fellowship proposals to the NASA
Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) program for the 2010-2011
academic year.  This call for fellowship proposals solicits
applications from accredited U.S. universities on behalf of
individuals pursuing Master of Science (M.Sc.) or Doctoral (Ph.D.)
degrees in Earth and space sciences, or related disciplines.  The
purpose of NESSF is to ensure continued training of a highly
qualified workforce in disciplines needed to achieve NASA’s
scientific goals.  Awards resulting from the competitive selection
will be made in the form of training grants to the respective universities.

The deadline for NEW applications is February 1, 2010, and the
deadline for RENEWAL applications is March 15, 2010.

The NESSF call for proposals and submission instructions are located
at the NESSF 09 solicitation index page at
http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ – click on “Solicitations” then click on
“Open Solicitations” then select the “NESSF 10” announcement.  Also
refer to “Proposal Submission Instructions” listed under “Other
Documents” on the NESSF 10 solicitation index page.

All proposals must be submitted in electronic format only through the
NASA NSPIRES system.  The advisor has an active role in the
submission of the fellowship proposal.  To use the NSPIRES system,
the advisor, the student, and the university must all
register.  Extended instructions on how to submit an electronic
proposal package are posted on the NESSF 10 solicitation index page
listed above.  You can register in NSPIRES at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/.

For further information contact Russell Deyoung, Program
Administrator for NESSF Earth Science Research, Telephone: (757)
864-1472, E-mail: larc-nessf-Earth@lists.nasa.gov or Dolores Holland,
Program Administrator for NESSF Heliophysics Research, Planetary
Science Research, and Astrophysics Research, Telephone: (202)
358-0734, E-mail: hq-nessf-Space@nasa.gov.

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New theses and dissertations in the Library

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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

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Lutch Selected as UTC-MiSTI Student of the Year

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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.

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Grad Student Takes Aim at Sugar Maple Dieback

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Published in Tech Today

When Tara Bal brings a 12-gauge into the woods, she doesn’t worry about exceeding her limit.

Bal, a Michigan Tech PhD student in forest science, isn’t a hunter. She is more of a gatherer, using the shotgun to bring down sugar maple leaves from the forest canopy.

With Andrew Storer, a professor of forest resources and environmental science, she aims to find out why so many Upper Peninsula sugar maples are in trouble. To find out more, click here.

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Tech MBA Honored Again by the Aspen Institute

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Published in Tech Today

The MBA program of the School of Business and Economics has been honored by the Aspen Institute’s 2009-10 edition of, “Beyond Grey Pinstripes,” a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools.

The SBE is rated 58 on a list of the top 100 business schools and has “demonstrated significant leadership in integrating social, environmental and ethical issues into its MBA program,” according to the Aspen Institute.

“Our faculty earned this recognition through their commitment to teaching and research in social, environmental and ethical stewardship as it relates to business,” said Darrell Radson, dean of the School. “Our MBA program focuses on conducting sustainable business in a technologically rich, constantly changing world and our faculty and students rise to that challenge.” The Michigan Tech MBA was previously honored by the Aspen Institute in 2007.

“The Tech MBA students are very concerned about a sustainable future,” said Ruth Archer, director of graduate programs. “They appreciate receiving a first-class MBA in managing technology and innovation at the same time that they learn how to integrate social value with corporate profitability. This recognition will enable us to attract more like-minded students.”

The Aspen Institute surveyed 149 business schools from 24 nations over 18 months in an effort to map the landscape of teaching and research on issues pertaining to business and society. Relevant data collected in the survey, as well as the entire “Global 100” list of business schools, is available at, www.BeyondGreyPinstripes.org . For more information on the Tech MBA, visit www.mtu.edu/business/mba/overview .

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